REVIEW: ‘Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-in-One’ Issue #1

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-in-One #1, which is published by IDW Publishing, includes two separate stories that come from various creators. The first story, which is titled “Hair of the Dog that Bit Ya,” is written by Peter David, penciled by Mike Norton, colored by Guru-EFX, and lettered by David Sharpe. The second story, which is titled “If I Had a Hammer,” is written by Marc Sumerak, penciled by David Nakayama, colored by Guru-EFX, and lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna.

In “Hair of the Dog that Bit Ya,” Flash Thompson has an unfortunate encounter with a werewolf after taking part in a bet. With Peter being nearby, he suits up as Spider-Man and attempts to save him. He has doubts about saving Flash since he constantly finds ways to bully Peter. However, things take an unexpected turn when Flash turns into a werewolf. Peter seeks help from Doctor Strange before things get too out of hand.

In “If I Had a Hammer”, Peter saves a woman from being mugged on his way to school. However, the woman that he saved turns out to be Enchantress. She seeks the help of Peter to travel back home to Asgard and in return, Peter will be able to get more information about Viking culture from Asgard. However, Enchantress has hidden intentions for traveling back home and soon Peter finds himself fighting all of the Asgardian forces on her behalf.

One of the great aspects from the first story is Peter’s inner monologue on whether he should be wasting his time trying to save Flash. He does make some credible points for both sides of the argument. This is the sort of inner struggle that comics may not always have superheroes go through. It’s an even bigger case since Peter is still in high school in this comic. He’s able to take the more mature and heroic path to try everything he can to save Flash. He’s also not afraid to ask for help, especially since werewolves aren’t a particular area that he seems to be an expert in. Ultimately, this comic does an incredible job portraying him as an honest and just hero.

A major component of the Spider-Man comics that I have always been a fan of is when Peter is still in high school. It’s always been the version of Peter that I could always relate to when I was younger and now that I’m older it offers a sense of nostalgia. Seeing Peter as a high school student in this comic fits perfectly with the premise of both stories. They would have had a completely different impact had it been a much older Peter Parker.

Both Peter David and Marc Sumerak did an incredible job of capturing the humorous side of Peter. No matter whether it was in an inner monologue, going up against a werewolf, or battling an entire Asgardian army, the level of humor was fantastic. It never felt either out of place or too excessive. With humor being an integral part of the Spider-Man’s character it would have been quite surprising for it to not be included.

Overall, I had a blast reading this comic. The first story emphasized a side of Peter that readers may have not seen before. Seeing a much younger Peter offers new and older readers the ideal place to start this new series. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for any future issues from this series.

Marvel Action Classics: Spider-Man Two-in-One #1 is available now wherever comic books are sold.