Ok, so, clone fiasco completed, we gotta roll back to the Team-Ups that were published alongside it, starting with… Hoo boy. I hope they actually meet, at least. I guess my first question is what is Frank doing in that top right picture? Dancing? Ok, let’s see what on Earth can happen here. Yet another of the infamous 77 for $45. It’s Gerry Conway, Sal Buscema & Vince Colletta again. Buscema is nearly unrecognizable in these issues, but he still gets in some Buscema hands, starting on page one, as Spidey stumbles upon a robbery. Well, you know what’s gonna happen next…
Hermie! But, a Spidey is beating up the goons, he gets mysteriously zapped from behind. Whatever did it sends the goons running in a panic, and leaves Spidey unconscious. And when he wakes up…
0 to 100 real quick in this issue.
Now there’s a name. Spidey webs up everybody and frees the monster so they can escape by smashing through a wall. Hey, good for you, Spidey. He didn’t even hesitate to help the monster. So now they’re out in the snowy night, somewhere definitely not New York, as goons of the baron search for them on skis. Then the monster tells Spidey his story. It’s the usual, except that he somehow wound up preserved in “a chemical filled coffin,” recently on display in a side show. He was freed, and then wandered back out into the modern world. He apparently fought Dracula and various others, and now here he is. Spider-Man has a great reaction:
I love the rare occasions when comic book characters respond to the insane things in their world like people who actually live there. You know, most of the time, a guy with spider powers would be like “There’s no way VAMPIRES exist!” or a cop who’s seen Thor in action will be like “There’s no such thing as ALIENS!” Here, though, “You’re Frankenstein? My dead girlfriend’s running around, why not?” It’s a reasonable reaction. Also, really just loving how Spidey goes along with the monster. No “two heroes fight over a misunderstanding” or anything, they’re just buds now. Anyway…
And Spider-Man is knocked unconscious for a 2nd time this issue. Sheesh.
The monster wants to help, too, but they tell him he’s not stealthy enough and rush off. Spidey even worries that they hurt the monster’s feelings! He’s not going to be left behind, though, and follows after them. Spidey & Klemmer sneak into the castle no problem, and Frank isn’t far behind. We follow the monster as he knocks out a few guards and makes his way inside, only to discover…
This one leaves us with a lot more questions than answers!
Also, somebody cut a square out of one of the story pages in this one!
These old comics were full of pages with a bunch of tiny ads on them, and someone actually clipped one out. Looking in the issue of ASM from the same month, I can see the missing add is for Marvel comics back issues. Our previous owner was trying to fill in his collection, just like me. But he didn’t have eBay. Let’s see how weird things get next month.