Two In One
I was feeling kind of crappy this weekend and spent most of Saturday just vegging out. To help with that, I picked up Volume 2 of The Essential Marvel Two In One, and really a better time is tough to imagine.
Two in One was one of those great 70’s titles that was hanging out there on the edge of the Marvel Universe, but that didn’t have to be The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine every month. It wasn’t exactly the Marvel flagship. It had two important things going for it – the creators didn’t take it more seriously than a comic book, and lots of great creators were thrown an issue or two as a chance to prove themselves. It also starred the Thing, one of Marvel’s most over-the-top heroes.
The result is a charming set of fun stories and general tour around the characters and situations in the Marvel Universe. Several series had their loose ends tied up in MTIO and a few actual important Marvel Universe events happened in there, too. Mostly, though, they’re fun single-issue or two-issue stories with a charismatic and visually appealing star that make it a great way to waste an afternoon.
A pleasurable guilty pleasure. (To get a feel for the series, I recommend Mark O’English’s amazingly complete and remarkably entertaining Ever-Lovin’ Blue-Eyed Home Page.)