Back to this weird comic. With the incomprehensible tale of The Authority behind us, it’s only got 2 more issues featuring Spider-Man (And 4 after that featuring others before being canceled just shy of a year into its run). Tom Peyer is still plotting, now joined by Tom DeFalco on script, Josh Hood on pencils, Rich Perrotta on inks and Tom Smith on colors. And it features The Wrecking Crew, bound up in ludicrous metal harnesses that wouldn’t allow them to feed themselves or go to the bathroom as they stand trial for their most recent crimes.
The attempt to add eye veins to Wrecker via colors there is disastrous.
That last Wrecker figure feels like a swipe, but I have no idea from whence, so we’ll allow it. Later, news of these events is on the TV in the Parker home, and MJ is glad Peter wasn’t around to get involved, saying The Wrecking Crew is out of his league. Which is true, but that hasn’t stopped him from fighting them before, tho usually not all at once. MJ wants to change the subject to how the various heroes returned seemingly from the dead. Peter says he doesn’t really understand what happened, or if everyone got home in one piece, which lets us segue to Namor falling out of the sky like a meteor. He doesn’t look so good.
“Y’all” addressing a single person never fails to make my teeth grind. The Crew decides to go attack Wall Street (Get ‘em, boys) while Namor floats down into an alley with some homeless guys. He’s very confused and mute, and flashes back to how The Human Torch found him wandering and amnesiac as a homeless man himself back in the 60s. Cut to the villains literally smashing the street looking for gold. Thunderball’s supposed to be smarter than this. They set off an explosion that is visible from Namor’s alley. He remembers some more snippets of his life, then flies off to investigate. JJJ gets wind of it, calls Peter to cover it, and we have a Marvel Team-Up about to happen. Namor arrives on the scene of the rampage, stops, rips a power pole out of the ground and proceeds to hit a car with it, to the bafflement of The Wrecking Crew.
This art is weird, and the storytelling is weirder. Did Hood just draw Spider-Man falling down and force DeFalco to try to spin it? Looks like. Very heroic. The jobbing continues as Powerball easily snares him in the chain on of his weapon. Spidey tries to appeal to Namor’s nobility, not to mention their quasi-friendship, but Namor doesn’t move, and then Powerball chucks his chain and Spider-Man into the river. Our hero is sinking like a stone and not looking like he’ll be able to break free.
No idea. Is this his thing post-Heroes Reborn? I don’t think I saw any books with substantial appearances by him in the period. I just realized this book is missing a staple. Not that it was torn out, but that it was never there, no holes in the pages. How unusual. Spidey and Namor return to the scene, Namor saying Spidey helped remind him of the man he was. Then they find a message.
Oooohkay. Coulda tried not running the “too” off the page.
So concludes another underwhelming issue of Marvel Team-Up, Vol. 2. Not exactly been swinging for the fences. Next time: more filler, but also a little detour.