It never seems right to me, an issue of Marvel Team-Up with the Human Torch as the lead instead of Spider-Man. Eventually it was all Spidey, but during the first forty issues Johnny had five team-ups with Spidey (including the first three issues) and six of his own, including this one: from 1975, Marvel Team-Up #32, "All the Fires in Hell...!" Written by Gerry Conway, pencils by Sal Buscema, inks by Vince Colletta.

This issue was set December 31st, 1974; and surprisingly Johnny wasn't on his way to blackout drunk: he tries to contact his pal Wyatt Wingfoot, only to find he's possessed by a demon. This sort of thing just happened back then. With Ben a little sketched out by his adventure last week with Ghost Rider, and figuring Reed and Sue weren't the guys for this one, Johnny calls in a surprising backup: Daimon Hellstrom, the Son of Satan!

Could be wrong, but I feel like Marvel gave him a lot of push too, even though he never got to the level of Ghost Rider. The conclusion seems a little rushed--not unlike the last issue of Team-Up we checked out--but not bad. Even though it also feels weird to me to see Johnny think something through and not be kind of a jerk.
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Amazing how what's scary when you're a kid is 'meh' when you're old...

The cover didn't ring any bells, but I do believe I read this one off of the spinner rack when I was nine years old. And it creeped me right out! From 1980, Mystery in Space #113, featuring "Trouble in Paradise" Written by George Kashdan, pencils by Michael Golden, inks by Bob Wiacek; "Passages" Written by Len Wein, art by Joe Staton; "The Eyes of the Bekkitt!" Written by J.M. DeMatteis, art by Jerry Grandenetti; "Gremlins" Written by Len Wein, art by Joe Kubert; and "Beasts of Burden" Written by George Kashdan, pencils by Trevor Von Eeden, inks by John Celardo.

The lead story, "Trouble in Paradise," is the one I remember: three computer specialists--a remarkably diverse trio for a 1980 comic--answer a want ad on the idyllic, advanced planetoid Orega. Their job is a breeze, the people are cheery, and their science super-advanced, yet there's still a few warning signs: everyone is too cheery, their job seems to involve robotics yet none are to be seen, and the science is able to patch up an injured member of the trio far too quickly. When they aren't allowed to leave Orega, the horrible truth is revealed...the people were immortal, true, but their brains had been "computerized" over time. They still needed a bit of human input here and there, hence the want ad. The trio live a long, long life on Orega; eventually placing a new ad...

Man, that brain-replacement bit made my skin crawl back then. Now I'm old and falling apart, you might as well replace large chunks of me...I didn't buy this back in 1980, possibly because of the creep factor; I'm not even sure I finished reading it since the other stories didn't ring a bell. "Gremlins" is the only one with a happy ending; but the twist on "Beasts of Burden" wasn't bad.
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I have to wonder if the sales were back around the 100,000 mark.

When he first guest-starred in this book, I don't think Venom was in every third Marvel title; but by this appearance? Yeah, probably. From 1994, Darkhawk #35, "Operation: Symbiote, part 1: the Trap" Written by Danny Fingeroth, pencils by Tod Smith, inks by Ian Akin.

I'd have to check Darkhawk #13 again, but this time around Venom doesn't show up until page 16; partially because the title already indicates they were going for a multi-parter here, partially because the book's usual plots were stacked up on the front end. Chris's younger brother Jason has a serial killer mentor, trying to push him into killing his family, but he's just smart enough to avoid that. Meanwhile, his dad had been believed dead, but was being held in San Francisco: his captors left him an opening to make a call, in the hopes of getting intel, but Mike called his family and got the machine instead. Chris gets his mom to let his 'contact' look for his dad, namely Darkhawk.

Of course, Venom was based out of San Francisco at the time; which seems like a popular choice for Marvel writers trying to set a book somewhere other than New York City: Daredevil, the X-Men, and I thought Spider-Woman all did stints there. This was during his "Lethal Protector" phase, and word on the street was someone was gunning for him--or them, I guess. Venom follows a lead, of course to the same house Darkhawk is checking out, and while they scuffle briefly, they are interrupted by a sonic blast, from the armored Seekers! Who resemble background Spaceknights from ROM, both in design and color scheme.

