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Marvel Double Shot #1

Jan 2003
Rob Haynes, Rob Haynes

Marvel Double Shot #1 cover

Story Name:

Spinach


Synopsis

Marvel Double Shot #1 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 4 stars

[The story is told in an elliptical style which requires that much of the plot be inferred, so I’ll just tell it straight through] Before the story begins, a young man with bright green hair showed Bruce Banner a pint of Jen Walters’ blood and threatened to drain more if Bruce did not cooperate with him. Bruce agreed, so the young man allowed him to contact Betty Ross with directions to Jen’s location. What Bruce didn’t know was that Betty also called her father to help find Bruce….

As the story opens, the truck carrying the young man has been stopped by the Highway Patrol on a desert road, and General Ross and his soldiers are summoned. The young man grabs a spray tube labeled "Spinach" and squirts a blast in his mouth. Suddenly he is endowed with super-strength and he beats down the patrolmen. One of the cops squeezes off a shot that hits the truck, causing the Hulk to burst free from the trailer, scattering tubes of Spinach all over. [The Hulk’s blood was going to be the main ingredient in the drug, therefore the kid needed to keep him prisoner as a source.] Angered that the kid sought to exploit the Hulk’s strength, Jade Jaws smashes the kid around and leaps away. Ross and his men arrive to destroy the supply of Spinach to prevent the proliferation of little Hulks.



Story #2

Dear Thor…

Writer: Marlan Harris. Penciler/Inker: Kia Asamiya. Colorist: Jonathan D. Smith.

Synopsis

By Peter Silvestro
Rating: 5 stars
Six-year-old Elise Erickson writes a fan letter to Thor, beginning a one-sided correspondence that lasts her entire life. She writes a few years later to express appreciation for saving her family from a rampaging monster, and again as a teen, offering thanks to him and the Avengers. As an adult the correspondence takes on a more mature aspect, as she looks to Thor for inspiration in recovering from a horrific childhood. Later again she thanks him for his care, a sentiment which turns to bitter anger when her young son dies of cancer and her marriage breaks up. Her final letter is one of apology and acceptance, as she herself lies dying of cancer, asking Thor to watch over her young daughter. The final letter is from Elise’s daughter Mia, echoing her mother’s original childlike faith.

 

Review / Commentaries


Marvel Double Shot #1 Review by (March 15, 2010)
Review: The Hulk tale is a clever little story told in an indirect style, but the interest lies in the art: a series of rough heavily outlined figures in panels that extend the width of the page, and get more agitated as the action heats up. The Thor story is very unusual: the art is a series of full page portraits of the God of Thunder as background for Elise’s letters. The theme is the struggle for faith: to any believer who has tried to maintain trust in God during times of suffering, Elise’s attitudes will be very familiar indeed. Yet the theme is subverted by using Thor as its unlikely focus, as he has never been shown to have the omniscience or omnipresence to answer prayer, guide worshippers nor do anything other than use his divine powers for superheroing. The Thor who appears in the majestic portraits is never shown to be concerned or even aware of his follower’s suffering, making him a distant and unconcerned deity. Whether you take this as a slap at all religions, a case study in projection, or a lesson about the need for a properly grounded faith depends on what you bring to it. A startlingly mature exploration of an unlikely topic for a superhero comic book.

Comments: First in a four-issue series featuring creative and unusual takes on famous Marvel characters. Issue includes a three-page preview of UNCANNY X-MEN #416. The villain in the Hulk tale is a one-eyed fellow who gets a burst of strength from spinach…why does that sound familiar? The Hulk story features a cameo by She-Hulk; the Thor tale has cameos by Captain America and Scarlet Witch, with a reference to Peter Parker.


> Marvel Double Shot comic book info and issue index

Elektra

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Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Rob Haynes
Rob Haynes
Chris Walker
?
Additional Credits

Editor: Tom Brevoort.



Characters

All stories. Listed in alphabetical order.

Betty Ross
Betty Ross

(Elizabeth Ross)
Captain America
Captain America

(Steven Rogers)
Hulk
Hulk

(Robert Bruce Banner)
Scarlet Witch
Scarlet Witch

(Wanda Maximoff)
She-Hulk
She-Hulk

(Jennifer Walters)
Thor
Thor

(Odinson)
Thunderbolt Ross
Thunderbolt Ross

(Thaddeus Ross)


Thor

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