Marvel Two-In-One #1 paired one of Marvel’s most recognizable characters, The Thing, with Gerber’s own oddity, Man-Thing.
Steve Gerber was a genius. I’ve sung his praises many times in the past. He was quirky, cool, character-driven, creative….And he launched a grossly underrated comic: Marvel Two In One. As a kid, I was a “Marvel Team Up” guy because I loved anything Spider-Man. But as an adult, reading in retrospect, I think MTIO was a better comic. The stories weren’t “standard” superhero team-ups, they were about things. Actually, Thing. The series took us through the life of Thing, and we got to see him as a boxer, a prison-warden, and in many other ways. But it was Steve Gerber’s first issues that really set the tone for the book.
We start with Thing in Florida–and we see how he got there.
Thing vs Hulk fights are very popular with readers (see the tag below), so the flashback includes such a fight, from Marvel Feature #12.
And because Gerber was always into both character and villain, we get some Molecule Man details. He needs the wand to stop himself from aging.
And some fights.
Gerber knows that a great team up has to start with the heroes fighting, but he gets that out of the way in a few panels. Then, he proceeds to take two of the most distinctive-looking Marvel characters and…Make them human.
Only Gerber would have thought to do this.
The duo go through a fight with Molecule Man, it’s a great story, but then, in the end, it gets even more bizarre. Molecule Man drops the wand, and ages into dust. Then:
Thing gives Molecule Man’s “magic wand” to a ginger-headed howdy doody kid. Seems like a dumb move.
Weird as hell.
Here’s the version of the cover that was released in Spanish speaking countries: La Cosa y el Hombre Cosa.
