Over to Marvel Team-Up now, where writer Steven Grant, pencilers Tom Sutton and Carmine Infantino (2 issues in a row!), inker Jim Mooney and colorist Ben Sean are gonna reunite Spidey with his best friend, JACK RUSSELL, the Werewolf By Night, last seen way back in MTU 12. I say it like that because despite only meeting once in a comic almost 10 years prior, Peter recognizes him immediately in his human form.
I mean, Pete must be great with faces. I also love that he’s “the werewolf.” This is just so funny to me right off top. This story seems heavily attached to the Spider-Woman comic. Huh. This is getting weird.
So they’ve decided this comic takes place right after Spider-Woman 20, published some 7 months prior. And Jack Russell is coming to us right after a story in the previous issue. Maybe this MTU was late and got reshuffled? It’s especially weird because Spidey is about to guest in Spider-Woman a 2nd time, both 7 months after his previous appearance and only 2 months after this issue. Awkward. Also: “Dude, someone trying to murder you was two whole days ago, let it go!” They talk some more about how this dude Buck should stop worrying about death and then Tatterdemalion, one assumes every letterer’s least-favorite villain, appears in the midst of the rich folks wandering around.
The dialogue in this comic is insane from top to bottom, man, what is going on? I don’t know “Tatterdemalion,” but I’m angry about having to type his name. Jack gets his attention, and Tat (I ain’t typing it every time) knows his secret, so he decides to kill him. And then Peter Parker stands up for him and gets socked in the face. And then the lights go out. Up on stage, 2 people say this is the boss’s signal, but then a 3rd figure appears and says this darkness is for “two in the audience” who can handle it, and they have other business. Ok, sure. Peter uses the darkness to swap into his work clothes and Jack uses the darkness to… Well, become a werewolf, and then the lights come back on. And yet another mysterious person gets in on the mysteriousness.
Who’s this, then? “I think that guy with the webs and the spiders on him might be Spider-Man.” Man, what is this comic? Spidey quickly learns his mistake about The Werewolf, but Tat makes some terrible puns, hits Spidey with chloroform so he’s woozy, then knocks out the werewolf and leaves with him. I am having a hard time with this dumb villain taking down Spider-Man and a werewolf.
This comic has way too many mysterious, shadowy figures! When I was a teenager trying to make comics, my superhero was being menaced by a mysterious, shadowy figure for many issues, and then before he was revealed, a more mysterious, even more shadowy figure showed up and annoying him by hogging all the monologues. I still think that’s a funny bit, and that’s almost what this is turning into. Somewhere underground, Jack wakes up in a room full of homeless people who are apparently Tat’s army. They hate rich people, but Tat says despite Jack’s wealthy background, he used to be a symbol for them because he was forced to live like an animal. But now that he can control his change, he’s not cool and has to die. This is… not great… material. But an alarm lets them know Spider-Man is in the tunnels, so Tat heads off to deal with him, instead. So they gotta fight now.
Tat tries to escape back into his lair, but Spidey follows pretty easily. Then the homeless guys throw hot soup at him. No, really.
This has to be one of Spider-Man’s most embarrassing adventures. “MJ, I ever tell you about the time a stinky cape and some soup almost got me killed?” The werewolf frees himself, the homeless people decide this is stupid and run (Good call!), and now it’s just a weird fight between Spider-Man, a werewolf and just a really oily dude. It goes the way you’d think.
This comic is bonkers.
You have to be kidding me. This is ridiculous. Jim Mooney’s inking is so heavy handed I couldn’t really tell when we switched pencilers. Well, come back next time, for part 2 of… whatever this is…