Retro Comic Recap: Marvel Two-In-One #15

Good morning,

I hope that everyone has been having a nice, relaxing Father's Day weekend. It's time for me to talk about the fifteenth issue of Marvel Two-In-One. The cover showed the Thing and Morbius, the living vampire, squaring off before the Living Eraser. The story was called "The Return of the Living Eraser!" The issue had a cover date of May 1976. 

The action started at Alicia Master's studio. The blind girlfriend of Ben Grimm was working on a face sculpt of her beloved, not knowing that she was being watched from the skylight window by the man called Morbius. He entered silently and was soon upon the young woman.

Meanwhile, Grimm was on his way to see his lady love when her screams of terror sent him crashing through Alicia's front door. He was familiar with the character from a tale that Morbius' fiancée Martinee had told the Fantastic Four (recounted in the third issue of Marvel Team-Up), and was more than willing to defend the sculptress. A battle ensued, one that ended with Morbius departing through a closed window.

Ben was still fuming for some time afterward. Alicia tried to calm him down after having sensed her intruder's internal turmoil. Her big heart was one of the endearing qualities that Ben admired. Down on the streets below, a man down on his luck in a nearby alley happened to witness the return of the Living Eraser.

However, he would not remain there long enough to tell others of what he'd observed, as the villain swept his arms and removed him from their plane of existence. The Living Eraser remembered how he'd been sent by the leader from his native Dimension Z to Earth to learn the secrets of the atom for his people. That quest brought him into contact with Hank Pym (also known as the first Ant-Man, Yellow Jacket, and Giant Man) and Janet Van Dyke (aka the Wasp). 

Pym was able to return the people that the Living Eraser had banished back to Earth and caused the villain to go against his people and supremor. The second person that he met upon his return was Morbius himself. The living vampire still thirsted and lunged at his next target shortly before Ben jumped down to intervene. 

The two tussled once more, but their conflict continued into Dimension Z after both combatants had been affected by the Living Eraser's power. They found themselves in a cell where the menace kept Dimension Z's former ruler and his subordinates imprisoned. It was child's play for the Thing to free them, and Morbius started the assault on the guards who waited outside.

Morbius and the Thing were then given a device that would allow them to return to Earth to face the Living Eraser, who had remained behind. Their teamwork was sufficient to subdue their foe. Shortly after his defeat, the new allies from Dimension Z. Their princess had become enamored with Morbius during the breakout, and asked him to return with them. He appreciated the offer, but faded out to deal with his current issues by himself. 

Morbius is another Marvel character who can go from friend to foe in the space of just a few issues. He debuted as a villain in the pages of the Amazing Spider-Man and had several solo stories and guest appearances in titles like this one and the Savage She-Hulk, among others. He disappeared from the limelight for a while before being given another title during the rise of the Midnight Sons line in the 1990s. He still pops up from time to time, but hasn't had much staying power for very long. I always thought that he was a kind of tortured soul, not unlike Bruce Banner.

The Living Eraser is a minor Marvel villain who has only appeared in different comics a handful of times. I would like to learn more about his people, but I don't think there's enough interest at this time to warrant a deeper dive into a character that most modern comic book readers don't even know about. I had to chuckle when I first read this issue, wondering if there would ever be a character called the Living Pencil.

Well, that's it for this article. Later today, I'll cover the sixteenth issue in this series. The Thing will travel to a mystical Marvel land and join forces with a character who first debuted in the pages of the first X-Men title. Until then, have a great Sunday and don't forget to be kind to one another.