I maybe read an issue or two of Darkhawk when it was coming out, but this is the second Venom crossover, and I only have the first part of each! And this one was a three-parter: I'd guess the subplots eat up some space in the next issue, since those Seekers did not look a full issue worth of tough.


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We mentioned this one a couple months back, with the return of Killmonger, which retconned today's book into a fakeout: from 1982, Iron Man Annual #5, "War and Remembrance!" Written by Peter Gillis, co-plotted by Ralph Macchio, pencils by Jerry Bingham, inks by Dan Green.

Although I recognized the cover, I'm not sure I read this issue until just recently; and I had thought it was from Rhodey's first stint as Iron Man. Nope! Still Tony, before his second bout with alcoholism; and Rhodey's here as his pilot. They're off to Wakanda to help the Black Panther with terrorism attacks and contaminated vibranium, and have a plan. A plan that seems to go south on multiple levels: Rhodey is knocked out and captured by Madam Slay, while the Panther is murdered, shot down in a fight against armed gunmen!

Killmonger is more than a little disappointed in the Panther for dying, but at his funeral takes his cape and resolves to avenge their king, by killing every foreign devil in Wakanda! (Which, I wouldn't think would be very many; it was never known for its tourism...) Killmonger's little rebellion is out in the open now, though; which was the Panther and Iron Man's plan all along! The 'dead' Panther was a Life Model Decoy; IM mentions in passing the Beast programmed its agility. While Killmonger gathers the Panther's "hated western art" for torching, Madam Slay tells his new troops how she found his body after being thrown off a cliff (in Jungle Action #17, which I swear I've read and can't be as exciting as that cover) but it disappeared one night and he was reborn. I'm not sure why the Panther had all that art--investments, perhaps? But he ends up fighting Killmonger over it. Iron Man is surprised Killmonger is able to stand up to him, but he has another surprise: a ring that Tony recognizes, but then he has to take off to rescue Rhodey.

Iron Man finds Rhodey on the vibranium mound, uncharitably referring to him as "our maiden in distress." The deathtrap was a little more far-reaching than most: heavy particle beams focused on the vibranium could change it to the other variation of that metal, Antarctic vibranium, or anti-metal; that could destroy all metal in the entire hemisphere, maybe further! Tony has to dig deep and overload his armor to defeat it; while the Panther thrashes Killmonger, revealing him to be merely an animated corpse, as that ring disappears, returning to the Mandarin! Who was showing a lot of skin back then, but maybe he wanted to show off his ink. Still, it would be fourteen years (!) until Killmonger's next appearance, where they try to play this one off as a "ploy" cooked up by Kill and the Mandarin to see what might happen. About what you would expect to happen, honestly.

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"Decline."

Alien invasion? Nah. Robot genocide? Eh, not yet. Another alien invasion? Well, maybe call her if it was happening the same time as the robot genocide. I know I saw a cartoon somewhere where Captain Marvel doesn't even get out of bed unless billions are dead...

Oh, and NGC 1487 is over that'aways.
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The cover proclaims "The final triumph of Typhoid Mary!" but she wasn't done yet. Although you can see how you might think that...From 1988, Daredevil #260, "Vital Signs" Written by Ann Nocenti, pencils by John Romita Jr, inks by Al Williamson.

I misremembered a little from this one: it opens with Matt and Karen, blissfully happy together. Matt wonders how he even could have been tempted by Mary Walker, the demure, sweet, alter-ego of Typhoid Mary. And I may have to dig up some back issues, since I'm not sure how far Matt's relationship with Mary went...certainly, far enough to cause problems later. But this issue begins with a cheerful, upbeat Daredevil; on his way to a Fourth of July anti-nuke counter-protest, who then proceeds to catch beating after beating for the rest of this issue.

