What do you think?
Rate this book
Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up #1
Marvel Masterworks: Marvel Team-Up, Vol. 1
Collects Marvel Team-Up (1972) #1-11.
How better to celebrate a Marvel Masterworks milestone 150th volume than with all Marvel's most-famous characters all piled into one amazing title-Marvel Team-Up! In the world of interconnected heroes that Marvel Comics pioneered, Team-Up made that formula a franchise and gave fans a much-desired double-monthly Spidey fix. Created by the same top-flight talents that brought you Amazing Spider-Man-Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and Jim Mooney-MTU brings Spidey together with the Human Torch, the X-Men, the Vision, the Thing, Thor, the Cat, Iron Man and the Inhumans. That's enough super hero for anybody's diet! And with villains like Kang the Conqueror, Sandman and Morbius for dessert, Team-Up's will have you full-up with classic comic book adventure!
How better to celebrate a Marvel Masterworks milestone 150th volume than with all Marvel's most-famous characters all piled into one amazing title-Marvel Team-Up! In the world of interconnected heroes that Marvel Comics pioneered, Team-Up made that formula a franchise and gave fans a much-desired double-monthly Spidey fix. Created by the same top-flight talents that brought you Amazing Spider-Man-Roy Thomas, Gil Kane, Gerry Conway, Ross Andru and Jim Mooney-MTU brings Spidey together with the Human Torch, the X-Men, the Vision, the Thing, Thor, the Cat, Iron Man and the Inhumans. That's enough super hero for anybody's diet! And with villains like Kang the Conqueror, Sandman and Morbius for dessert, Team-Up's will have you full-up with classic comic book adventure!
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 15, 2010
32 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Gerry Conway
2,064 books89 followersGerard Francis Conway (Gerard F. Conway) is an American writer of comic books and television shows. He is known for co-creating the Marvel Comics' vigilante the Punisher and scripting the death of the character Gwen Stacy during his long run on The Amazing Spider-Man. At DC Comics, he is known for co-creating the superhero Firestorm and others, and for writing the Justice League of America for eight years. Conway wrote the first major, modern-day intercompany crossover, Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 23, 2020
OK, I may be being a tad generous with my 3 star rating of this one but I can't help it; I just love the MTU concept! This was where it all started with Marvel Team-Up; this book collects the first eleven issues of MTU and features Spider-Man teaming-up with the Human Torch, the X-Men, the Vision, the Thing, Thor, the Cat (before she became Tigra), Iron Man and the Inhumans.
Honestly, I preferred later volumes of MTU where it was two different heroes every issue instead of it always being Spidey and somebody (effectively making MTU a third Spidey title, which he does not need) but this is still a heck of a lot of fun. The art's not the greatest and the plots are more than a little contrived and some of the heroes make some dubious choices for the sake of the story but... what the Hell. It's fun.
Honestly, I preferred later volumes of MTU where it was two different heroes every issue instead of it always being Spidey and somebody (effectively making MTU a third Spidey title, which he does not need) but this is still a heck of a lot of fun. The art's not the greatest and the plots are more than a little contrived and some of the heroes make some dubious choices for the sake of the story but... what the Hell. It's fun.
August 27, 2018
Spider-man and Friends
This first dozen issues are cool and a good way to keep reading Spiderman-man with a bit of a Marvel Universe kick too. Some cool villains and stories that are different enough from the main Spider-Man storylines to stay interesting.
This first dozen issues are cool and a good way to keep reading Spiderman-man with a bit of a Marvel Universe kick too. Some cool villains and stories that are different enough from the main Spider-Man storylines to stay interesting.
February 17, 2024
This isn't bad, but nothing memorable or special. It's pretty much just Spider-Man teaming up with a different hero against a different villain each issue. There's no overarching storyline and barely any supporting characters. If you just want to see Spider-Man teaming up with different heroes, then you'll enjoy this.
