Comic Review: Marvel 2-In-One #6

Marvel 2-In-One #6

Marvel Comics

Writer: Chip Zdarsky

Artist: Jim Cheung

Marvel 2-In-One has been doing its best to give us the Fantastic Four without actually having Marvels first family in the book. The current story has Johnny Storm (The Human Torch) and Ben Grimm (The Thing) jumping dimensions to try and find the Richards who make up the rest of the team. Problems arise, however, as Johnny is losing his powers and Ben has been getting weaker each time they jump. To add to that, the former enemy of the Four Victor Von Doom has been joining them. Recently he has been taking the role of Iron Man in Tony’s absence with a new set of armor. He is joining the duo in an attempt to give up his life as a power-hungry dictator and become a hero. This leads them to a new alternate world where Galactus is returning to Earth to satisfy his hunger by stealing its energy. This is not the Galactus we know, however; this Galactus is Victor Von Doom who stole the Power Cosmic along with the world-eating hunger from the original. It is this interesting twist provided in previous issues that drive the core story of this chapter.

In the opening pages Chip Zdarsky gives us a moment between Iron Doom and the Reed Richards of this alternate world working together to build a machine to stop the Doom Galactus. Reed comments on how nice it is having an equal to work with. He hopes somewhere out there is a world where the two can be friends. Perhaps the main world could become this hoped-for reality? We then go into the battle with the Doom Galactus that has some nice dialogue that really captures the voice of the characters. Grimm talks about his sweet aunt and his baby blues referencing past phrases. Iron Doom displays his arrogance and condescending tone. I particularly liked Grimm’s comment on heaven being punching Victor Von Doom.

Grimm is made the size of Galactus Doom as a result of being given Pym Particles followed by a great fight. The two then punch it out while the rest of the team get to work. Iron Doom’s ego gets in the way and he believes that his machine can only be operated by him. Storm interjects and says the reason the Fantastic Four succeeded in stopping him at every turn was because they worked as a team. They trusted and relied on each other. If he wants to prove he really is a hero now, he has to find that trust. This moment gives Doom a choice. Doom’s nature is really explored in both versions of the character. One is a man seeking redemption in heroism, the other a man so hungry for power he has become the Eater-of-Worlds. The result is a deep look into Doom. The alternate Johnny Storm from this world also adds a fun twist.

The art provided by Jim Cheung and Walden Wong is perfect. There is a ton of detail to the characters. Grimm and Iron Doom getting a lot of love to make them look terrific. The character design of the Doom Galactus was a favorite of mine due to the nod to both Galactus and Dooms classic looks. The color scheme on Galactus Doom is catching. The colors in this issue do a lot of work and look great. There is a lot of pink and purples clashing with greens used in the battle that mirror this really being a fight between Doom and Galactus. Post-battle there are earth tones that have a bit less pop. It makes it far less chaotic and more docile. The team also makes hipster beards look good.