Nocenti largely avoided traditional DD villains, although this campaign was funded by the Kingpin, and uses her and JRJR's creations Bullet, Bushwacker, Ammo, and the Wildboys. (Bushwacker was co-created with Rick Leonardi; and I had completely forgotten Ammo: he was from DD #252, another double-sized issue that was really good, and another X-book tie-in; DD would have another shortly...) It's a gauntlet intended to wear DD down, but facing them one at a time (two in the case of those Wildboys losers) he still probably could take them, if not for one misstep: jumping off a roof to avoid getting shot by Bushwacker, DD lands on a rather elaborate parade balloon, which Bushwacker then blows up. I have never lived anywhere big enough for a proper parade, but are those pressurized to the point that it would explode like popping a balloon? Bushwacker is using high-end bullets, sure, but I feel like it would probably just shoot a hole straight through it, not the massive "B-TOOM!" that happens. Did they use hydrogen by mistake again?

Even so, the explosion and resulting fall do not do Daredevil any good: his enhanced senses are shot, and he's probably concussed at the very least. DD accosts a wheelchair-bound blind man, thinking he's Bushwacker; but is stopped--and lectured--by a young woman, who quite rightly suggests maybe he should go to the hospital. Instead, wandering off, he's an easy target for Ammo; a Vietnam vet in an inexplicable outfit...back-of-the-envelope math, but Ammo would've had to be at least 35 at the time. Ammo kicks Daredevil's ass into the anti-war protest, which was about to cross paths with the more conservative Fourth parade; no one in either helps the unconscious DD in the slightest. Neither does the passing Human Torch, setting up the next issue.

Now internally injured, Matt crawls into an alley, where he's visited by the flashbacks of Christmas past: his dad, Battlin' Jack Murdock; a ghost of himself; then classic villains Bullseye, Gladiator, Elektra, Typhoid, and Kingpin. (Typhoid is a bit of a cheat, since she was still on-deck.) The Wildboys give DD a thrashing, and a trashing: disappointed he's not fighting back, they throw him in the garbage, then get mad when he throws some back on them, and take him to drop off a bridge. Typhoid saves Daredevil...saves him for herself. Giving him a final kiss, she drops him, shedding a single tear over his body in a ravine. (I don't know if that bridge is still there, but I would bet it's based off a real location. Couldn't find it, though.)

Daredevil still isn't quite to rock-bottom yet, if you can believe it: I feel like that would come a little later when Karen goes to see him in the hospital and finds Mary already there. Traditionally, the hero would have to dig deep, and bootstrap himself back up to get back at his assailants...and it would be a long time before any of that would happen! This wasn't the usual situation, where the hero might have to get back in there to stop the villain from doing something terrible--or more terrible--they just wanted to wreck up Daredevil. Mission accomplished. DD would have a rematch with Bullet in #267, but that may have been merely in passing to him leaving town. (In fact, I was thinking of #291, Ann Nocenti's last issue on the book, which says "Rematch! DD versus Bullet!" right on it.) It wouldn't be until #297 that he would bring down Typhoid, and he may have fought dirty there; but that was incidental to bringing down the Kingpin.
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It's only been like five months since the last chapter of this we looked at, but c'mon, we've been picking at this for like eight years now: from 1994, "Blood and Thunder" part seven, the Warlock Chronicles #7, "Guile" Written by Jim Starlin, pencils by Tom Raney, inks by Keith Williams and Al Milgrom. (I think I messed up the cover links on previous entries for Warlock Chronicles, and I don't think I've ever seen the limited's last issue.)

The titular "Guile" isn't the Street Fighter character, nor is it from a character you'd normally expect of it. Warlock and his Infinity Watch have joined up with Dr. Strange and the Silver Surfer to portal into a secluded forest in Asgard, since they need to see Odin about his kid: Thor was currently insane, his imaginary girlfriend Valkyrie had come to life, and he had stolen the Power Gem (now Infinity Stone) from Drax. But Sif is dead-set against the heroes tattling on Thor: if Thor was found to have come down with the "warrior's madness," Odin would have no choice but to banish him from Asgard forever. (We'll ignore the fact that Thor and/or Loki had doubtless both been banished from Asgard "forever" multiple times...) Beta Ray Bill wonders how he got talked into this, but still helps for Sif's sake, and throws himself into battle, starting with sucker-punching the Surfer. That's only a stall, though: Sif's main plan is to set the local trolls against the Watch, and she starts things up by slicing the nose off of the troll king Geirrodur!

