Friday, December 2, 2011

Marvel Team-Up #81 (May 1979)

Well, that's it. I have no more new comic books to review for the week. As such, I'm going to have to go back to my old standby, the Retro-Review! Ah yes... The Retro-Review... The only reason I'm reviewing the comic book that I am? Because it was one of the many, many, MANY unread back issues I have laying around, and as such is readily available. As for why I brought this issue, I honestly don't remember... I guess I was on a Satana kick or something. Anyway, let's get to it!

Marvel Team-Up #81:

Summary: Dr. Strange is a werewolf(don't you just hate when that happens!) and it's up to Spider-Man to find and capture Were-Strange so Satana can preform a spell that would put Strange's soul back in his body(because Werewolves don't have souls or something, I guess), curing him of his werewolf-ism. Spidey manages to track Were-Strange down at a hospital in Manhattan where Were-Strange was trying to murder Spidey's injured girlfriend. After a bit of a tussle, Spidey manages to outsmart Were-Strange and knock him out. Spidey takes Were-Strange back to the Sanctum Sanctorum where we discover Satana inside of a magical circle. Satana tells Spidey that he had to make sure Were-Strange didn't leave the circle until she found Strange's soul in the astral plane, or ALL of their souls would be forfeit!!! With that, Satana sends her astral projection to the astral plane and finds a mess of angry demons waiting for her. While she is struggling through the demon horde in an attempt to reach Strange's soul(which was encased in glass apparently), Were-Strange wakes up so Spidey proceeds to continuously web Were-Strange up... That'll work I guess. Satana ends up almost reaching Strange's soul, but is attacked by a mess of demons. Satana casts her most powerful spell, destroying all of the demons around her, while realizing her magic was spent and she was completely defenseless. Instead of retreating, Satana breaks Strange's soul out of the case it was in, curing the good doctor, but dooming herself as she is killed by the demon her father(Satan) had bonded her with. Although she is mortally wounded, Satana takes pride in the fact that her death had destroyed the demon that was within her, as well as the fact that her final act was a good deed. With that, Strange is cured of his werewolf-ism and Satana has died a hero.

Thoughts: This was an okay comic. I obviously missed out on a few key things, like why Dr. Strange was a werewolf, how that happened and why he wanted to kill Peter Parker's girlfriend, but what can ya do? I liked that Satana basically redeemed herself and that her last act consisted of her spitting in the face of her father, but it was weird that Satana died in a comic book that didn't have an appearance from her brother, on-again, off-again foe, Daimon Hellstrom... That would be like a member of the X-Men dying in a random issue of Daredevil... It just seemed odd. I guess that's actually a good way to describe this comic, odd. That word sums this one up perfectly.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.I love that Were-Strange kept his cloak on after his transformation... I guess he didn't want us confusing him with some other werewolf.

18 comments:

  1. since you're reading older comics, have you ever read the secret warriors series, i mean its not actually that old but if you're into the secret agents+spy stuff and nick fury i kind of liked it.

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  2. That series is still a glaring omission in my collection... It unfortunately came out when I was in my full anti-Marvel, pro-DC kick(in other words, the opposite of how I currently feel!), so I never bothered to pick it up. It is on my radar though, and if I can find trades/cheap back issues, I'd def give it a look now.

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  3. well i know you're into the whole collection aspect of actual comics. But if you just want to read the series i think they have the whole series digitally on the marvel website, and the subscription does not even cost that much considering you don't have to pay for each comic.

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  4. That's a cool idea and all, but like you said, I'm into the actual collecting aspect. I like to be able to hold the issue/trade in my hands and then put it away after I've finished with it, content in the knowledge it'll be there for me down the road. I'll def end up picking Secret Warriors eventually though. I've always liked Fury, and since I'm picking up way less DC books nowadays, I should have the $ to get the full series run.

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  5. "It unfortunately came out when I was in my full anti-Marvel, pro-DC kick"

    I was reading some old post of you from that time and is hilarious how you used almost the same words that now are to Didio/Johns with Quesada

    And arent you considering some DC back issues?

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  6. It's SO true, Alien! I mean seriously, like 2 years ago I was just 100% behind DC. Back then I was always complaining about Bendis and Quesada. Now it's Johns and Didio. It be great if there came a time when I liked BOTH companies! I can actually pinpoint the exact time when my feelings started to change... It was after Siege with Marvel and during Brightest Day for DC. Those two events completely changed the way I felt about both companies.

    I'm always looking for some good DC back issues, especially since I can't stand most of the current DC books. :P

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  7. Is Secret Warriors the issues with Ares' kid? I kind of liked that character and his interactions with Ares.

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  8. Then is time for you to get the Seven Soldiers.

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  9. Hi, I really loved your post on the older Marvel comics. I collect the newer versions but I would like to collect and read the older comics, but I don't really have enough money to buy them yet so I really enjoy reading about them on blogs like this.
    Thanks

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  10. Yep, as far as I know Secret Warriors is the series that had Ares' kid in it. So that and Seven Soldiers are going on the list right now for this Wednesday when I step into the comic shop.

    Awesome, there's another vote for these retro-reviews!

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  11. I believe the Secret Warriors is where Quake comes from also (the random female that Captain America asked to join the Avengers).

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  12. "the random female that Captain America asked to join the Avengers" HA!! That line really gave me a good laugh, Jermox! It's funny 'cause it's true! Yep, Quake was a member of the Secret Warriors(as far as I know). I know she first showed up in the Secret War mini(which I read like 5 years ago and as such have no recollection of!), but I'm pretty sure I saw her hanging out with the Secret Warriors during the various Marvel events that they popped up in.

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  13. anyway it would be rather awesome if you would review them whenever you get around to reading them.

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  14. Hey nice to see that you are considering Seven Soldiers.. But if you want to read actual new good DC stuff you should read Animal Man or Swamp Thing (I know I know I already tell that =P but what can I do I will insist until you tell me to stop)

    I would recomend you Batwoman, but the actual series arent so good like her previous Detective run. Art is still gorgeous. Plus it has spoilers of that previous run.

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  15. When I do pick up that Secret Warriors series(and I'm sure I eventually will), I'll definitely make sure to do some posts/reviews on them.

    HA! I see you're still trying to get me to read Animal Man/Swamp Thing, Alien! :P By this point it would probably be best to just wait for the first trade of those two series to come out if I do decide to give them a shot... It's tough just picking up and starting a DC comic since they refuse to put that recap in the front of their issues. I actually forgot about the Batwoman run from Detective... That's something I've only heard good things about. Man, you guys are really trying to get me to blow a mess of money of comics! :P And I love it! :D

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  16. yeah, at this point better if you wait to the trades...it will be a good story the read in one sit.

    I'm sorry for your wallet, but Batwoman: Elegy is a gorgeous book from the art to the history, it is Batman relatad and still has his very own identity.

    And have you read the Gotham Central series? It has his high and downs points but still is a pretty good series overall.

    Men How I wished that Rucka were writing for DC again. He has written a lot of mi favs DC books.

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  17. Oh man, Gotham Central is something I've ALWAYS wanted to get my hands on! I've managed to pick up a few issues here and there, but that's one series I'd love to collect in it's entirety.

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  18. Yes that is a series worth to have the entire collection.
    I was used to police comic since the Argentinian silver age of comics has a lot of good comic in that style so read that, mixed with superhero stuff was awesome to me.

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