#1 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Sandman
#2 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Frightful Four
#3 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Morbius
#4 - Spider-Man and the X-Men vs Morbius
#5 - Spider-Man and Vision vs Puppet Master
#6 - Spider-Man and Thing vs Mad Thinker
#7 - Spider-Man and Thor vs Kryllk the Cruel
#8 - Spider-Man and Cat vs Man-Killer
#9 - Spider-Man and Iron Man vs Zarko and Kang
#10 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Zarko and Kang
#11 - Spider-Man and the Inhumans vs Zarko and Kang
#1 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Sandman
#2 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Frightful Four
#3 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Morbius
#4 - Spider-Man and the X-Men vs Morbius
#5 - Spider-Man and Vision vs Puppet Master
#6 - Spider-Man and Thing vs Mad Thinker
#7 - Spider-Man and Thor vs Kryllk the Cruel
#8 - Spider-Man and Cat vs Man-Killer
#9 - Spider-Man and Iron Man vs Zarko and Kang
#10 - Spider-Man and Human Torch vs Zarko and Kang
#11 - Spider-Man and the Inhumans vs Zarko and Kang
November 18, 2020
this is the first 11 issues of marvel team-up, a book that monthly paired spider-man with someone else from the marvel universe in usually multiple issue arcs that often pulled spider-man outside of the realm of his normal rogues gallery to face villains from different areas of the marvel universe. it's primarily of value because it helped to build out the corners of the world stan lee / jack kirby etc were constructing, letting the readers know that yes this was all happening in one place, which is still an enormous and mostly uncredited achievement in narrative fiction. anyway, these issues flesh out magical and cosmic worlds that spider-man had largely not been a part of, since he was mostly a street-level hero: features, Thor, the inhumans, the fantastic 4, and others.
February 11, 2021
Bright, colorful, vibrant, action-filled stories, solidly written and beautifully rendered. No massive multi-verse crosslinked reboot alternative-timeline convoluted nonsense here (elements of comicdom with which I grow weary). These early issues of Marvel Team-Up are as simple as: Do ya' like Spider-Man? Yeah. Do ya' like the Mighty Thor? Yeah. Well, there in this comic together and they have an adventure! Cool! Each of the issues in this collection is entertaining and engaging, my favorite of them being Spidey's team-up with The Cat. Great stuff. 'Nuff said. Excelsior!
November 15, 2021
Eep. Other than an X-Men team up which I had read decades ago the other stories are pretty forgettable. I was hoping for some nostalgic goodness in some classic Spider-Man tales but there are no classics to be found. This was obviously a Spider-Man title that nobody cared to put a full effort into. Wait until the Claremont written issues and Byrne art - that's when this gets good.
October 22, 2019
Great 70's Cheese
You can't go wrong with a good team up! No one is going to confuse this with Shakespeare, but if you want to see the Mighty Marvel formula in action, here it is. Sit back and enjoy
You can't go wrong with a good team up! No one is going to confuse this with Shakespeare, but if you want to see the Mighty Marvel formula in action, here it is. Sit back and enjoy
June 12, 2018
I was always a huge fan of Marvel Team-Up and I've really been enjoying revisiting these stories in the Masterworks editions.
October 26, 2018
Just a trip down memory lane. Started reading around Team-up 20. The Tomorrow War would be 12 issues today instead of 3.
December 27, 2022
Quite a large book.
Good color artwork. Spider-Man teams up with many heros. And faces many villains as well. Many the conqueror is the toughest one.
Good color artwork. Spider-Man teams up with many heros. And faces many villains as well. Many the conqueror is the toughest one.
May 15, 2023
Bit uneven but hardly a surprise given the nature of the book. I think the beginning issues were better than the finale.
June 24, 2024
I have read all of these issues before in Essential Marvel Team-Up Vol. 1, but Issue 3 smacked me as being too familiar, like I'd read it dozens of times. I scratched my head, knowing that I didn't own the floppy for that issue. It dawned on me that this issue was re-cut and reprinted in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #6, a quarter box acquisition circa 1983. 16 of the 21 pages from issue 3 were reprinted there. I found issues 6-11 of PPTSSM in said quarter box and read them dozens of times. The Morbius trilogy of issues 6-8 were a favorite of mine growing up.
Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get to the issues themselves. These were a joy to read and are loveable, dated Bronze Age goodness. No Earth shattering events, no crossovers, no variant covers, just comic books that told stories. It seems so quaint by today's standards. Issue 1 is a great Christmas story, back when they could do that in comics and not worry about offending someone. The Morbius appearances in 3 and 4 are pure gold. I mentioned my love of issue 3 already, but issue 4 has Gil Kane rendering my beloved Morbius. Kane's pencils aren't as solid here as they were during his run on Amazing Spider-Man, the result of an inferior inker.
The Tomorrow War arc in issues 9-11 is typical Bronze Age fare, ambling about for 3 issues and finally wrapping up. I have always been a sucker for Kang the Conqueror, and am holding out hope that he is the villain in the upcoming Avengers movie and not the Skrulls.
