…The Coming of Razorback!

this issue completely unexpectedly drops the sha-shan story line and starts out with a new bad guy, razorback. he’s huge, wears a boar’s-head-hat, and has an electrified mane. it turns out, though, that he’s actually a good guy. he’s an uninteresting character that does little more than waste space in the issue.

The issue ends in a cliffhanger, with Flash, Razorback, and Spidey manacled and about to be dynamited.

Weaker than the last one, but fairly decent.

Rating:

Brother Power, Sister Sun!

Peter fights against a cult, the Legion of Light, run by Sha-Shan and her husband, Achmed Korba — a.k.a. Sister Sun and Brother Power. They somehow possess super powers that may or may not have been given to them by an alien known as “the Mentor”.

Rating:

From Stonehenge…with Death!

This issue sucked. The Thing, Spider-Woman and Modred the Mystic fought off some elemental demons sent by Merlin. Boring as snot.

At the end, Modred wipes Alicia and Ben of their memories and sends them home. Modred and Spider-Woman walk off together, to help her figure out who she is.

Rating:

And Only the Invisible Girl Can Save Us Now!

This issue opens with a really dirty-hot ass-shot of Spider-Woman. It’s fairly pornographic. Ron Wilson: tsk tsk.

Alicia is really cool spider-monster. Not only does she have eight actual huge spider legs in addition to her own human limbs, she also spits webs. That’s bad-ass. Unfortunately, at the end of this issue she gets cured and is back to normal.

Rating:

My Sweetheart–My Killer!

We finally learn more about these mysterious crooks — one of them is an old Nazi agent who had hidden some huge amount of stolen loot, and is now seeking to retrieve it. It’s dumb.

Alicia Masters gets the serum derived from Spider-Woman and turns into some kind of crazy spider monster. She goes on a mad, Hydra-controlled rampage to kill Ben.

Mystery Menace

Rating:

Battle Atop Big Ben!

Here’s what seems to be going on:

• Spider-Woman isn’t a prisoner, exactly. She’s willingly working for Hydra.
• She has been re-captured after her initial desertion of Hydra, and hypnotized into working for them again.
• This takes place after she’s met up with Nick Fury and SHIELD.

After a brief clash, Ben gets charged with rescuing Spider-Woman from Hydra. When Spider-Woman kidnaps Ben’s GF Alicia, though, all gloves are off! Meanwhile, two crooks on a mission keep getting in the way, and eventually cause an explosion sending both the Thing and Spider-Woman crashing into the Thames!

I’m getting into this, but the Thing’s cornball dialogue is wearing a bit thin.

Rating:

Two Against Hydra

The Thing and Shang-Chi team up against Hydra, to rescue a Dr. Kort. Kort was kidnapped to make some serum that will somehow duplicate the powers of Spider-Woman. Kort is saved, but Hydra retains the serum!

I haven’t read any Spider-Woman stuff in awhile, and I think when I did it was all over the place timing-wise, so I’m a bit confused about when this takes place with respect to other things I’ve read. Spider-Woman seems to be a prisoner of Hydra, so I guess it comes at some point after she left them, and was possibly recaptured…

Rating:

Big Apple Battleground!

I have a problem with the Punisher appearing in Spidey comics. The Punisher is all about killing bad guys. That’s his schtick. But, when he teams up with Spider-Man, we’re always supposed to believe that Spider-Man is able to stop him from killing for this one mission. It makes no sense at all, and it’s a cheapening of the Punisher’s character.

Looks like the Green Goblin is back — but who is behind the mask?!?!

Rating:

The Hitman’s Back in Town!

I read this a couple weeks ago and am only now getting around to reviewing it. I can’t really remember it too well, but after quickly reskimming it, here are my thoughts:

• Those Hostess things can’t go where I read them — this issue starts with Peter coming home immediately after his battle with Molten Man.
• I’m excited about what’s going on with Harry and his shrink.
• I don’t really dig stupid Marla Madison, she’s all kinds of boring. They really need to give her some sort of personality.

The issue ends with JJJ having been kidnapped by the Hitman, flying away from Spidey and the Punisher.

Rating:

Spider-Man in “Legal Eagle”

November 1977:
Conan the Barbarian #80, Howard the Duck #18, Defenders #53, Champions #16, Godzilla #4, Black Panther #6, Captain Marvel #53

December 1977:
Conan the Barbarian #81, Defenders #54, Howard the Duck #19, Eternals #18, What If #6, Godzilla #5

Hostess ad that appeared in November and December 1977 in the titles above, and most likely others.

Every part of this is weird. First, MJ is hanging out with Spider-Man — not Peter, Spidey. Also, they are hanging out in Washington, DC. They randomly stumble upon “Ralph G. Fake, the criminal laweyer with the power to change himself into Legal Eagle, the monster eagle” — as identified by MJ — stealing and attempting to destroy the Bill of Rights. After this he plans to take over the Supreme Court and the presidency! Spidey gets him by setting up a Hostess Cupcake trap, which Fake just cannot ignore. The whole thing was awesome!

I have no idea about the placement of this — I’ll have to keep an eye out for Spidey and MJ going to DC — but this doesn’t seem right.

