Marvel Two-in-One #54

History

The issue was written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, pencilled by John Byrne with finishes by Joe Sinnott, and edited by Roger Stern with Jim Salicrup as assistant editor, all under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. It is the second chapter of the 'Project Pegasus' arc (issues #53–58), a six-part storyline that Gruenwald and Macchio had been building toward since groundwork was laid in issues #42–43; the story was later collected in a Marvel Premier Hardcover titled The Thing: Project Pegasus and subsequently in Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Two-in-One Vol. 5 (2020). The Grapplers were conceived as a team of enhanced female wrestlers hired by the Roxxon Oil Company to sabotage the experimental energy facility, and Gruenwald and Macchio gave each member a distinct personality and power set that would pay dividends for writers for years to come.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of the Grapplers as a team: Titania (Davida DeVito), Screaming Mimi (Melissa Gold), Poundcakes (Marian Pouncy), and Letha (Hellen Feliciano), all debuting simultaneously in this issue.
• Screaming Mimi / Melissa Gold — who debuts here — would later become Songbird, a founding member of the Thunderbolts and one of Marvel's most celebrated villain-to-hero redemption stories; her Songbird identity first appeared in Incredible Hulk #449 (1996).
• The Roxxon-engineered Deathlok robot is destroyed in this issue, resolving a threat introduced in the prior issue (#53) and confirming that this 'Deathlok' was never the authentic Luther Manning cyborg from Earth-7484.
• Written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio; pencilled by John Byrne (breakdowns) with Joe Sinnott (finished art); cover by George Pérez and Terry Austin; edited by Roger Stern with Jim Salicrup as assistant editor.
• The issue is part two of the six-chapter 'Project Pegasus' arc (Marvel Two-in-One #53–58), set at the Marvel Universe's experimental government energy research facility in upstate New York.
• The Grapplers were created as mercenaries employed by the Roxxon Oil Company — Roxxon's corporate villainy serving as the arc's behind-the-scenes antagonist — and were equipped with specialized costumes and weaponry to infiltrate Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
• The original Grapplers lineup was noted by multiple sources to bear a superficial resemblance to Jack Kirby's Female Furies from New Gods (first seen in 1972).
• The story was reprinted in Thing: Project Pegasus (Marvel, 2018) and Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Two-in-One #5 (2020).

Cast · 31 characters

Full credits

Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers

Key issues in Marvel Two-in-One

★

#64 1st appearance — Anaconda

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#52 1st appearance — Crossfire

#50★

#50 Key event — Ben Grimm

Variants (2)