Issue #2 of Marvel Team-Up is, on the surface, a great deal like the premiere issue. Spider-Man teams up with the Human Torch to battle the Sandman, who is joined by his partners in the Frightful Four for this round. But get beyond those superficial similarities and the differences are apparent. Marvel Team-Up #1 was a fairly fun, lighthearted Christmas story. Sure, the heroes fought the bad guy, but no one really wanted to hurt anybody. After all, it was Christmas Eve - and, as we found out, even super villains can take a break one night a year. However, this story is much more serious in tone, as not only are the heroes' lives on the line, but so are potentially the lives of millions!

The issue opens with Johnny Storm standing on the waterfront, brooding about his recent break-up with Crystal of the Inhumans (which took place in the Fantastic Four). A seafaring drunkard named Nathaniel spots Johnny and tries to cheer him up. Oh, and Nathaniel talks like a reject from "Pirates of the Caribbean": "Ye look fit to bust a corkin', ye do -- what's wrong with ye, son?" he asks. Anyway, after a heart-to-heart talk with Nathaniel, the Human Torch is convinced that he needs a friend to confide in and goes to track down Spider-Man, whom he expects to fill that role. However, Spidey uncharacteristically blows off the Torch. Sure, they have always had something of a rivalry, but Spider-Man is downright rude to him here. "That's the last thing I need--playing counselor to some neurotic's fantasies!" he says. First of all, Peter Parker calling anyone else neurotic is a good one. But even worse, Spider-Man comes across as a total jerk. I realize it's just a set-up for the end of the story, but still, it seems badly out of character. At the same time, the villainous team known as the Frightful Four plots their revenge on the Fantastic Four - and intend to use Spider-Man as a pawn in that game. At this point, the Frightful Four were down to three members: the Wizard, Sandman and the Trapster. So much for truth in advertising. Sandman says of Spider-Man, "I figure I've got a score to settle with that wise-crackin' punk!" I guess he conveniently forgot about Spidey and the Human Torch showing him some kindness and sympathy in the previous issue, when the heroes let Sandman visit his mother on Christmas Eve. This issue is off to a pretty bad start.

The scene shifts to the Baxter Building, where the Human Torch is alone nursing a cup of coffee. Spider-Man gets off the elevator and attacks the Torch for no apparent reason. It turns out that Spidey came up the elevator with the Frightful Four. "You're not thinking -- not fighting on your own!" the Torch deduces. "Somehow, those goons are controlling you." I'm glad the Torch figured it out because Spider-Man's capture at the hands of the Frightful Four took place off panel, leaving us readers in the dark. With Spider-Man in a trance and the Torch bound by the Trapster's paste, the Wizard turns his attention to the real reason he came - tapping into the Negative Zone using Reed Richards' powerful devices. "Only the genius of a man like Reed Richards -- or like myself -- can fully comprehend the precise drainage available to machines like these!" the Wizard proclaims. Except he must not be that smart, because he lures the cosmic villain known as Annihilus toward the machine! For those of you unfamiliar with Annihilus, he is one of the Fantastic Four's most powerful and ruthless foes. Suffice it to say, in a straight-up battle, the Human Torch, Spider-Man and the Frightful Four don't have much of a chance against him. In fact, he potentially could conquer the Earth if he is able to pass through the portal from the Negative Zone. The Torch breaks free of his bonds, but instead of enlisting his aid in stopping the approaching Annihilus, the Frightful Four (with Spider-Man) fight him, despite the Torch's protests. "You can't halt Annihilus by yourself! You need me," he says. The Torch begs Spider-Man to break free of his mental bonds and eventually, that's just what happens. "Thanks, Johnny. I mean it!" Spider-Man says. That resolves the artificially created conflict between the heroes from the beginning of the story. Now, they have to worry about stopping Annihilus from crossing over from the Negative Zone to Earth! Spider-Man puts his scientific knowledge to use "Maybe now, you see why you should have stayed in college," he tells the Human Torch. "Only a college brain like me--would know enough to simply pull the plug." He turns off the machine and without the machine to connect him to earth, Annihilus fades back into the Negative Zone. The good guys quickly clean up the Frightful Four to end this little escapade.

The idea behind this story was a good one - the Frightful Four inadvertently bringing Annihilus to Earth is a great problem to solve. Unfortunately, the execution was somewhat lacking. I'm no fan of "decompressed" stories that take forever to tell, but this was the opposite. There simply was too much plot crammed into one issue. So, for example, we don't get to see Spider-Man's capture by the Frightful Four, which should have been an eventful scene. Also, the tension between Spider-Man and the Human Torch seemed forced, particularly after their successful team-up in the previous issue. Peter Parker has been through enough girl problems of his own to be a little more sympathetic to Johnny's romantic woes. Again, a more believable conflict might have been developed had the writer and artist not been in such a hurry to keep the plot moving. This story would have been much better as a two-issue tale, rather than a single issue.

This story very well may have been the first-ever pairing of writer Gerry Conway and artist Ross Andru on a Spider-Man comic book. Thankfully, their work got considerably better, as in a couple of years, the Conway-Andru team began perhaps the greatest run ever on Amazing Spider-Man.

The Frightful Four (this time, with Electro as the fourth member) would return to plague Spider-Man and the Human Torch in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #42, a story that concludes in Fantastic Four #218.

Next issue: Spidey and the Human Torch team up once again, this time to take on Morbius the living vampire!

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.

Reprinted In:
Spider-Man Megazine #2