In recent years, the Epic Collection has become a very popular format for Marvel trade paperbacks. The beauty of the Epic Collection is that they contain a hulking four hundred to five hundred pages plus of reprinted material while not being a bulky or easily damaged as Marvel’s omnibus volumes. Not all series are worthy of being collected in such a format however. Marvel Two-In-One is a prime example of this.
Marvel Two-In-One Epic Collection: Cry Monster collects solo stories of The Thing (Ben Grimm) from Marvel Feature 11 and 12 as well the first nineteen issues of Marvel Two-In-One as well Marvel Team-Up 47. Yes, that’s a lot of comics, but there is no continuous story, merely numerous issues of the Thing bouncing from one conflict to the next. To many readers, this will likely become very tiresome very quickly. While the array of guest stars is great, ranging from Daredevil and Thor to Dr. Strange and Spider-Man, most of them aren’t really given time to shine, playing second fiddle to Grimm as it is his title.
If you’re a big fan of the Thing, this is the Epic Collection for you. That said, if you’re merely looking for a collection of team-up stories or a sampling of stories from the mid-1970s, there are far superior trade paperbacks one can pick up, some for a fraction of this volume’s $40 cover price as well.
