Dan Slott's pnchant for nostalgia shines through in his writing. He revived the Great Lakes Avengers for a limited series (and upcoming holiday special), his Spider-Man/Human Torch series was all about exploring the characters' past incarnations, and some wonderful but obscure characters have turned up in his She-Hulk scripts. Never has his love for comics storytelling of yesteryear been more apparent than in this comic book. I was a fan of Marvel Two-in-One, and it's clear Slott was as well, because while this isn't billed as a team-up book, it certainly reads like one. That's not a bad thing, though, as the script certainly lives up to its title: "Fun 'N' Games." Given the lighter tone of the script overall, though, the art style is a little too conventional and straight-laced, while efforts to throw in a bit of melancholy fall flat and come off as repetitive.
Benjamin J. Grimm is enjoying his new life as a billionnaire, living in a penthouse suite, getting invited to all the posh parties and even dating a red-hot movie starlet. So why ain't the ever-lovin', blue-eyed idol o' millions feeling all that great about his swanky new lifestyle? Meanwhile, a spoiled little heiress is exlcuded from the Grimm fanfare by his actress girlfriend, and she sets out to hire someone to spoil all of the fun if she can't be a part of it. Of course, with a member of the Fantastic Four involved, the hired gun in question will have to be a special one with remarkable resources.
DiVito's richly detailed approach puts one in mind of George Perez's work, but that comes as no surprise, as Perez was the artist on some of the more memorable issues of Marvel Two-in-One. The art is bright and crisp, but given the farcical tone of certain sequences, it seems as though the artist plays things just too straight. The art lacks an irreverent quality that the script really cries out for here.
I love the colorful and diverse array of Marvel characters who turn up in this story. There's a playful tone to be found often throughout the issue, one that can even get the reader to forgive a satirical character name such as "Milan Ramada." I enjoyed the new villain introduced in the opening sequence, and it was a pleasure to see Bill Foster back in action as Goliath (two weeks in a row! -- see Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2).
Ben's lament over the source of popularity -- his money and his inhuman appearance -- conflicts with the otherwise lighter tone of the story. Furthermore, Slott's decision to keep going back to it over and over, when it's clear that Carlotta cares more about surface than substance, gets tiresome. Furthermore, a melancholy, self-pitying Thing is the sort of thing we've seen time and time again since the character was introduced in the early '60s. It's time for a touch of something new in the character. 6/10
