MARVEL TEAM-UP #2 (1972): Human Torch

Trust me, this book gets a lot better. But for the first three issues, we get mediocre, unconnected stories pairing Spider-Man and Human Torch. After the launch in issue #1, the bromance continues…

They’re so cute together! Even when they’re fighting…

The duo take on the Frightful Four.  Only Medusa’s not with them anymore, so there’s only three of them. 

They break into the Baxter Building and Spidey gets mind-controlled.

While the heroes are distracted, Wizard tries to open the Negative Zone, and gets into a conflict with Annihilus.

Having Spider-Man and Torch fight each other before fighting the villain will become a trope for MTU, but it’s still fun. After Spider-Man gets his brain back, they take on the villains.

Then when it’s over, they’re back to bickering.

Spider-Man is kinda being a dick.

Seeing these two heroes take down the Frightful Four (minus one) AND Annihilus in just a few panels of one issue is really hard to take. Both these villains have fought the Fantastic Four for multi-issue arcs.

But still, for light reading and a taste of a bunch of characters–which is what MTU is really about–it’s not Godawful.

X-Men Unlimited #34 (2002)

As you can tell from the cover, the first story in this issue is an attempt to cross over into the manga market.  It’s cute, it’s silly, it works because…

THE CALL OF DUTY (2002-2003)

This post covers the entire Call of Duty run, which was comprised of several miniseries. First, The Brotherhood focused on firemen. It was a semirealistic portrayal of the heroic work…

NEW X-MEN #133 (2002): 1st Dust

With storylines spread out around the world, Grant Morrison doesn’t slow down. The new X-Corporation expands to Mumbai, where they shut down a black market selling mutant slaves and rescuing…