The Strangest Teens of All

A fun little Team-Up-type tale pitting Spider-Man and the X-Men against Kraven and the Blob. The story had a nice pace, good action, and some cute foreshadowy jokes that I thought worked really well. I’m looking forward to the rest of this series, though I think the issues are spaced out chronologically, so I may not get to them for a bit.

This is set sometime after Spidey and the X-Men first meet, but I didn’t really put in the effort to figure out exactly where. Sometime while Pete’s dating Gwen.

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Where Demons Feat To Dwell!

Another disappointing Dazzler issue. This one consisted almost entirely of a fight between about a million heroes and a bunch of demons called forth by the Enchantress. It was really boring and, even though the winning blow went to the Dazzler, it again seemed like a way to distract the readers from the title character.

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So Bright This Star

Well, my enchantment with the Dazzler is over. This issue was pretty terrible. I hate when debuts (or any issue really) is just filled to the brim with lame guest cameos, as a thinly-veiled attempt to draw in new readers. I guess it works — Spider-Man’s appearance is, afterall, why I’m reading this trash — but that doesn’t excuse it.

The issue fails on so many levels. First, Dazzler’s power seems to have gotten lamer since her appearance in Amazing Spider-Man. Instead of creating some kind of powerful light beams, she now creates silly light patterns in the air that simply befuddle her opponents. She also doesn’t seem to use her magic disco ball anymore, which is a total shame.

The structure of the issue is also a complete mess. The issue hops around from Dazzler to Spidey to the X-Men to a lame origin flashback to Asgard to the Avengers and back. It’s all a bunch of roundabout nonsense that leaves the reader as disoriented as the Dazzler’s victims.

Finally, the character herself is just completely uninteresting and unsympathetic. It’s fairly clear DeFalco doesn’t have any idea what to do with her, and it’s pretty telling that she only appears on of 15 out of 23 pages in her own debut title. The issue should be jam-packed full of Dazzler awesomeness, giving us an exiting taste of the character and the direction of the book. Instead we get weak filler.

(Also: Spider-Man makes a comment about getting photos for the Bugle. Potential problem in placement?)

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By The Dawn’s Early Light!

Dragon Man!
Writer: Roger Stern
Co-plotters: Roger Stern, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Josef Rubinstein
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Originally published: August 1980

Death, Where Is Thy Sting?
Co-plotters: Roger Stern, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Josef Rubinstein
Letterer: Jim Novak
Colorist: B. Sharen
Originally published: September 1980

The Terror of the Taskmaster
Writer: David Michelinie
Penciler: George Perez
Inker: Jack Abel
Letterer: John Costanza
Colorist: Carl Gafford
Originally published: June 1980

Cap For President!
Story: Roger Stern
Photography: John Byrne, Josef Rubinstein
Typography: James Novak
Color: George Roussos
Originally published: October 1980

CA 247-249 tell the tale of Machinesmith, a robot master. They’re good, but Spidey never appears. There is a Spidey robot, and an off-hand mention of the real Spider-Man, but that’s it. I just read them for fun basically, but technically they shouldn’t really be in the project. Also, CA 247 and 248 should have come before M/TU 95.

Avengers 196 features a one-panel flashback of Spidey swinging on a pole — completely inconsequential. Its story about the Taskmaster was pretty good as well.

CA 250 features Spidey in one panel, considering the possibility of Captain America as president.

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The story of Hank McCoy in high school, right before being approached by Professor X. Kinda lame. Spidey appears in a flashback, fighting the Sandman.

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Fun story in which Iceman and the Human Torch team-up as a hip, young super-team. Along the way they borrow some bad guys for Spidey, allowing Peter Parker to hit up a pool party at Gwen Stacey’s house.

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Missing Angel

Angel is away from the X-Men, and they reminisce. Spidey appears in a flashback, in which he has trapped Angel in a web (presumably accidentally). Cool art, I really like Colleen Coover.

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Dark Phoenix

Child of Light and Darkness!
Writer: Chris Claremont
Plotters: Chris Claremont, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Bob Sharen
Originally published: August 1980

The Fate of the Phoenix
Writer: Chris Claremont
Plotters: Chris Claremont, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Originally published: September 1980

Elegy
Writer: Chris Claremont
Plotters: Chris Claremont, John Byrne
Penciler: John Byrne
Inker: Terry Austin
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Originally published: October 1980

The Dark Phoenix Saga, plus one. Spidey appears very briefly in X-Men 135 and as a kind of out-of-context floating-person kinda thing in 138 (which should probably be excluded).

This was quite good, I’m glad I read it.

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Writers: Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning
Artist: Igor Kordey
Letters: Richard Starkings
Design: Cindy Emmert
Originally published: September 1995

Oh my God, this was like, uh, so, uh, deep? Because it was about, uh, normal people? And, uh, the way they, uh, talked, was uh, so real.

I’m pretty certain I read these in the wrong spot, since Julia Carpenter (another Spider-Woman) appears, and she doesn’t really exist yet for the books I’m currently reading.

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From the Ashes…

Finally done with stupid ass Spider-Woman comics for a bit.

Peter Parker only appeared in this for one panel, photographing Cap at a new conference. Despite being basically Spidey-less, this was an awesome issue. It was an incredibly dark story that involved Sharon Carter dying, Cap retiring, and a disturbingly gruesome look at World War II. It was extremely well done.

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Death on the Air

This was a decent done-in-one. My biggest complaint was that the tone of the book would have us believe that the villains were far more impressive than they were in actuality.

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…Like a Diamond in the Sky!

This issue had Thor and Iron Man fighting a giant orbiting evil computer. It was really bad. Spidey appeared in one of those “what’s happening with the rest of the world” panels.

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Night of the Living God!

The Living Pharaoh and his egyptian cronies were kinda hackneyed, but Claremont knew this and made fun of it a bit, so that was ok. This wasn’t the best issue of Team-Up ever, but it didn’t really have any major problems either.

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First Blood

Hmm…again, I jumped into the middle (or beginning?) and really had no idea what was happening here. It seemed mildly interesting, but without more info it’s really hard to tell.

Pete and MJ are seen when some shit goes down in Forest Hills.

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Death Watch!

Wow, I really thought this was going to suck for some reason, but it was awesome! Jim Starlin is the man!

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‘Tis the Season

My Treasury Edition 13 showed up! I’m finally back on track with my reading order.

It’s Christmas time, and the Marvel superheroes are playing in the snow! This is kind of a wrapper story around some reprints of past issues. Nothing much happens, but it’s nice and cute, and fun to see everyone relaxing and having a good time.

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Excerpted material originally appeared in: Fantastic Four 44-47; Fantastic Four Annual 3; Strange Tales 161
Excerpted material by: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Jim Steranko, Vince Colletta, Joe Sinnott, Frank Giacoia

This issue is about Reed and Sue’s wedding and the Fantastic Four’s first meeting with the Inhumans. Spider-Man appears in one panel that I believe is new, during the big wedding fight. This was read out of order.

There are two characters that I didn’t recognize and couldn’t tag.

I like this Marvel Saga stuff, it’s really making me understand stuff more.

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KISS / Precisely as Hot as Hell! / The Andromedia Hustle! / See Latveria and Die!

“Forty pages of full-color comics. Plus never-before-published photos and features. Printed in real KISS blood.“

Everything about this is badass!

Platform shoes? Check.
Blind old man in a fur loincloth? Check.
Gene Simmons breathing fire? Check.
Teleportation? Check.
Moon-shaped spaceship? Check.
Sexy robot ladies with machine guns and robot monks with laser eyes? Check.
Outerspace alien disco? Check.

This is literally the best comic I’ve ever read.

Here are some amazing panels and things. Check out the fucking awesome fake ad for Air Latveria!

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At Last: The Decision!

A new set of Avengers is chosen. It very much resembles the existing lineup. There are lot of flashbacks, including one with Spidey. This was kind of like a crappy clips episode of a sitcom.

Why is Ben Grimm human, but wearing a Thing costume? I’ve clearly missed something there.

I probably shouldn’t have this smack dab in the middle of a cliffhanger.

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Saturday Night Furor!

This is a Tarantula issue, not a Spidey issue. He’s Spidery enough for me, though!

Captain America is found floating in a river, with a face that’s not his own, and a bitchin case of amnesia. As he reconstructs the events of the last few days, he’s lead to an operation by the Tarantula. It’s a sweet story, I just wish there was more of Tarantula.

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Claws!

Um this was a really insane action-packed issue. The Avengers are always good for excitement, that’s for sure. As usual when I read some random book like this, I had not idea what was going on really. This time, though, I didn’t especially care. It was a pretty enjoyable book, considering.

Spidey appears in a flashback with the Cat, one of my favourite characters.

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Night of the Griffin

Why do Spidey and the Beast act as thought they’ve never met? I mean, I believe the last time Spidey saw Beast he didn’t have the fur, but that doesn’t explain Beast’s odd behaviour.

I don’t feel like Bill Mantlo has a very good grasp on Spider-Man. Mantlo seems to be trying way too hard with the wise-cracking during (brutally long) fights, and not putting any emphasis on story or character development. In fact, he has the Beast cracking wise almost as much as Spider-Man too, it seems totally out of character.

Spider-Man basically also kills an innocent guy – by accident, but still because of Spidey’s actions – and then barely bats an eye at it. I know Conway had a lot of people die during his tenure, and a lot of their deaths were either directly or indirectly because of Spider-Man, but as far as I can remember they were all bad guys. For Spider-Man to shrug off the death of some random civilian is really out of character.

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Griffin

And Then– The X-Men!

Note that this is still taking place within Amazing 105, after Harry’s party but before the Spider Slayer robot comes into play.

We start with Pete having nightmares about Morbius. Harry wakes Peter up, but Pete refuses to go see a doctor. Apparently this has been happening a lot – like for a week – and Pete decides he does finally need to do something about it. He decides to go back for another visit to Professor Hans Jorgenson. Meanwhile, Morbius has a similar idea and also goes to visit Jorgenson. Morbius knocks him out and takes him away, hoping Jorgenson can make him a full-on vamp even during the day. When Spidey arrives, they’re both gone. And when some bitch walks in to find Spider-Man there and the Professor missing, the cops assume the worst and Spidey gets blamed for Jorgenson’s kidnapping.

In Westchester county, Professor Charles Xavier reads the news of his old friend Jorgenson’s disappearance and sends his X-Men out to retrieve Spider-Man. They all – well, all except Beast – go out fight Spider-Man, and subdue him enough to talk. Spidey is a little under the weather and blacks out, and so the X-Men race him back to Xavier’s compound.

Once there they consult Jorgenson’s notes, and discover that Spider-Man has less than four hours to live!!! Professor X also determines that Spider-Man is not a bad guy, BTW. Anyway, to save Spidey they need to get Morbius, so the X-Men head out once again. They find him, they fight, the X-Men win and return with both Morbius and Jorgenson.

Then they save Spider-Man — and Spidey fucking kisses Jean full on the lips! What the heck is that shit? What about Gwen? Jesus. Then he just fucking dives through a window to leave. “Thanks for saving my life guys, excuse me while I but the place up.” Man, fuck Gerry Conway – he’s got no grip on Spidey’s personality. And his shitty narration drives me bonkers!

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The Baxter Building Besieged!

The Sinister Secret of the Sentry!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Script: Chuck Dixon
Pencils and inks: Ron Frenz, Joe Sinnott, Keith Giffen, Al Gordon, Paul Ryan, Al Milgrom, Frank Fosco, Bruce Timm
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings, Wes Abbott
Cover: Michael Golden
Originally published: March 2001

When Strike These Sentinels!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Script: Tom DeFalco
Pencils and inks: Eric Shanower, Ron Frenz, Paul Ryan, Tom Scioli, Bruce Timm, Keith Giffen, Al Gordon
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Jae Lee, Bruce Timm
Originally published: April 2001

The Merciless Menace of Modok!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Script: Jeph Loeb
Pencils and inks: Erik Larsen, Bruce Timm, Ron Frenz, Joe Sinnott, Keith Giffen, Al Gordon, Shannon Denton, Al Milgrom
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Bruce Timm
Originally published: May 2001

New York Knockdown!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Script: Kurt Busiek
Pencils and inks: Keith Giffen, Al Gordon, Joe Bennett, Al Milgrom, Ron Frenz, Joe Sinnott, Gordon Purcell, Bruce Timm
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Erik Larsen, Joe Sinnott
Originally published: June 2001

Mayhem on the Moon!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Script: Eric Stephenson
Layouts: Keith Giffen
Pencils and inks: Ron Frenz, Joe Sinnott, Frank Fosco, Bruce Timm, Keith Giffen, Al Gordon, Jorge Pereira Lucas, Al Milgrom
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Michael Golden
Originally published: July 2001

…Touched by the Hand of Havoc!
Co-plotters: Eric Stephenson, Erik Larsen
Script: Tom DeFalco
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Cover: Keith Giffen, Bruce Timm
Pencils and inks: Rick Veitch, Al Williamson, Ron Frenz, Al Gordon, Mike Manley, Bruce Timm, Graham Nolan, Al Milgrom
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Originally published: August 2001

…To Aid the Avengers!
Co-plotters: Eric Stephenson, Erik Larsen
Script: Kurt Busiek
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Pencils and inks: Ron Frenz, Bruce Timm, Jorge Pereira Lucas, Al Milgrom, Bill Wray, Rick Vietch, Terry Beatty
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Cover: Rick Vietch, Bruce Timm
Originally published: September 2001

Nightmare in the Negative Zone!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Script: Tom DeFalco
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Pencils and inks: Ron Frenz, Joe Sinnott, Frank Fosco, Bruce Timm, Bill Wray, John Beatty, Paul Ryan, Al Gordon
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Erik Larsen, Bruce Timm
Originally published: October 2001

On…To Asgard!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Script: Bruce Timm
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Pencils and inks: Ron Frenz, Mike Royer, Dave Ross, Greg Adams, Joe Sinnott, Erik Larsen
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Bruce Timm, Joe Sinnott
Originally published: November 2001

Doom Triumphant!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Script: Erik Larsen
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Pencils and inks: Ron Frenz, Bruce Timm, Frank Fosco, Mike Royer, Al Milgrom, Paul Ryan, Joe Sinnott
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Ron Frenz, Joe Sinnott
Originally published: December 2001

Victor von Doom, Emperor of Earth!
Co-plotters: Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson
Script: Stan Lee
Layouts: Erik Larsen
Pencils and inks: Ron Frenz, Joe Sinnott, John Romita, Tom Palmer, Dan Jurgens, Al Milgrom, Steve Rude, Jorge Lucas, Bruce Timm, Scott Hanna
Colors: Eric Stephenson
Lettering: Richard Starkings
Cover: Erik Larsen, Joe Sinnott
Originally published: January 2002

Most of these are probably out of order, but I didn’t really care. I just figured I was kind of interested in reading them, and most of the FF’s chronology didn’t matter to me than much. Spider-Man appears in issue 3 in a brief cameo and as a floating head in the last issue.

It took me forever to get through these, which is why I haven’t updated in awhile. I don’t have a ton to say about them, but generally I thought they were pretty good. Lots of times these modern books that try to emulate the silver age style end up sucking really bad and failing miserable; these don’t. They somehow managed to stay pretty true to the style of the art and writing from the 60s and 70s, so kudos to everyone involved.

My biggest complain with this series is that it was too long. The story was pretty cool, but I think it could have been told better in eight or six issues instead of twelve. By the end, the whole thing was wearing a bit thin. Even the endless cameos, which I thought worked really well for the first while, started to get extremely tiresome by around issue 8 or 9. Even so, these problems didn’t actually detract from the books on an individual basis, as they were fairly uniformly entertaining.

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Burn, Namor…Burn!

I was supposed to read this before ASM 72 but it really made no difference, so…who cares? Nobody.

Neat: The original, android Human Torch is in this issue. Or is he? It actually turns out that it’s Toro, the Human Torch’s old sidekick. He and Namor fight the Mad Thinker.

Spider-Man appears while listening to a terrorist threat.

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