#Marvel Two-in-One

[merrymarvelite]

Cover of the Day: Marvel Two-In-One #50 (April, 1979) Art by George Pérez & Joe Sinnott

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #51

The week brought another issue of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, this one featuring an assortment of special guest stars hanging out with Ben Grimm. Part of the reason for that is that this was one of those stories commissioned as an emergency fill-in that could be used in multiple places given the need. So it could have also been an issue of AVENGERS, but it wound up in TWO-IN-ONE. That’s a nice if generic…

[evilhorse]

If there’s anything I can’t stand, it’s taking off this super suit and pretending to be a business tycoon.

(Marvel Two-in-One #34)

[jkparkin]

Deadpool #8 (Marvel, November 2024) Marvel Two-In-One variant cover by Cory Smith

[chernobog13]

Yes, they really put the Thing in John Travolta's Saturday Night Fever suit.

From Marvel Two-In-One (vol. 1) #68 (October, 1980).

[doctorstrangereview]

0127: Marvel Two-In-One #6

Cover Date: November 1974 On-Sale Date: August 13, 1974

With so many heroes living in New York City they are bound to run into each other every so often. Even one like Doc who's adventures are more esoteric than the average super-being. Doc hasn't bumped into the Fantastic Four for years, outside of the occasional wedding and this is his first outing with Benjy Grimm solo. With Doc involved, the story won't fit into a single issue. This is part one.

While waiting for their train, Doc, Clea and some others are enjoying the harmonica music of a strange (no pun intended) girl on the platform. Mr. Gerber gives us a collection of short biographies and reactions of the immediate members of the audience.

The strange woman finishes her performance. One member of the audience, who looks like a shirtless vampire, isn't happy and tries to "convince" her to play some more. Some fashion choices of the 70s were really questionable! Vampy snatches the harmonica and pushes the woman onto the tracks. The woman pleads to save the harmonica. Doc hesitates a moment and fulfils this request. Before he can attempt to save the woman, she is struck by an oncoming train. Instead of a splat, she bursts into lots of multicolored sparks. Well, Doc is involved. Things can't go the ordinary way.

The sparks cover the passengers on the platform, seeping into them and calming them. Once they recover their wits, everyone flees. Doc and Clea leave the platform and return to the Sanctum Sanctorum.

Meanwhile, back at the Baxter Building, the blue-eyed Benjamin J. Grimm, aka The Thing, receives an early morning telephone call. It's from Mrs. Coogan on Yancy Street and it turns out she's Vampy's grandmother. Vampy looks like he's going through some serious heroin withdrawal.

The Thing flies to Yancy Street in one of the FF's fancy vehicles and has a long awaited reunion with Mrs. Coogan. Benjy asks Vampy to spill his guts. While they get all tender, we change our view back to Doc's Sanctum. Doc is trying to discern where the sparkle woman and her harmonica originate from. Clea and Wong watch. Clea must have been watching Doctor Who because she tell's Wong she'll explain later.

Doc manages to contact the woman. It turns out she's not really an entity but a manifestation of the force called destiny. Everyone who interacted with her have, through some kind of gobbledygook, managed to change the course of their destiny. Doc asks about the harmonica but it seems she's not allowed to talk about that and bolts. Doc needs to find everyone on the platform and... do something. He flies off with instructions not to touch the harmonica. We know how well telling people not to do something goes.

Doc finds the young couple and as he arrives strange things happen. First, Sheldon, the husband of the couple has lost his face and second, Doc's ghost is coming the the wall of their bedroom. Doc isn't usually the peeping tom sort so we'll assume he's there to fix the dude's face.

The condition seems to be related to Sheldon's loss of individuality. Doc beams some sort of suggestion into Sheldon's head and he gets his face back. Doc's ghost returns to his body and Sheldon tells his wife that he want's to quit his job and write a book. Yeah, that should go well.

Back on Yancy Street, Benjy has heard Vampy's story and doesn't believe it. The man who grew rocky skin, visited other planets and dimensions, traveled through time and fought Galactus and other extremely powerful entities doesn't believe that a woman exploded into colorful sparkles. While digesting the story and thinking not-nice thoughts about Vampy, Benjy goes outside only to discover the Yancy Street Gang has vandalized his transport.

