Reprints Marvel Team-Up #59-70, 73
Written by Chris Claremont, Ralph Macchio.
Penciled by John Byrne.
Inked by Dave Hunt, Bob Wiacek, Ricardo Villamonte, Tony DeZuniga, Al Gordon.
New York is under attack from Equinox, the thermodynamic man! He's like Iceman and Human Torch rolled into one! Spider-Man teams up with Wasp and Yellowjacket to stop "Noxie" (as Spider-Man calls Equinox). But this villain turns out to be tougher than expected, nearly killing Yellowjacket.
Next up, Spider-Man is attacked by the Thing and the Human Torch...or is he? It turns out to be Super-Skrull, who is not only a shape-shifter (like all Skrulls), but also has all the powers of every member of the Fantastic Four! Spidey teams up with the Human Torch and Ms. Marvel to take down Super-Skrull.
The battle leads them all over Manhattan, finally culminating in a punch-up on board the famous ocean liner known as the Queen Elizabeth II (or QE2 for short).
Spidey has little time to relax before his friend & fellow hero Iron Fist is attacked by the Steel Serpent! He attempts to rescue Iron Fist, but it's too late! Steel Serpent has drained the life-force (also known as "chi") out of Iron Fist. Spider-Man must stop Steel Serpent, but he'll need assistance from Iron Fist's friends, Misty Knight and Colleen Wing, who are better known as the Daughters of the Dragon!
In his civilian guise, Peter Parker meets British exchange student Brian Braddock. Empire State University needs to find temporary housing for Braddock and Parker needs money, so he takes Brian in as as roomate. But when Brian sees Spider-Man crawling out of Parker's apartment, he presumes the worst and attacks him...as Captain Britain!
Eventually they sort things out and realize they're on the same side. But suddenly, they're captured by the assassin called Arcade! He imprisons them in his deadly amusement park, Murderworld!
The stakes get higher when the heroes learn that Arcade has also kidnapped Captain Britain's girlfriend, Courtney Ross.
Later, Spider-Man encounters his old foe Kraven the Hunter! They slug it out until Kraven shoots him with poison darts. When Spidey wakes up, Kraven forces him to battle Tigra. She's being controlled by Kraven, who forces the two heroes into a battle to the death!
On Scotland's Muir Island, the mutant heroes Havok and Polaris are attacked by a gang of thugs. Havok recognizes them as henchmen of his old enemy, the Living Pharaoh. He's captured and taken to New York.
Spider-Man gets involved when Peter Parker notices the Pharaoh's flunkies stealing an ankh artifact from Empire State University. They get away, but he tracks them down to their hideout using a Spider-Tracer.
Spidey finds Havok imprisoned and frees him, but then they're both hit with an energy blast by the Living Pharaoh. After a brief battle, Pharaoh uses Havok's energy to turn once again turn himself into the 33-ft tall Living Monolith!
Spider-Man is in over his head. The Living Monolith is stomping all over New York, crushing buildings. Thankfully, help arrives in the form of the mighty Thor, God of Thunder! The Monolith and Thor engage in an epic battle, that finally ends in New York harbor.
Last, but definitely not least:
Peter and Mary Jane head to a new disco (it was New York in the 70s!) called Studio 13. Their date is cut short when an armed arson gang called the Rat Pack shows up. Thankfully, Luke Cage, AKA Power Man, is also at Studio 13. Cage & Spidey drive the Rat Pack from the disco, but they get away.
The heroes track down the Rat Pack in the South Bronx. Power Man confronts them, but they blow up a building, sending Cage flying through the air and setting the building ablaze. It's up to him and Spider-Man to rescue the people endangered by the fire. But they'll need the help of another group of heroes: the firefighters of the New York Fire Department!
Plus, appearances by Captain Jean DeWolf, Spider-Man's closest ally on the NYPD!
Review:
When comic book fans hear the names "Chris Claremont" and "John Byrne" in the same breath, they probably think of their work on X-Men. But the first six stories in this book were published before Byrne started penciling the X-Men series. And prior to Marvel Team-Up, they had collaborated on Iron Fist, but that's another story.
Story:
These are among the best issues of Marvel Team-Up. Super-Skrull is one of my all-time favorite villains. Kraven was one of Spidey's earliest & deadliest foes during the Lee-Ditko-Romita years, but he later devolved into a joke. Claremont gives Kraven back some of his dignity here. Living Pharaoh/Monolith is treated like a serious threat to New York City.
Another thing I like here is the way Claremont connects these stories to others that were happening at the time. For instance, when Polaris contacts Beast, he can't help her because he's heading off to search for the X-Men, which ties in directly with Beast's guest appearance in X-Men # 111.
Art:
John Byrne's art here is still evolving, so it doesn't look as might expect. But it's still great to look at. The inkers are all a good match for Byrne. Most of us think of Terry Austin as Byrne's best inker. Dave Hunt, Bob Wiacek, Ricardo Villamonte, Tony DeZuniga, and Al Gordon aren't Austin, but they do a fine job at inking Byrne here. Special kudos go out to Byrne and DeZuniga for the art in the Thor/Living Monolith story. It's absolutely gorgeous. It includes a two-page fight scene that's too big to scan.
How does it look?:
Here's a page scanned from an original copy of Marvel Team-Up #61:
The same page looks like this in this tpb:
4 Sals!
I remember liking all the stories featured here. I can't put my finger on why, but Steel Serpent just hit it out of the park with me--maybe because he's the only one who made Iron Fist halfway interesting to me. :D
ReplyDeleteNice review! I have 5 random issues from this selection, including the Equinox ones. Speaking of "Noxie", that is one thing that drives me crazy about Bronze Age Marvel, the way the heroes (and Spider-Man is probably more guilty than any) constantly add "y" or "ie" into the end of someone's name, such as "Noxie" and "Manny". No matter how stupid it sounds, and even if it doesn't actualy shorten the name. Argh!
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