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Marvel Team-Up #11: Review

Jul 1973
Len Wein, Jim Mooney

Story Name:

The Doomsday Gambit

Review & Comments

Rating:
4 stars

Marvel Team-Up #11 Review by (January 20, 2024)
Comments: Part three of three parts. Kang’s next appearance is in AVENGERS #128-129. Zarrko returns in THOR #242-245. The body of the giant android Omega that invaded Attilan in FANTASTIC FOUR #131-132 is on display there. The rescued Avengers are Thor, Vision, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver; also seen as prisoners in issue #9 but missing here are Captain America, Black Panther, and Jarvis. The letters page includes one by future RPG designer Allen Varney.

Review: Well, let’s just ignore that opening where Spidey manages to persuade an unseen helicopter pilot to fly him from Venezuela to the Himalayas; how long would that take? How much fuel would they need? How many fueling stops on that trip to the other side of the world? And who’s paying for gas, food, and lodging since it isn’t a quick trip? It’s a good thing we’re dealing with a time travel tale since Spidey can take as long as he wants, decades even, and still arrive in the nick of time in the 23rd Century. Which he does. So let’s move on. The second half of the issue is the same as issue #9 with different heroes but similar action, making a nice set of bookends. And the Inhumans make for a nice set of backup heroes, each with a clearly defined superpower that they are called on to employ, though not very imaginative: Gorgon destroys things with his feet, Karnak destroys things with his hands, Black Bolt destroys things with his voice. This leaves out Triton whose sole power is apparently “can live underwater,” which he doesn’t get to use in the story so he’s limited to the regular punching and kicking. And to make them feel better, Spidey limits himself to webbing bad guys. The real hero among the Inhumans is Maximus the Mad as he is the one to build a time machine without which the heroes would be helpless. But it’s a lot of fun and the story wraps up nicely, though the Avengers have nothing to do. Biggest oddity: Thor rather than Iron Man dominates the final page.  





 

Synopsis / Summary / Plot

Marvel Team-Up #11 Synopsis by T Vernon
Spider-Man, carrying the third deactivated time bomb, makes a deal with a helicopter pilot to fly him to the Himalayas where he climbs through the mountain passes and discovers Attilan, home of the Inhumans. He is captured by guards and brought before their king, Black Bolt, holding court with Karnak, Gorgon, and Triton. He explains the situation, taking up nearly two pages, and shows them the time bomb, hoping they can harness its energy to send him back to the 23rd Century to rescue the Avengers and stop Kang and Zarrko. Black Bolt agrees to this and they visit the lab of Maximus the Mad where they leave the bomb, despite Spidey’s misgivings about handing a bomb to a guy whose last name is “the Mad.” Triton gives Spidey a brief tour of the city but Spidey is too worried about the situation to pay attention. Then they check up on Maximus who has indeed created a time machine. Spidey and the Inhumans gather around it, Maximus triggers it, and they are teleported to the New York citadel just as Zarrko arrives to enter the complex after Spidey and Iron Man have fought their way inside. They head in via a different route than Spidey took last time and they battle guards on sky-sleds, each hero using his special ability. And now, they enter the control room just as Kang has captured Zarrko and the Conqueror looks up in shock to see Spider-Man entering again with four new allies. There is a fight that ends with Kang drawing a ray gun and Black Bolt uttering a word which knocks Kang through the air, destroys his machinery, and shatters the glass cells holding the Avengers. Zarrko makes a run for it but Spidey webs him up into a ball. Spidey unmasks Kang only to discover it is an empty costume; Kang’s voice comes over a loudspeaker, confirming it was a puppet controlled remotely by him. Maximus’ time machine has a recall switch so Spidey, Iron Man, the Avengers, and the Inhumans, go home to 1973. Spidey, his Sunday afternoon ruined, promises to send the Avengers a bill.



Jim Mooney
Mike Esposito
Glynis Oliver
John Romita (Cover Penciler)
John Romita (Cover Inker)
? (Cover Colorist)
Plot: . Letterer: John Costanza.
Editor: Roy Thomas.

Characters

Listed in Alphabetical Order.

Iron Man
Iron Man

(Tony Stark)
Kang
Kang

(Kang the Conqueror)
Maximus
Maximus

(Maximus the Mad)
Spider-Man
Spider-Man

(Peter Parker)

Plus: Zarrko (Tomorrow Man).

> Marvel Team-Up: Book info and issue index

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