The furious trolls chase after Sif, who has a magical Norn stone as a cheat for this level: she had previously, and unexpectedly, used it to eavesdrop on the Watch; then uses it to disappear around here. The Watch is caught by surprise, and with Strange and the Surfer already downed by Bill, they are brought down one by one until only Drax and Maxam remain. They probably still could've beat the trolls, if a little one hadn't got them with a sling and a gas bomb. The noseless Geirrodur orders the captives mystically bound...and prepared for ritual sacrifice!


Huh, I'm missing the next chapter as well, but with this post we're down to three left for this crossover! And we've narrowed it down to the issues we need:


Need: Thor #468

Silver Surfer #86

Warlock Chronicles #6

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #23

Thor #469

Silver Surfer #87

Warlock Chronicles #7

Need: Warlock and the Infinity Watch #24

Thor #470

Silver Surfer #88

Need: Warlock Chronicles #8

Warlock and the Infinity Watch #25

Thor #471

Mind, I'm not exactly racing out the door for those.
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Everyone wants to be the fifth Beetle, or the new Fantastic Four.

I didn't spring for it, since I've long since soured on Bendis, but I'm still curious about his Infamous Iron Man #2, guest-starring the Thing; who probably was not overly supportive of Doom's new role as 'Iron Man.' I wanna see Ben just shut him down, although I'm not sure that's what ends up happening. On the other hand, I did hop on this dollar book: from 1994, Nova #11, "Those Who Would Destroy Us" Story and pencils by Chris Marrinan, inks by Mark Stegbauer.

If that title sounds familiar, it was a classic Lee/Kirby Fantastic Four; and this one guest-stars the team's only current member: Ben Grimm, recently scarred up by Wolverine. Who had been part of the previous new FF, it almost feels like Marvel was really considering changing up the team. Former replacement She-Hulk and 'associate' Ant-Man are there as well, and would be needed as Four Freedoms Plaza is attacked by the Hulk, Dragon Man, and Dr. Doom; all of whom are there to kill Nova? All three are robots--technically, Dragon Man had always been a robot; I'm not sure if this was the original or a dupe. They're joined by Armada, who flees when Ant-Man figures out how to defeat the robots.

Dragon Man splits, the Hulk robot is seemingly atomized but very obviously could've escaped into the sewers, and the Doombot is smashed up real good by Ben, who just has to hate those things. The heroes briefly consider forming up as a new Fantastic Four, but "Naaah!" Nova doesn't get a break, either, as he's immediately swooped up by Nick Fury, to take care of some loose ends from previous issues, even though his girl Namorita protests. (She may have been 'Kymaera' then, but Rich still calls her Nita.)

I wasn't familiar with Marrinan, but he had penciled most of the series to that point, took over writing in #8, and would stay on until #16. New Warriors writer Evan Skolnick would write the last two issues for this series, possibly an attempt to consolidate those titles.
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Back in the neighborhood, but hardly friendly today.

I've had this story for years, in the glorious Marvel Treasury Edition #22, which also included the delightful "Here We Go-A-Plotting!" But we finally have a copy to put in the scanner! From 1973, Marvel Team-Up #13, "The Granite Sky!" Written by Len Wein, pencils by Gil Kane, inks by Frank Giacoia and (per the GCD, an uncredited) David Hunt.

Spidey is honestly, surly as hell this issue; although with good reason: this was still shortly after Gwen's death in Amazing #121. That issue was from June and this from September, and while Spidey had multiple adventures in his own book, Marvel Team-Up, and a guest-spot in Daredevil; it may only have been a couple weeks in Marvel-time since she died. Spidey had just returned from San Francisco, where it inexplicably took him, DD, and the Black Widow to beat Ramrod; and was looking for a fight to take his mind of his troubles. After he ditches out on a drunken sailor, though, he just misses a meteor land near the docks, that opens to reveal...the Grey Gargoyle?

