Marvel Team-up help needed

[Zorak Masaki]

Since ive developed a growing interest in silver/bronze age material, ive decided to collect Marvel Team Up (for those who dont know, it was a series of self-contained stories where spider-man would team with various marvel characters). My question is, which issues are the best of the series, ie, the ones i should go after first?

[Shawn Hopkins]

Since ive developed a growing interest in silver/bronze age material, ive decided to collect Marvel Team Up (for those who dont know, it was a series of self-contained stories where spider-man would team with various marvel characters). My question is, which issues are the best of the series, ie, the ones i should go after first?

I really liked writer Chris Claremont's issues, especially when he was collaborating with penciller John Byrne. He did issue 100, which was an epic Fantastic Four and Spider-Man teamup.

Most of my issues are from later in the series, so I can't tell you much about the early ones but the first few feature Spidey and the Torch, which is always a great pairing. I think there's probably an Essentials volume if you want to check those out. Also, I do have an early issue, #23, which doesn't feature Spidey at all, but is instead a teamup between the Iceman and the Torch. It's a pretty good story as they encounter Equinox, who is a fire and ice guy, but even in those days some stories were all set up and it seems to be setting up action in another Spider-Man comic and possibly the events that lead to Giant Sized X-Men No. 1, because Iceman has this adventure while killing time before going on a big urgent mission for Professor X. Some big X-Men adventure, anyway. Good Gil Kane art in this one, though.

You may also want to check out issue #28, a teamup with Hercules that features the hilarious spectacle of Hercules towing Manhattan Island back into place with chains. Issue #36 features a groovy fight with Marvel's version of Frankenstein.

Equinox comes back in issues 58 and 59, which features a teamup with the Wasp. I read this in Marvel Tales when I was a kid and it was one of my favorite stories then. It's a great Claremont and John Byrne collaboration.

Another fantastic Claremont/Byrne two-parter is in #69 and #70, which features Spidey, Thor and Havok against The Living Monolith. An epic story, one of my favorites from when I was a kid.

For comedy value you might try #74, where Spidey teams up with the cast of Saturday Night Live. John Belushi's Samurai character Vs. the Silver Samurai. #75 is another great Claremont/Byrne pairing, featuring Luke Cage and a burning building. In 79 ClaremontyByrne do an issue in which Mary Jane is posessed by Red Sonja that's very nice.

Moving on to #96, it's a Howard the Duck teamup that's worth reading. After that #117 and #118 are a nice two-part teamup with the X-men featuring Wolverine and Professor X, respectively, the Professor X issue is the better one. There's a sequel to this fight with the villain Professor Power in issue #124, where Spider-Man teams up with The Beast. A great Christmas story featuring the Watcher in #127.

And, probably one of my favorites of all, the first appearance of White Rabbit in issue 131. White Rabbit, who has an Alice In Wonderland theme, is probably the worst and also somehow one of the best female supervillians. Snap this one up if you find it. Spidey teams up with Frog-Man in this, who is a hoot himself.

Lessee, we're getting to the end. Issue 137 features a cosmically powered Aunt May. Not kidding, she's the Golden Oldie and you have to see it to believe it. And then #150 has a neat Barry Windsor Smith cover and an X-men teamup and that's it.

I'm probably missing good issues because I'm far from owning the whole run, these are just the ones I've read and liked. A lot of them were reprinted in Marvel Tales, though, so that's a good indication that they were popular. Basically, the short answer is that you can't go wrong with the Claremont/Byrne stuff. You should also look through this site and see if you see characters and creators you like:

http://www.spiderfan.org/comics/title/marvel_teamup.html

[Geezil]

Not to nitpick (much), but that was John Belushi's Samurai character in #74.

[Shawn Hopkins]

Jeezum Crowbar, whatta screwup. I've edited and am now preparing to commit seppuku...

[Ed Liu]

Lessee, we're getting to the end. Issue 137 features a cosmically powered Aunt May. Not kidding, she's the Golden Oldie and you have to see it to believe it.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/121462706_8c4b0be48f.jpg (http://farm1.static.flickr.com/35/121462706_8c4b0be48f_o.jpg)

As they point out on the cover, it was Assistant Editor's Month that month, which explained the silliness. As you may also be able to guess from the cover image, a Hostess Fruit Pie analog also figures prominently in the plot.

[Antiyonder]

I would also recommend a couple volumes from Marvel Team-Up Volume 2

As a bit of a warning, the first five issues are part of a storyline where Spider-Man is told by a mysterious figure known as The Authority to go to some particular locations where "Millions will die". But it's not necessary to get the other issues as the main stories are self explanatory enough.

#2. It's another team up between Spider-Man and Hercules. Spider-Man is told to go to Greece with the aformentioned threat I mentioned above. Since this takes place before Heroes Return, The Fantastic Four and Avengers aren't around, thus Spidey needs Herc's help to go to Greece.

All around the issue is really funny (in a good way of course).


#3. It features a team up between Spider-Man and Sandman. It takes place when said guest character was attempting to go straight, and therefore Spider-Man tries to be respectful to his former enemy only to show himself to be distrustful.

[Shawn Hopkins]

More about assistant editor's month:

http://www.vjamesv.com/aem/index.html

I'm not sure if they were actually edited by the assistant editors, I've read that they actually might not have been, but it was a fun idea and, although uneven, produced a few really good books. It would be nice if comics companys would remember that they can do events this way, instead of the "OMG We're All Going to Die" events they do now.