Essential Marvel Two-In-One

[JulianPerez]

I picked up the Essential because I figured it'd be great fun. The Thing is my favorite Marvel character of all time, one of the few truly unique creations in all of comics: I love his humor and dialogue, and also his moody self-pity. Plus, Gerber was involved, and he'd never steer me wrong, right?

I've never seen a comic so obstinate in using bad villains, to the point where it almost verges on the sadistic. God, I wish I was joking: Kurrgo from Planet X shows up in the first comic, a harbinger of things to come. Not to mention Master Man (remember him?) and the Living Eraser (Oh God...).

There was one bit in Howard the Duck this made me think of: any good comics fan worth their salt can list the villains in the first 25 issues of Fantastic Four by memory.

The Badoon show up, but they're a faceless mob and no personalities emerge. It's actually something of a relief when cool villains like the Puppet Master and Seth, God of Death show up.

There's very little of the pathos that makes the Thing so interesting and sympathetic and a little sad. For many of the stories either the Thing or the Guest-Star is awkwardly shoehorned in as an afterthought.

I love continuity as much as the next guy, but the comic also seemed determined to answer questions no one asked: what happened to the nega-bands inside Tomazooma the Living Totem?

[Reptisaurus!]

The Puppet Master, the Molecule Man, the Miracle Man... Those villains from the first 25 issues of Fantastic Four?

[JulianPerez]

Originally Posted by Reptisaurus!

The Puppet Master, the Molecule Man, the Miracle Man... Those villains from the first 25 issues of Fantastic Four?

Yeah, exactly. I'd bet my front teeth this story started out as a bet with Gerber and others to see who could use more of the dud villains from the first 25 issues of FF.

"Ha ha, I win. You owe me a coke, Roy Thomas!"

Incidentally, I just read an interview with Roy Thomas about his tenure on FF, and Roy the Boy was asked what his greatest achievement was on the book.

"Well, I'd say it was bringing back the Impossible Man."

That about says it all when it comes to Thomas's tenure on the book.

[tangentman]

Despite the cheesiness of early issues, the later run showcased excellent stories like the "Project Pegasus Saga" and the Serpent Crown story arc. Heroes like Quasar, Giant Man (Bill Foster), Thundra, Stingray, Triton, & Scarlet Witch figured prominently in these stories. Cool villains like the third Serpent Squad (Sidewinder, Anaconda, Black Mamba, & Death Adder) & the Grapplers also showed up. Smart stories with cool action sequences & art by George Perez & John Byrne!