Not far away, Spidey runs across two A.I.M. beekeepers running down the street: they seem mad since they had to run "from one costumed fanatic--and right into another!" He wallops them, then backtracks along their trail to find Captain America taking out more A.I.M. troops. Afterwards, Cap calls in S.H.I.E.L.D. for clean-up, and Spidey is remarkably testy, right before they're both...beamed up? To the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier?

An overzealous (and over-confident) agent wants to capture Spider-Man for questioning, and gets shellacked with webbing for his trouble. Nick Fury strongly suggests Spidey not try that with him, but invites him to a briefing with Cap: A.I.M. had been after a missile "telemetry system," and while Cap had defended one and S.H.I.E.L.D. another, A.I.M. managed to steal a third. Still, it had been fitted with a homing device, leading them to a base in Queens, beneath the Science Pavilion of the '64 World's Fair. Instead of MODOK today, though, A.I.M. is being bossed around by the Grey Gargoyle, who had been launched into space in Captain America #142. (Two years prior, don't ask what he ate or breathed that whole time...) The Gargoyle had contacted A.I.M. to bring down his stony prison, and together they were going to take control of earth's airspace, or something.

For some reason, instead of S.H.I.E.L.D. sending in the troops, Cap and Spidey take on the base, but are both turned into stone fairly quickly. They are then chained to the rocket that will launch the Gargoyle's satellite, with a "power-beam...capable of turning entire cities into lifeless stone!" With the launch seconds away and about an hour until the Gargoyle's stone-touch wears off, Cap and Spidey are doomed...unless the touch wears off early, for no apparent reason! Cap wonders if the venom that briefly gave him super-strength saved him, but can't even guess what saved Spider-Man. (They were on the second-to-last page, that's what saved him.) Cap throws the Gargoyle, who gets snagged in the chain that had held them, and dragged into space with the rocket. Other than that, it seemed like a pretty successful launch...I'm not sure where the Grey Gargoyle appeared next, or if he mentioned his stone-satellite-beam, but I don't think he and A.I.M. teamed up again. Captain America would appear in Marvel Team-Up again fairly soon, though: just got that issue, which we'll see some time later.

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"Shorthanded."

I am not sure that Captain Marvel figure had appeared on the blog before, except perhaps in passing or a crowd shot. And Carol's movie figures are probably just a couple months away now!
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If Nick was lucky, he was killed before the concert.

Country Joe and the Fish is a name I recognize as a Woodstock-era band...and that's it. Couldn't name one of their songs if I tried. Of course we live in a magical future where I could doubtless listen to any of their songs in a matter of seconds, but I think I'm good. Nick was probably hoping to get shot when they were playing, in today's book: Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #15, "The Assassination of Nick Fury" Written by Gary Friedrich, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Dick Avers.

Nick Fury seems like well, if not a relic, at least his age this issue; as he has a date with Laura Brown for a concert in Central Park, the aforementioned Country Joe. It's not to his taste: Fury was a WWII veteran and probably in the neighborhood of 50 here...and probably at least twenty years older than his date! Still, he's game if Laura enjoys it, so good for him. Not so good for him is HYDRA's assassin Bulls-eye, who, with a computerized sniper rifle, kills Fury!

Bulls-eye was looking for a million dollar payday, but is left hanging out to dry by current HYDRA head Number Two, who had planned to launch an all-out assault against S.H.I.E.L.D. with Fury's death, but instead decides that's when they would be most on guard. #2 had intended for Bulls-eye to be killed in the crossfire, but leaving him to get shot by Dum-Dum Dugan works just as well. Dum-Dum gets Bulls-eye right in his unfortunate chest logo; then tries to rally what's left of S.H.I.E.L.D, if anything.

The next issue box asks "Is this...the end?" And based on the GCD, yes! The next three issues of the book were reprints. Luckily, the GCD also noted Fury returned a couple months later, in Avengers #72. I think I read that one back in the Marvel Super-Action reprint, and I don't know if the explanation of how Fury survived was plausible at all: he didn't send an LMD on his date, did he? Maybe he tags back in later.

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