Marvel Two-in-One #60
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMarvel Two-in-One #60 holds a firm place in Bronze Age Marvel history as the first appearance of the Impossible Woman, the shape-shifting Poppupian companion created by the Impossible Man — a character who went on to appear across dozens of issues and anchored Marvel's 2011 Impossible Man trade paperback collection. Beyond that debut, the issue is a notable early example of creators inserting fictionalized versions of themselves into the Marvel Universe's main continuity: writers Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio, along with artist George Pérez, appear as named characters attending Alicia Masters' art gallery opening, marking the in-universe first appearances of both Gruenwald and Macchio on Earth-616. The issue also serves as a character study of Ben Grimm's emotional life — his self-doubt, his tenderness toward Alicia, and his history with the Yancy Street Gang — wrapped inside a genuinely comedic adventure that demonstrates the Gruenwald/Macchio partnership's skill at mixing heart and humor immediately after their celebrated 'Project: PEGASUS' saga.
ComicBooks.com Value
Show all 9 grades ▾
This exact issue on ebay
Raw — NM- ▾ $17.5–$29.99 2 listings
Raw — VF+ ▾ $3.95–$13.3 3 listings
Raw — VF ▾ $3–$20.99 9 listings
Raw — FINE ▾ $2.99–$3 2 listings
Raw — VG ▾ $1.8–$5 5 listings
Raw / ungraded ▾ $2.24–$13.77 26 listings
More listings for this title
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The issue was co-written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio — who had just completed the acclaimed 'Project: PEGASUS' multi-part storyline in the preceding issues of the same title — with interior pencils by George Pérez and inks by Gene Day; the cover was by Bob Budiansky with inks by Josef Rubinstein. At the time, Gruenwald had been on staff at Marvel since January 1978, working as an assistant editor under editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, and this run on Marvel Two-in-One represented one of his earliest and most sustained writing assignments before he rose to full editor and later became one of Marvel's most consequential editors of the 1980s and '90s. Roger Stern served as editor on this issue. The Marvel Appendix's in-universe framing of the creators' cameo — depicting Gruenwald and Macchio literally discussing the plot of the very issue they are drawn into — adds a playful meta-textual layer that was characteristic of late-1970s Marvel's house style under Shooter.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Impossible Woman (Earth-616), the shape-shifting Poppupian companion willed into existence by the Impossible Man, who goes on to become a recurring Marvel character.
- First in-continuity (Earth-616) appearances of Marvel staffers Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio as fictionalized versions of themselves, attending Alicia Masters' sculpture show.
- Story title: 'Happiness is a Warm Alien!' Cover date: February 1980; on-sale: November 1979.
- Co-written by Mark Gruenwald and Ralph Macchio; interior art by George Pérez (pencils) and Gene Day (inks); cover by Bob Budiansky; edited by Roger Stern.
- The Impossible Man creates the Impossible Woman after observing the Thing and Alicia Masters together, motivated by a desire to understand human relationships — providing in-universe context for the Poppupian species' future propagation.
- The Terrible Trio (Bull Brogin, Handsome Harry Phillips, Yogi Dakor) serve as the antagonists, infiltrating Alicia's art opening as caterers; Yogi Dakor uses mental powers to animate Alicia's sculptures of Doctor Doom, Blastaar, and Diablo as weapons against the Thing.
- The issue directly follows the celebrated 'Project: PEGASUS' arc (issues #53–58), making it a comedic-tonal palette-cleanser by the same creative team (Gruenwald/Macchio/Pérez).
- Marvel Two-in-One #60 was later reprinted as part of the 2011 Impossible Man trade paperback, which collected key Impossible Man and Impossible Woman stories from across multiple Marvel titles.
Cast · 14 characters
Full credits
Reprints
↩ Reprints [Marvel Hostess Ads] #41 (1979)
Reprinted in Rampage Monthly #47 (1982), Spécial Strange #37 (1984), The Project Pegasus Saga Starring The Thing #[nn] (1988), Star Magazine #4 (1990), Fantastic Four Visionaries: George Pérez #2 (2006), Essential Marvel Two-in-One #3 (2009), Impossible Man #[nn] (2011), Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Two-in-One #5 (2020)
Key issues in Marvel Two-in-One
Variants (2)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.