Omitted material: Marvel Two-in-One 99

Left out of Essential Marvel Two-in-One volume 4 is issue #99, which features a team-up with the licensed character Rom (previously seen in Power Man and Iron Fist #73 so I won't describe him again here). The issue is written by Bill Mantlo and drawn by Bob Hall.

This is a relatively straightforward action piece in which Rom crashes on the roof of the Baxter Building after an initial fight with a coven of Dire Wraith witches who have animated the armour of his deceased fellow Space Knight Firefall. Ben already knows Rom from adventures in the latter's own title and the two set off to deal with the Coven. During the fight Ben is bewitched by the Wraiths, forcing Rom to deploy his neutraliser weapon which dispatches all the Wraiths and also turns Ben human again. To Rom's surprise, Ben is upset at regaining his "humanity" - this is because Ben fears Alicia is drawn to the Thing not the man and is scared of losing her. Then the effects of the neutraliser wear off, restoring Ben to his Thing form.

This issue is somewhat slight due to telling two extended action sequences, one in flashback, but does show the problems with telling Rom stories because he comes with a powerful weapon that can permanently dispatch his foes and only his foes with ease. (And as the weapon came with the toy it can't be simply abandoned.) But it's also surprising to see yet another temporary cure for Ben and what I think is the first time he directly acknowledges the possibility that he really prefers being the Thing because of Alicia and implicitly this may be why no cure has ever lasted. It puts the final issue of the series into greater perspective and so is more key than it first seems, even though the main issue is nothing to write home about.