Rating:

Spider-Man in “Break the Bank”

November 1977:
Andy Panda #22 (Gold Key Comics), Beep Beep the Road Runner #68 (Gold Key Comics), Pink Panther #48 (Gold Key Comics), Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #446 (Disney)

Hostess ad that appeared in November 1977 in the titles above and most likely others. Like, ‘Will Power’ before it, the interesting thing about this one is that it wasn’t in any Marvel publications (that I know of), but instead was in (at least) three Gold Key Comics books and a Disney book.

Apparently, the bad guy from this — Printout Man — is mentioned in the New Avengers’ Most Wanted Files.

Pete and MJ are at the bank when some goof tries to rob it. I really wanted to like this one, I thought i had a lot of potential. Unfortunately it just didn’t make a lot of sense. It really reads like they tried to cram too much into a single page, and left out some crucial material. I’m left with so many questions: Did the whirring computers brainwash/paralyze the crowd? Why didn’t that affect Spidey? How did that relate to the plan to cause computer errors to drive people away? How does driving customers away help Printout Man take over the bank? Why was the vault filled with cupcakes?

Oh well…

Rating:

The Fiend from the Fire!

If You Can’t Stand the Heat…!
Writer: Len Wein
Illustrator: Ross Andru
Embellisher: Jim Mooney
Colorist: Glynis Wein
Letterer: John Costanza
Originally published: October 1977

Rocket Racer was incredibly lame, but after his extremely brief appearance, the books got into a solid Molten Man story. I totally enjoyed these, mostly because we’re finally seeing some character development and villains that actually interact and impact the lives of Peter and his friends.

Spidey gets shot at the beginning of the #173, which is pretty cool.

Andru’s Molten Man art is really awesome, especially this panel:

Rating:

Spawn of the Spider

Chaos at the Coffee Bean!
Scripter: Scott Edelman
Debut penciler: Johnny Romita, Jr.
Inks: Al Milgrom
Letterer: Joe Rosen
Colorist: Nel Yomtov
Originally published: 1977

This first story was pretty awesome. It once again involved Spidey trying to get involved in the movie industry, only to be foiled by some spider-costumed goons, the Spider Squad. It was nice to get into some kinda normal Spidey stuff — this had a fairly classic feel to it.

The second story (which I had to add into the list, because it wasn’t there) was fast, but good. The twist end was a little predictable, but I still enjoyed it. This story was the debut of John Romita Jr.!

Rating:

Spider-Man! The Champ

March 1977:
Rawhide Kid #138, Omega the Unknown #7, Howard the Duck #10, Daredevil #143, Champions #12, Ms. Marvel #3

April 1977:
Conan the Barbarian #73, What If #2, Defenders #46, Ms. Marvel #3, Marvel Two-in-One #26

Hostess ad that appeared in March and April 1977 in the titles above, and most likely others. This probably appears in the wrong spot — the Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe suggests this might take place on St. Patrick’s day, while the Official Marvel Index to Marvel Team-Up suggests that the last issue I read, Marvel Team-Up #70, takes place in early April. So, this should probably be slightly earlier.

Anyway, this story is insane, but kinda good. Spidey saves boxing champ Aldo Moomjay from a murderous referee — the Foe! How? Using his powerful deductive skills and delicious Hostess Cup Cakes.

Rating:

Defender of the Realm!

I kind of hated the art. The story seemed interesting, but it was really just a couple of specs of an obviously much-larger story — definitely not a done-in-one. That makes it kind of hard to review/take in, but I guess I enjoyed the writing for the most part.

Spidey shows up in one panel, frustrated that he’s stuck in a crowd and can’t help with the Hulk/Namor fight happening in Manhattan.

Rating:

Death Watch!

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

Rating:

A Life Too Far

This issue was a welcome relief after all the kung-fu bullshit I’ve been up to my ears in. It was a race against the clock as Spidey battled Medusa and the Inhumans for a rare antidote needed to save a kid. This was a lot like reading one of the better issues of Team-Up, really.

Rating:

If Death be My Destiny…

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

Rating:

Night of the Dragon

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

Rating:

…Like a Tiger in the Night!

Overly political, overly contrived. Boo. My impression is that this would have been better in the 70s, but that it hasn’t aged well. Not that racism doesn’t still exist, it’s just that the approach here is a little too hackneyed. I’m also not into the kung-fu thing, as I have mentioned before.

Unfortunately, this is continued next issue.

Rating:

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!

Rating:

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.

Rating:

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.

Rating:

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.

Rating:

Death-Walk!

WTF Peter is in Houston.

The weirdest thing about this book is that Marvel claims the Human Fly is a real person. I find that incredibly hard to believe, at least as he’s portrayed here. I also think the message of “hope” goes to far, and instead deteriorates into one of despair. You see, this Human Fly — and his companions — were all severely injured and disabled in accidents, but through grit and determination overcame their injuries. So the message is that people who have been seriously injured in accidents have given up, and if they only try harder they can be super heroes? That’s…great? Man, I’d hate to get this book while lying in a hospital bed. Maybe I’m just a bitter, cynical jerk.

Spider-Man is involved because he wants to see if this Human Fly is the same as his enemy. He joins the press tour and flies out to Houston to see the guy. Spidey refers to the evil Human Fly as “the villain I once fought”, which I guess means I should move that Hostess comic to after this, since that would twice that they fought.

I didn’t like this.

Rating: