Classic Review: Marvel Masterworks- Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1

Quick Summary

Pros: Spider-Man is consistently entertaining throughout the book. A few of the individual chapters here impress and stand out on their own.

Cons: Many of the stories here are just average when it comes to quality. Some of the plot points and dialogue feels dated and may be unappealing to a modern reader.

Overall: This collection has a few high points but is mostly just average. It contains a number of chapters dedicated to showing off Spider-Man’s appeal as a character, with a few of these chapters being genuinely fun. However, outside of Spider-Man’s presence, the majority of the book fails to truly impress. Diehard fans of Spider-Man will find a lot of appeal within this book but readers only casually interested in the Web-Slinger may be better off looking elsewhere.

Story

Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1, by Gerry Conway, is a collection of stories that feature Spider-Man teaming up with various other Marvel heroes. Some of these team-ups are very entertaining and all of them manage to bring Spider-Man’s characteristic charm to the forefront. However, many of them are just average and end up being almost immediately forgettable. There are also places where the dated nature of the storytelling starts to show. All in all, this collection may be worth it for Spider-Man’s presence but isn’t really worth it for the general quality of the narrative alone.

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The most immediate and obvious appeal in Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1 comes from Spider-Man. This volume is almost entirely based around creating situations in which Spider-Man can thrive. This allows him to perform heroic feats, make witty comments, and, ultimately, save the day. Having another major Marvel hero there while all of this is happening simply opens the door for new avenues of action and comedy. In general, fans of Spider-Man will likely be pleased with his contribution to this collection.

There are also a few stories that would be entertaining regardless of who starred in them. The opening chapter is a wholesome Christmas story that shows even hardened villains have some humanity within them. Later on, Spider-Man’s time-travel adventure leads to a story arc with a cyclical twist at the end, which I really enjoyed.

Unfortunately, outside of Spider-Man’s obvious appeal, the majority of the stories in Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1 are just average. The fight against Morbius and the fight against the Mad Thinker are interesting at points but fail to really stand out as anything that memorable by the end. Other adventures play out in a similar manner and I ended up caring little about Spider-Man’s fight against the Frightful Four or his team-up with Thor.

In addition, there are places where the volume, as a whole, feels dated. Some of the plot points seem ridiculous from a modern perspective, with the most obvious example being a villain who is essentially the personification of everything men feared about the Women’s Liberation movement. There are also places where the dialogue feels unnatural or just plain corny. Though most of these problems are rather small, they may introduce additional distance between the reader and the read.

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Art

The artwork in Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1 ends up feeling similar to the story, in that it looks positive but not so positive that it stands out as something special. Gil Kane’s work on a few chapters looks great and does particularly well in depicting the characters that inhabit them. In addition, Jim Mooney’s work on the final few chapters does well in depicting a diverse range of locations and backgrounds. However, there are other chapters which have moments where the proportions of characters are off or where the page’s perspective is hard to grasp. In the end, the quality of the artwork within this book trends positives but does make a few mistakes here and there.

Continuity

Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1 is the first volume in the Marvel Team-Up series. The majority of the series focuses on Spider-Man but does not specifically start as a result of any particular adventure.

The story here continues in Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up Vol. 2.

This volume also makes references to other comic books, detailed below:

• Sandman’s current condition is explained by the events of Incredible Hulk #138, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Incredible Hulk Vol. 7. 
• Spider-Man originally fought Sandman back in Amazing Spider-Man #4, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 1.  
• The Human Torch’s encounter with Sandman, from Strange Tales #115, is specifically mentioned in Marvel Team-Up #1.
• The Human Torch’s “girl troubles” are explained by his girlfriend’s departure in Fantastic Four #105, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 11 (Review). 
• Medusa left the Frightful Four in Fantastic Four #94, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 10 (Review). 
• Marvel Team-Up #3 references Morbius’s role in Amazing Spider-Man #101-102, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 11. 
• In Marvel Team-Up #4, Beast is reluctant to join the X-Men because of events that have been taking place since Amazing Adventures #11, collected in Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 7. 
• Marvel Team-Up #5 alludes to personal issues in Visions’ life, starting in Avengers #105, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Avengers Vol. 11 (Review). 
• Marvel Team-UP #7 mentions Thor’s banishment from Asgard. This banishment began in Thor #204, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 11 (Review). 
• Marvel Team-Up #8‘s reference to crazy politicians is a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #116-118, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 12.  
• Marvel Team-Up #8 also references the Cat’s origins from The Cat #1, collected in Tigra The Complete Collection. 
• Marvel Team-Up #9-11 take place before the events of Amazing Spider-Man #119, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 12. 
• Zarrko was last seen in Journey Into Mystery #102, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor Vol. 2 (Review). 
• Marvel Team-Up #10 has members of the Fantastic Four looking for someone. This person went missing in Fantastic Four #134, collected in Marvel Masterworks: Fantastic Four Vol. 13 (Review).
• Omega was a major plot point from Fantastic Four #131-132, collected in Marvel Masterworks: The Fantastic Four Vol. 13 (Review).