Spider-Man and the Submariner have met a relatively few number of times over their careers. Some of the early appearances include Submariner #40 in a story that continued in Daredevil #77 as well as Submariner #69 which showcased a memorable battle between these two titans. It didn't take TOO long for Marvel's first superhero to make his way into Marvel Team-Up that includes not only one of Subby's most feared foes, but some foes that many soon forget!

This issue begins as Spider-Man swings by while a man whose face is hidden under a rather large hat is being mugged by two hoodlums. As Spider-Man prepares to help the mystery man, Spider-Man begins to realize that maybe he doesn't need his help since he seems to be having his way with the two young crooks by knocking one of them out. The other one though prepares to stab the man in the back until Spider-Man shoots a web at his arm preventing him from doing so, and the mystery man is surprised by Spider-Man's presence and then he reveals himself: He is Namor the Submariner! And he doesn't care too much for Spider-Man's wise cracking! The Submariner pulls at Spider-Man's webbing calling him an arrogant fool and Spider-Man falls on a ledge. The Submariner then walks away as if he has something better to do, and this is when Spider-Man jumps on him beginning the inevitable "all heck breaks loose" fight. The battle rages on for a couple of pages and Spider-Man's persistence to fight on aggravates Namor to no end. Namor has something that has to attend to but Spider-Man keeps him from his mission that he deems is a matter of life and death, and just as their battle comes to a close, a small spaceship comes thrusting out of a building. Namor yells at the ship calling the person in it a murderer begging it to come back.

This is where Spider-Man (including many readers!) is really curious as to what just happened. Namor begins to explain that it is the villain known as Tiger Shark who has escaped. Tiger Shark was a man named Todd Arliss who was turned into an amphibian villain with the help of a Biological expert named Dr. Dorcas back in the Submariner #5. It is explained further by Namor that Tiger Shark has been hiding out in a warehouse in New York until he just escaped. Namor has been scoping him out for awhile and just and finally found him until now, and he just escaped! Spider-Man helps Namor look for some clues to Tiger Shark's whereabouts and then we cut to a hidden base where Tiger Shark surfaces out of his vehicle to meet Dr. Dorcas. They have a scheme in which Tiger Shark is to lure the Submariner to the base where he can be "dealt" with by creatures with awesome strength. Dr. Dorcas calls these creatures the Men-Fish and deems them his most brilliant creations. That is saying a lot since he created some of Na mor's most feared foes in the Tiger Shark as well as Orka the Killer Whale.

As this is all taking place, Spider-Man and Namor swim towards a rusty old trawler (ship) which Namor states is where they find Tiger Shark. When they board the ship, they find it abandoned. They find a glass chamber and it transport them into a tunnel down below the ocean's darkest and most dangerous depths into Dr. Dorca's base. They arrive at the room where the two scheming villains are planning their next move and then attack them simultaneously. The two villains are defeated much too easily and then the two heroes realize that they are not the real deal but rather Men-Fish that appear to look like Tiger Shark and Dorcas. To make matters worse, the two heroes have also been drugged while they were attacking the Men-Fish. When they awake, they find themselves restrained by the real Tiger Shark and Dorcas, who states his true intentions of using the Submariner to transfer his strength and life force into his Men-Fish thereby killing him. Spider-Man is under a glass case with small holes that enable him to breathe, and just like in Amazing Spider-Man #2 (Terrible Tinkerer story), he shoots his webbing through one of those small holes and opens a valve unleashing tons of water into the room revitalizing Namor greatly. Namor frees up Spider-Man then they both go after the two villains. Spider-Man finds Dorcas who sends his Men-Fish after him while the Submariner locates Tiger Shark and they battle it out until the Submariner rips off Tiger Shark's costume releasing liquid that has been sustaining him. The Submariner knocks out the much weaker Tiger Shark just as the walls in the base begin to collapse around him. Spider-Man also realizes that the base is about to self-destruct while tangling with the Men-Fish so he leaves and finds Namor. They both take the same glass case transporter back up into the ship, swim back to shore to safety and then watch the base and old ship explode from afar.

Is that really the end of Tiger Shark, Dr. Dorcas, and the Men-Fish? Heck no! Well, maybe the Men-Fish! The Tiger Shark goes on to make many more appearances and is arguably the Submariner's greatest foe. This was basically another average issue well worth reading especially since these two great heroes have made few appearances together. Plus, any issue that features the Tiger Shark as one of the Villains is significant in itself. If you can't find the original, look out for Marvel Tales #249 which reprints this very tale.

Reprinted In:
Marvel Tales #249