Some of Conway's dialogue is cheesy and dated, but so what? I doubt that he intended for this to be pored over in a deluxe hardcover edition 40 years later. They were intended to be disposable reading, here today, gone next month. I can forgive some of the shortcomings in mapping out plotlines and stuff. There is a lot more energy in old comic books because of this flying by the seat of their pants vibe.
Beautiful, dull matte finish coated stock paper, sewn binding, superior linework and color restoration...Marvel Masterworks are the crème de la crème of hardcovers.
Now that all of that is out of the way, let's get to the issues themselves. These were a joy to read and are loveable, dated Bronze Age goodness. No Earth shattering events, no crossovers, no variant covers, just comic books that told stories. It seems so quaint by today's standards. Issue 1 is a great Christmas story, back when they could do that in comics and not worry about offending someone. The Morbius appearances in 3 and 4 are pure gold. I mentioned my love of issue 3 already, but issue 4 has Gil Kane rendering my beloved Morbius. Kane's pencils aren't as solid here as they were during his run on Amazing Spider-Man, the result of an inferior inker.
The Tomorrow War arc in issues 9-11 is typical Bronze Age fare, ambling about for 3 issues and finally wrapping up. I have always been a sucker for Kang the Conqueror, and am holding out hope that he is the villain in the upcoming Avengers movie and not the Skrulls.
Some of Conway's dialogue is cheesy and dated, but so what? I doubt that he intended for this to be pored over in a deluxe hardcover edition 40 years later. They were intended to be disposable reading, here today, gone next month. I can forgive some of the shortcomings in mapping out plotlines and stuff. There is a lot more energy in old comic books because of this flying by the seat of their pants vibe.
Beautiful, dull matte finish coated stock paper, sewn binding, superior linework and color restoration...Marvel Masterworks are the crème de la crème of hardcovers.
February 2, 2022
These early issues of Marvel Team-Up were sometimes a bit contrived. After a few issues in which Spider Man teams up with the Human Torch (apparently, the original intention was to feature both of them every issue), Spidey starts getting a different guest star each issue. This was exactly the right direction for the book to take and what makes it so much fun overall.
Where this concept becomes contrived (even when looked at with Comic Book Logic) is the requirement for Spidey to have a different partner each issue even in the midst of a two- or three-part story arc. Sometimes, the reason for one hero to leave the story partway through and another hero to jump in was abrupt and did not ring true.
For instance, in one issue, Spidey and the Torch are raising about the world deactivating "time bombs" that reverse the flow of history. That's a great idea for a comic book story.
But, out of the blue, the Torch suddenly (and without any foreshadowing to set it up) realizes that the radiation emitted by the bombs is the same as that used by the Inhumans for the force field that protects their Great Refuge. Spidey must now go to them for help and the Torch drops from the case because--he doesn't want to have to see his Inhuman ex-girlfriend? Yeah, Johnny, a moment of social awkwardness is a reason for declining to help save the world. This was just an awkward contrivance to have the Torch drop out of the story and bring the Inhumans in as guest-stars in the next issue.
But that story as a whole is still a lot of fun, as is the other tales in this volume. Eventually, Marvel Team-Up would get the hang of doing occasional multi-part stories and have more logical reasons for the revolving guest-stars. And even early on, the pure fun of tossing random heroes together with Spider Man for random adventures makes these issues a joy to revisit.
Where this concept becomes contrived (even when looked at with Comic Book Logic) is the requirement for Spidey to have a different partner each issue even in the midst of a two- or three-part story arc. Sometimes, the reason for one hero to leave the story partway through and another hero to jump in was abrupt and did not ring true.
For instance, in one issue, Spidey and the Torch are raising about the world deactivating "time bombs" that reverse the flow of history. That's a great idea for a comic book story.
But, out of the blue, the Torch suddenly (and without any foreshadowing to set it up) realizes that the radiation emitted by the bombs is the same as that used by the Inhumans for the force field that protects their Great Refuge. Spidey must now go to them for help and the Torch drops from the case because--he doesn't want to have to see his Inhuman ex-girlfriend? Yeah, Johnny, a moment of social awkwardness is a reason for declining to help save the world. This was just an awkward contrivance to have the Torch drop out of the story and bring the Inhumans in as guest-stars in the next issue.
But that story as a whole is still a lot of fun, as is the other tales in this volume. Eventually, Marvel Team-Up would get the hang of doing occasional multi-part stories and have more logical reasons for the revolving guest-stars. And even early on, the pure fun of tossing random heroes together with Spider Man for random adventures makes these issues a joy to revisit.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews