Sword of the She-Devil

In this issue, some creep named Kulan Gath possesses the body of a museum security guard and Red Sonja possesses the body of Mary-Jane Watson. You know, because they both have red hair. It’s really terrible, and clearly just a ploy to sell Red Sonja comics to Spidey fans (although I guess that’s kinda the point of Team-Up as a whole).

So, this takes place December 22, before the new school year and while Pete is still working at the Globe. That makes it especially strange that he is at the Bugle Christmas party, that Jameson gave him a bonus, and that he got sent on assignment. However, it’s not crazy, as he still has lots of friends at the Bugle, did work there for part of the year thus perhaps earning a bonus, and is freelance so still able to take the assignment when nobody else was able. An annoying little chronological glitch, but not the end of the world.

Oh, you know what else is weird? Clark Kent is at the Bugle Christmas Party.

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A Method in his Madness!

We finally find out what Jonas Harrow’s up to — he has developed a “mental attitude-response variator ray…a device which will drive men mad!” That’s pretty cool, isn’t it? He’s the one that cause J. Jonah Jameson to go batty, and presumably is causing the problems for Robbie Robertson too.

It actually takes awhile for Peter Parker, let alone Spider-Man, to show up in this issue. It’s an interesting choice, and it works! There hasn’t been much going on in Peter Parker’s world lately, and it’s nice to see some of his normal non-Spidey life (even if it’s still saturated with super villains).

I love when people fuck with Spidey’s mind, as long as it’s well-done. This issue was. Check out these two panels:

Hehe, whim-whams. And how about this bit of comedy gold:

That, along with gesundheit jokes, will always be a classic.

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When a Spider-Man Comes Calling!

The Frightful Four, with Spider-Man held captive, attack the Fantastic Four.

Surprisingly, this continuation of the story in Spectacular 42 was even worse than the first part. Once again it was almost entirely one big fight scene; no character development, no plot, no surprises. And, frankly, the fight itself even kinda sucked.

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The Arms of Doctor Octopus

This was an awesome issue. Really great story. Seriously cool art in here, too. Kudos to everyone involved.

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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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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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“Listen–Stop Me if You’ve Heard it–But This One Will Kill You!”

Timing on this one is weird — the narration says that it’s spring, and Spidey mentions paying his income taxes the day before. According to everything else, though, it’s fall, so these are going to just have to be “topical references” — it’s probably just nice weather, and Pete maybe paid his taxes late.

Even though we don’t see her here, we get the first mention of Cissy Ironwood.

John Byrne drew Storm’s nipples. Some of the comics seem to be getting more “adult” recently. I’m all for adult themes and realism, but I don’t think those are equivalent with over-sexed drawings.

In this issue, Arcade is back and after the X-Men. Spidey finds out about it and tries to warn them, but he’s too late. Then I guess he just gives up, because we don’t seem him again for the rest of the issue.

This story was really not much different than the last Arcade issue, and didn’t really offer anything new.

Cool ad for Star Wars toys featuring Swedish rogue, Hans Solo:

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In Search of the Man-Wolf!

I guess Spidey wasn’t unconscious from the Man-Wolf’s blow, just stunned and “barely conscious”.

It turns out Spencer Smythe is behind a bunch of this lunacy (ha!), orchestrating the attacks by Chameleon, Electro and Man-Wolf. Smythe is pissed because he’s dying from Spider-Slayer-related radiation poisoning, and wants revenge on Jameson and Spidey.

At the end John Jameson dies! :O

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Mayhem by Moonlight!

Betty kisses the crap out of Peter in this issue. They probably have pop-pop in the attic after that. BUT PETER ISN’T EVEN INTERESTED IN BETTY. Boy, does our hero have girl troubles.

This was a pretty nice issue with a good pace. Having the Man-Wolf back makes sense, and I think the whole Jameson vs. his son thing could be interesting, even if it’s ground that’s been tread before.

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The Smoke of that Great Burning!

I don’t know what happened to my review of this issue, but it somehow got deleted. It’s a shame, because I really liked this issue and wrote nice things about it. Highlights:

• Amazing, fantastic art by everyone involved
• Sharp writing, with a different story that was a nice change of pace
• Classy dedication to NYC firefighters
• First Ralph Macchio credit in my project

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Whom Gods Destroy!

With the help of Thor, Spidey finishes off the Living Pharaoh. This was a fairly satisfying conclusion, I enjoyed it more than the first part.

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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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The Measure of a Man!

Is the Man-Thing even a character, or is he just a pile of sticks? This was OK, but not because of Man-Thing – it was interesting because of the bad guy, D’spayre, and how he totally broke Spidey.

I would like to his a run of really good issues…

First reference to Pete/MJ banging?

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Tigra Tigra, Burning Bright!

Great, fucking Kraven the Hunter. Blurgh. Also, man, the Cat was really cool when she started. As Tigra she’s lamesauce.

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Murder World

Captain Britain and Spidey sorta team up here, but they’re mostly separated for the whole issue. Pretty much the whole thing takes place in Arcade’s “Murder World” funhouse. It’s not bad or anything, but I was hoping for some more interesting character development and backstory, considering that in the last issue Captain Britain moved in with Spidey and Peter learned his secret identity. That’s some interesting stuff, and it was all completely dropped.

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Introducing, Captain Britain

As the title indicates, this was basically an introduction to Captain Britain. A good chunk of it was a flashback to his origin. He seems like an interesting enough character, though there wasn’t much room in here for an actual, interesting story.

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If Death be My Destiny…

This one had more Spider-Man, but was still basically Iron Fist junk.

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Night of the Dragon

Sweet Jesus, more kung-fu crap. Spidey was barely even in this!

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All This and the QE2

Ms. Marvel takes Johnny Storm’s place in the battle against the Super Skrull. This time the action is aboard the Queen Elizabeth II cruise-liner!

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Not All Thy Powers Can Save Thee!

I’ve been away for awhile, busy with things, but now I’m back. Whoopity doo.

Spidey and the Torch team up against the Super Skrull. This goes along well with the Secret Invasion shizz I’m reading. By the end of the issue, the Torch is out of commission.

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A Matter of Love… and Death!

Captain DeWolff is back! Woo!

This was another fantastic issue. I didn’t dig Claremont’s last few stabs at Team-Up, but if he can continue this streak I’ll be super happy.

Oh, and Yellow Jacket’s not dead, which I guess is a good thing.

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Some Say Spidey Will Die by Fire… …Some Say by Ice!

Fantastic issue! Equinox, and old villain from Team-Up returns and we start getting some back story on him. This issue is all action, but there’s also tons of character development. The Wasp is a pretty lame hero, but Claremont’s made her very likable here. And he seems to have killed off Hank Pym!

Seriously, this was really good.

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Did Someone Say… the Stranger?

Man, the Champions are kinda lame, boring nobodies, eh? Even Stilt-Man — one of the worst villains ever — calls them second-rate! And he’s right!

Spidey only appears as a floating head, so this shouldn’t even be in the project.

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Spider, Spider on the Moon!

Just as Spidey’s oxygen is running out, Warlock shows up and beams him to the moon – only with wacky plants, space squirrels, and air. Apparently it’s a “blue area” of the moon, with atmosphere and life, where the Watcher lives.

THEN A HUGE CREEP WITH A MOUSTACHE SHOWS UP!!!

At the end, Warlock starts to take Spidey back to Earth.

This was super boring and, I suspect, made no sense. I really thought Spider-Man on the moon was going to be better.

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Nightmare in New Mexico!

Spider in the Middle!
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Artist: John Byrne
Inker: Mike Esposito
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: G. Roussos
Originally published: February 1977

Still in New Mexico, Spidey hooks up with the Hulk and some goat-man named Woodgod to fight some corrupt (or possibly fraudulent?) government agents. These may or may not have killed an entire town with nerve gas, and may or may not be trying to cover it up. Nothing really gets resolved here, and nothing really gets explained. A lot happened without anything really happening, you know?

At the end, Spidey ends up unconscious in a rocket that gets blasted into outer space!

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