Doc arrives on the scene as the Thing is losing his ability to control his anger. Benjy asks what he's doing there and Doc says if he tells him, Benjy may think Doc is ready for a rubber room. As the two heroes walk off to discuss, a nearby rat grows to giant size, crawls the wall of the nearby brownstone and attacks Vampy who happens to be looking out the window. The event is significant enough for Mr. Tuska to give us a full page panel!

The Thing grabs the rat's tail and the rat grabs Vampy. Doc suspects there may be magic involved (duh!) and joins the fray. The rat releases Vampy. Benjy continues to pummel the giant rodent. The rodent fights back and Benjy isn't having a great time.

Realizing Vampy is at the center of this, he starts working on him and he isn't very kind.

Doc eventually convinces Vampy that life is worth living and he has some degree of control over things. Vampy's renewed confidence allows Benjy to dispatch his red-eyed foe.

The Thing is ready to go back to bed. Who can blame him. Doc explains there's one more dude we need to ferret out and then there's that darn Harmonica I haven't figured out yet. Benjy is like "Oh well, the night's ruined anyway. Let's go."

The pair return to the Sanctum and Doc asks Clea to get the harmonica. Clea tells him that Valkyrie showed up and said she would bring it to Doc. Looks like they all have another mystery to solve.

On the surface, the story is a bit bland, but looking at all the elements, this is a prototype of Defenders stories to be. It's got that touch of weirdness that will become a trademark of the series. The style Mr. Tuska uses appears to influence Don Perlin who will illustrate many of those weird tales.

Steve Gerber handles Doc quite well. He's more than a spell throwing, exposition machine here. A story like this doesn't allow for occasional intimate moments that provide character growth, but the interaction between Doc and Vampy is telling. Doc tends to be a nice guy, but here he shows he can see the bigger picture. He takes the necessary road to get the job done and save those who need saving.

It's a story without a true villain. Rather, the cast deals with the unintended consequences of an impulsive action. I haven't read the follow-up yet and don't know if Doc and Clea are similarly affected by the sparkle woman. After all, they were present when this all happened.

It's not an overwhelmingly great story, but it entertained and didn't drag so I liked it.

[ungoliantschilde]

Marvel Two-in-One, Vol. 1 # 42 by George Perez, with Inks by Terry Austin.

[ewzzy]

[thebestcomicbookpanels]

Ben Grimm and Adam Warlock in Marvel Two-in-One #63 by Jerry Bingham

[cryptocollectibles]

Adventures of The Thing 4 Issue Complete Set (1992) by Marvel Comics

Written and drawn by various.

[merrymarvelite]

Cover of the Day: Marvel Two-In-One #48 (February, 1979) Art by Chic Stone

[brevoorthistoryofcomics]

BHOC: MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE #50

Now this was a comic book that I really liked. So much so that I sent a letter of comment in to the letters page asking that creator John Byrne be allowed to both write and pencil FANTASTIC FOUR. A real case of “be careful what you wish for”, as I stopped buying FF under Byrne’s eventual tenure. But this issue, steeped in classic lore that I was familiar with, was something that really connected…

[evilhorse]

Here’s rocks in yer eye!

(Marvel Two-in-One #36)

[jkparkin]

Scarlet Witch #6 (Marvel, November 2024) Marvel Two-In-One variant cover by Annie Wu

[yetanothercomicbook]

My Master, Machinesmith!

Marvel Two-in-One #48

Good fun.

"Marvel's newest super-hero sensation battles for his life against a fighting mad Ben Grimm!"

There's lots to enjoy here. The villain has two solid goals, and they both more than justify his actions thus far. The events here are nicely tied back to what's been happening with Jack Hart in other comics. And the Yancy Streeters play a big part in the story, which is refreshing. Re-reading this two-parter was a blast.

On Sale Date: October 31, 1978.

8/10

[browsethestacks]

Vintage Comic - The Thing Is Big Ben #016 (July11th1984) (Marvel UK)