Reprints Marvel Two-In-One #64-67 & Marvel Team-Up Annual #5.
Written by Mark Gruenwald, Ralph Macchio & Steven Grant.
Pencils/Breakdowns by George Perez, Jerry Bingham, Ron Wilson & Mark Gruenwald.
Inks/Finishes by Gene Day, Jim Mooney & Friends.
The Thing and Stingray (AKA oceanographer Dr. Walter Newall) are on their way to meet the Inhuman Triton on the West Coast. Stingray's friend, Dr. Henry Croft, has been turned into an amphibian and they believe Triton can cure him.
Alternate Cover
The heroes happen to fly by a Roxxon oil rig that's collapsing into the Pacific Ocean. After securing the rig, Thing & Stingray are attacked by the rig workers. Suddenly, a brand new Serpent Squad arrives and joins the attack on the heroes. It turns out the rig wasn't set up to drill for oil, but to find the Serpent Crown! 
The dramatic debut of the new Serpent Squad!
The Thing tangles with the Serpent Squad underwater. Anaconda nearly chokes him out and Black Mamba (a shape-shifter) takes the form of Ben's girlfriend Alicia Masters to mess with his mind.
Death Adder threatens to kill Stingray
Triton finally shows up and evens the odds a bit. They're able to defeat the Serpent Squad, but the leader, Sidewinder, escapes with the Serpent Crown.
Sidewinder delivers the Crown to Hugh Jones, the President of Roxxon Oil. He's wearing not one, but two Serpent Crowns! He has the Crown from our Earth and an alternate Earth (read this book for how the 2nd Crown got here). Jones says the crowns will make him "the master of reality!". Even Sidewinder is spooked by this, so he takes off.
Scarlet Witch locates the Serpent Crown in DC
With the help of Agatha Harkness and
Scarlet Witch, Thing & Stingray track down the Crown in
Washington, DC. They meet up with Wanda and track down Hugh Jones. He welcomes them to the "Congress Of The Crowns": he has created ghosts (he calls them "ethereal manifestations") of everyone who has ever worn the Crown (including Sub-Mariner, Krang & the Living Laser). It takes the combined power of Scarlet Witch, Stingray and the Thing to stop Jones and capture the Serpent Crown. Eventually Jones is defeated and Ben takes the Crown to Project Pegasus for safe storage.
But there's more to this story than the Serpent Crown.
Ben has broken up with his long-time girlfriend Alicia. He believes she will be safer if she isn't connected to the Fantastic Four and all their foes. But he quickly regrets dumping her and tries to reconcile. When he believes there's no hope, he decides to seek out Thundra, the Femizon from an Alternate Earth. Thundra has been in love with Ben for years, but he was never available.
Thundra and Hyperion are both trying to get back to the worlds from which they each came and realize that they can help one another. Hyperion has also developed romantic feelings for Thundra. Unfortunately for him, so has the Thing. This leads to a punch-up between them, when both Ben and Hyperion think the other is attacking Thundra.
Months later, the Serpent Crown has called security guards at Project Pegasus into its service. They attack Quasar (who was serving as Chief of Security at Project Pegasus) and force the Crown on to his head! He attempts to contact the Thing, but the Crown takes over his will before he can tell Ben what's happened. Ben is worried, and hightails it up to Project Pegasus to investigate.
At the same time, Spider-Man sees an image of a giant snake slithering through New York and consults Doctor Strange for help in the matter. Strange determines that the Serpent Crown is back and they chase after it. Scarlet Witch also senses that the Crown is active and heads Upstate.
When they arrive they're shocked to find not one, not two, but hundreds of Serpent Crowns from hundreds of universes!
Months later, the Serpent Crown has called security guards at Project Pegasus into its service. They attack Quasar (who was serving as Chief of Security at Project Pegasus) and force the Crown on to his head! He attempts to contact the Thing, but the Crown takes over his will before he can tell Ben what's happened. Ben is worried, and hightails it up to Project Pegasus to investigate.
At the same time, Spider-Man sees an image of a giant snake slithering through New York and consults Doctor Strange for help in the matter. Strange determines that the Serpent Crown is back and they chase after it. Scarlet Witch also senses that the Crown is active and heads Upstate.
When they arrive they're shocked to find not one, not two, but hundreds of Serpent Crowns from hundreds of universes!
Review:
I'll start by saying I'm a bit biased here. I remember getting MTIO #64 as an Easter present when it was brand new back in 1980.
One thing that's interesting here is appearances of Kull and Conan (one panel a piece, via flashback). Marvel hasn't had the rights to the characters in years and I wonder if the lawyers for Robert E. Howard's estate caught this?
Story:
Ralph Macchio and Mark Gruenwald (with a "plot assist" from Steven Grant) give us a great story here. The Serpent Squad is a great new villain team (Gruenwald later expanded them into the Serpent Society, so they must have meant a lot to him). The last part (from Marvel Team-Up Annual #5), written by Gruenwald without Macchio, is the weakest, but it doesn't detract from what comes before. It contains a great history of the Serpent Crown (Gruenwald was "Mr. Continuity", after all) that traces its origins back to the beginning of time.
And before I started this blog, I didn't realize how big the Serpent Crown was during the Bronze Age. This is the 3rd book I've reviewed that features the Crown!
Art:
George Perez does some great work here, truly at the top of his game. Gene Day also does a nice job inking Perez' pencils. The underwater fight scenes look gorgeous.
The last two stories from the Marvel Two-In-One issues are drawn by Jerry Bingham & Ron Wilson, with Gene Day (and "friends") still inking. They're not Perez, but they both do a fine job here.
The final part of the book is drawn by Mark Gruenwald and inked by Jim Mooney. Since Mooney was more of a penciler than inker, we see a lot of him here, but that's okay.
How does it look?
Fantastic. Here's another page of underwater scenery:
4 Sals.
One thing that's interesting here is appearances of Kull and Conan (one panel a piece, via flashback). Marvel hasn't had the rights to the characters in years and I wonder if the lawyers for Robert E. Howard's estate caught this?
Story:
Ralph Macchio and Mark Gruenwald (with a "plot assist" from Steven Grant) give us a great story here. The Serpent Squad is a great new villain team (Gruenwald later expanded them into the Serpent Society, so they must have meant a lot to him). The last part (from Marvel Team-Up Annual #5), written by Gruenwald without Macchio, is the weakest, but it doesn't detract from what comes before. It contains a great history of the Serpent Crown (Gruenwald was "Mr. Continuity", after all) that traces its origins back to the beginning of time.
And before I started this blog, I didn't realize how big the Serpent Crown was during the Bronze Age. This is the 3rd book I've reviewed that features the Crown!
Art:
George Perez does some great work here, truly at the top of his game. Gene Day also does a nice job inking Perez' pencils. The underwater fight scenes look gorgeous.
The last two stories from the Marvel Two-In-One issues are drawn by Jerry Bingham & Ron Wilson, with Gene Day (and "friends") still inking. They're not Perez, but they both do a fine job here.
The final part of the book is drawn by Mark Gruenwald and inked by Jim Mooney. Since Mooney was more of a penciler than inker, we see a lot of him here, but that's okay.
How does it look?
Fantastic. Here's another page of underwater scenery:
The Serpent Crown Affair is a great book. This was my introduction to the Thing as a "solo" character and the story is still fun years later. The aforementioned art makes it worth picking up for all Bronze Age fans. Highly recommended to fans of Ben Grimm, Marvel Two-In-One and George Perez.
4 Sals.
