Marvel Two-in-One #50
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Two-in-One #50 is among the most creatively ambitious issues of the Bronze Age because it turns the series' standard team-up formula completely on its head: rather than pairing Ben Grimm with another hero, writer-artist John Byrne sent the Thing back through time to battle — and attempt to cure — an earlier version of himself, making it the first Marvel story to stage a 'hero vs. his own past self' confrontation at full scale. The issue also quietly introduced Earth-7940, the first alternate Marvel reality to be spun directly out of a time-travel attempt gone wrong, a concept that Marvel's subsequent multiverse storytelling would build upon for decades. Its emotional core — Ben desperately seeking a cure for his rocky form only to be told by Reed Richards that his own past is immutable — ranks among the most poignant explorations of the Thing's tragic identity in all of Fantastic Four mythology. The issue proved so resonant that Byrne returned to its exact premise four years later in the series' finale, Marvel Two-in-One #100, cementing #50's status as the definitive Ben Grimm solo statement of the Bronze Age.
In "Remembrance of Things Past!", Ben Grimm takes a desperate leap through time using Dr. Doom's device, racing against his own history to alter a pivotal moment in his past. Written and illustrated by John Byrne, with inks by Joe Sinnott and colors by F. Mouly, this 1979 issue blends sci-fi reckoning with the emotional weight of identity, all framed by George Pérez’s striking cover art.
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The issue went on sale January 2, 1979, and was edited by Roger Stern under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter. It marked a significant creative milestone for John Byrne, representing both his first solo writing credit on a Marvel comic and the first Thing story he simultaneously wrote and drew — experience that, by multiple contemporary accounts, helped prepare him for his celebrated, years-long run as the sole writer-artist on Fantastic Four that followed shortly after. The cover was penciled by George Pérez and inked by Joe Sinnott, while Byrne handled interior pencils, with Sinnott again on inks, Françoise Mouly on colors, and Jim Novak lettering.
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- Written and penciled by John Byrne — his first simultaneous solo writing and art credit on a Marvel comic.
- Inked by Joe Sinnott; cover penciled by George Pérez (inked by Sinnott); colored by Françoise Mouly; lettered by Jim Novak; edited by Roger Stern.
- On-sale date: January 2, 1979 (cover-dated April 1979); published as the 50th-issue anniversary celebration of the series.
- Story titled 'Remembrance of Things Past!' — Ben Grimm uses Doctor Doom's time platform to travel back to the early days of the Fantastic Four, hoping to deliver Reed Richards' cure to his earlier, less-evolved 'dinosaur-hide' self.
- First appearance of Earth-7940: rather than reaching his own past, Ben inadvertently crossed into a parallel reality where New York City is called New Amsterdam and the early Fantastic Four operate without having yet moved into the Baxter Building.
- The issue is the first in Marvel Comics to formally acknowledge that the Thing's physical form continued mutating — from his original reptilian hide seen in Fantastic Four #1 to his later distinctive rocky, brick-like appearance circa Fantastic Four #10.
- Reed's closing explanation — that time travel creates an alternate timeline rather than changing one's own history — seeded the multiverse mechanics that Mark Gruenwald would later codify as Marvel's official time-travel doctrine.
- Reprinted in: Essential Marvel Two-in-One Vol. 2 (2007, black-and-white); Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne Vol. 0 (2009); Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1 (2011); Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 2 (2018); Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Two-in-One Vol. 5 (2020).
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Reprints
Reprinted in Edderkoppen #1/1985 (1985), Edderkoppen #1/1985 (1985), Spindelmannen #1/1985 (1985), The Adventures of the Thing #1 (1992), Marvel Super-Heroes Megazine #5 (1995), Best of the Fantastic Four #[nn] (2005), Essential Marvel Two-in-One #2 (2007), Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne #0 (2009), Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus #1 (2011), Marvel Universe by John Byrne Omnibus #2 (2018), Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Two-in-One #5 (2020), Marvel Two-in-One Epic Collection #3 (2024), I Fantastici Quattro #257
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