Brotherly Love and the American Eagle

Marvel Two-in-One Annual #6
“An Eagle from America”
Writer: Doug Moench
Penciler: Ron Wilson
Inker: Gene Day
Letterer: Pierre Bernard Jr.
Colorist: George Roussos
Cover: Penciled by Ed Hannigan, inked by Walter Simonson
Editor: Dave Kraft
Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter
Released: July 14, 1981

With Super Bowl LVII on the horizon, picking a comic book analogue for the Kansas City Chiefs was easy enough. The Philadelphia Eagles? Not so much.

Google and Wikipedia gave me a number of possibilities, few if any in my collection. I narrowed it down to some Marvel and DC characters I thought I could dig up and asked a friend and co-worker who is an Eagles fan which one he would suggest. He landed on Marvel's American Eagle, suggesting it fits since the Eagles are America's team. It should be noted that they are not. That's the nickname often associated with the Dallas Cowboys, although as a Washington RedFootManders fan, I disagree. I would argue the Green Bay Packers or Pittsburgh Steelers fit the bill better.

But I eagerly accepted his suggestion because it meant reading an issue of “Marvel Two-in-One,” one of my favorite comic series, pairing the ever-lovin', blue-eyed Thing with a new guest star or two each month. This issue is not available (yet, anyway) on Marvel Unlimited, which means I had to rely on my Essential volumes. They are a wonderful resource, but do not come in color, which made them more affordable.

This annual opens with the Thing all alone, bored out of his skull as the rest of the Fantastic Four and his girlfriend Alicia are off doing their own things. But the Human Torch's pal and go-to FF supporting character Wyatt Wingfoot shows up in need of some help. Saving Wyatt's bacon led to one of my favorite comics ever, so I was happy to see him kick things off here.

It seems there was trouble in a neighboring Native American reservation that brought to mind a legend of two brothers who battled to possess divine power to defend their tribe. A similar scene played out recently with Jay and Ward Strongbow disagreeing over a company's efforts to mine mountains sacred to the tribe.

Jay took the company to court, but when that stalled he and others staged a protest. As tempers flared, the watchman shot and killed one of the protesters. Jay pursued him into the mine, where he came face-to-face with his brother. An explosion collapsed the mine, and a strangely empowered Jay Strongbow emerged and pledged to track the unscrupulous miners to the ends of the Earth.

It turns out the next target for their resource-gathering is the Savage Land, Marvel's Antarctic dinosaur paradise that doesn't just hold intrigue for the X-Men. There we find Strongbow in his new identity as American Eagle, tracking a trio of ne'er-do-wells who themselves are hunting a unicorn.* Savage Land monarch and defender Ka-Zar, though, is under the impression that American Eagle intends to use his combination rifle/crossbow on the animal instead.

After a traditional first meeting dust-up, Ka-Zar realizes he's outmatched from a strength perspective, so he tries talking to the stranger. They find out they both want to protect the land and natural resources, a point American Eagle underscores by referring to the bad guys “raping the land” a couple times. I know comics aren't only for kids, but this still seemed a bit much?

They meet up with the Thing and Wyatt, with American Eagle filling in the rest of the story by explaining the explosion in the mine was the result of utility Marvel villain Klaw blasting him with sonic energy while Jay was also exposed to radiation from damaged equipment. Comic book math, of course, tells us radiation plus explosion equals powers.

They track Klaw and his unicorn-hunting henchmen to their base of operations, where they've assembled some dinosaurs to unleash on any interlopers. Thing decides to take on Klaw, quizzing him on how he's up and about after being absorbed into his own sonic cannon after their last face-off at Project Pegasus.** Ka-Zar and American Eagle run into Ward Strongbow, who a) has been working with Klaw and company all along and b) got the same powers as his brother in that explosion. The brothers come to blows, and a well-placed rock thrown by Wyatt frees the Thing from Klaw's energy blasts. Klaw releases the caged dinosaurs, resulting in a stampede Ka-Zar works to corral, while Thing demonstrates the concept of clobberin' time on Klaw.

Meanwhile, the same henchman who shot the protester back in the States decides to intervene in the battle of the brothers but manages to kill the one that's on his side. American Eagle advances on the men, who flee... right into the path of the stampeding dinosaurs.

It's an extra-length story that feels like maybe it didn't need the additional pages. The Thing is as fun and funny as ever, a grumbling everyman with a heart of gold. American Eagle, the reason we're here in the first place, feels almost like a caricature at times. Forty years on, I wonder how some of the references to Native Americans' struggles against the white man (legitimate concerns, of course, that I personally haven't experienced) sounded then compared to now (a bit over-simplified). I'm sure the intentions of the creators were nothing but pure and respectful.

My only actual problem with American Eagle here is his single-minded thirst for vengeance, though it's totally understandable. I did enjoy him and Ka-Zar's brief battle that didn't persist because of ego. And having Wyatt Wingfoot chip in as more than just a plot device was a nice touch as well.

* - I knew the Savage Land had dinosaurs. Unicorns, not so much.

** - Turns out a cleaning lady found the blaster and turned it on, thus calling into question the safety training at the research facility.