Spider-Rama: Marvel Team-Up #15

Welcome to Spider-Rama! Every Monday and Wednesday, Ben and Duy will look at a Spider-Man issue from the very beginning, in chronological order, and answer questions for various categories, inspired in large part by one of our favorite podcasts, The Rewatchables by The Ringer. Our goal is to make it to Amazing Spider-Man #200. Will we make it? Grab your Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus or crank up your tablet to Marvel Unlimited, and then tune in every Wednesday to find out!

MARVEL TEAM-UP #15

Spider-Rama

by Len Wein, Ross Andru, and Don Perlin

Spider-Man and Ghost Rider vs. The Orb!

POINTLESS TRIVIA

 

BEN: First appearance and origin of the freaking Orb!

DUY: In other news, whether he's Peter or Spidey, Spider-Man remains the only guy in the universe capable of making riding a motorcycle uncool.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST? 

BEN: Not only does this comic have the best co-star yet, one of Marvel’s greatest characters the Ghost Rider, but it has the Orb. The Orb!

DUY: Peter having unconscious sexist biases is a thing even in Into the Spider-Verse. Why is there SJW propaganda in my modern comics.... in the 1970s???

BEN: Plus, the Orb!

DUY: I'm surprised they didn't call him The Eyeball.

BEN: That's racist.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST? 

BEN: Johnny performs in his stunt show as the Ghost Rider?

DUY: Is mind control a thing? I feel we saw it once in Stan's entire run (the Ringmaster) and now we've seen like 10 of it.

BEN: I wonder what was in the zeitgeist about mind control.

NITPICKS

DUY: The cover. His name is Ghost Rider, Peter, he's not going to "die".

BEN: Yet another cover that doesn’t reflect anything from inside.

DUY: I'm really getting annoyed at how quickly the endings come in these issues.

BEN: I’m guessing not a lot of time was spent on them, in any capacity.

FAVORITE PANEL

BEN: I don’t know why Mary Jane is standing like that but I find it appealing:

DUY: The image of Ghost Rider holding a contract is hilarious.

BEN: Sign here for termite insurance.

WHO WON THE COMIC?

BEN: All of us, because of the greatness of this comic. Pure unfiltered greatness.

DUY: Ross Andru, whose art I think is starting to come together.

BEN: You accidentally forgot to mention how great it all was.

Leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel! Go watch our Spider-Rama videos!

Watch: The Death and Return of Superman

 Paul, Duy, and LaMar look back at one of the greatest comic events in history: The Death and Return of Superman! How did we feel as kids reading it? Was he really dead? Who was our favorite replacement Superman? How do we feel about it now?

Spider-Rama: Amazing Spider-Man #126

Welcome to Spider-Rama! Every Monday and Wednesday, Ben and Duy will look at a Spider-Man issue from the very beginning, in chronological order, and answer questions for various categories, inspired in large part by one of our favorite podcasts, The Rewatchables by The Ringer. Our goal is to make it to Amazing Spider-Man #200. Will we make it? Grab your Amazing Spider-Man Omnibus or crank up your tablet to Marvel Unlimited, and then tune in every Wednesday to find out!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #126

Spider-Rama

by Gerry Conway, Ross Andru, and Jim Mooney

Jonas Harrow gives the Kangaroo a power-up.

POINTLESS TRIVIA

 

BEN: Villain appearance count:

• Doctor Octopus: 15
• Green Goblin: 13
• The Kingpin: 12
• Kraven the Hunter: 8
• The Vulture: 7
• The Lizard: 7
• Mysterio: 6
• Professor Smythe/Spider Slayer: 6
• Sandman: 4
• Hammerhead: 3
• Electro: 3
• The Enforcers: 3
• The Rhino: 3
• Man Mountain Marko: 3
• Silvermane: 3
• The Chameleon: 3
• The Schemer/Richard Fisk: 3
• The Ringmaster: 2
• Scorpion: 2
• Molten Man: 2
• Shocker: 2
• The Beetle: 2
• Morbius: 2
• The Gibbon: 2
• The Man-Wolf: 2
• Jonas Harrow: 2
• The Kangaroo: 2

BEN: In a weird coincidence, Jonas Harrow and the Kangaroo, the only two villains who have only appeared once, get their second appearances.

DUY: I'm in shock, SHOCK, that Harry Osborn is revealed to be the shadowy figure that took the Goblin costume off his father, Norman. It was so unobvious.

BEN: Was it, or have we just always known it so it seems so?

DUY: So it's a weird thing about serial comics. Under conventional storytelling, between 122 and now, it could have only been Harry, because he's the one whose behavior totally changed. No one else made sense. But in serial storytelling, you could have randomly said it was, say, Mysterio, and just make sense of it after.

DUY: Also, The Kangaroo dies. Not counting Richard Raleigh, this is now the second villain death (after Norman) in Conway's run.

BEN: It's like he, as a former fan, wanted to make sure the Kangaroo never appeared again.

WHAT'S AGED THE BEST? 

BEN: Spider-Man is hired by Corona Motors to build a Spider-Mobile. I believe they are modeled after Stan Lee and Roy Thomas.

DUY: Spider-Man has learned from the incident in ASM#1 when he tried cashing a check. This is how you can tell Gerry was a fan of the book before writing it.

BEN: The first wave of fans turned writers tried to make sense of things, while Stan and the artists were just focused on making new stuff every month. Professor Warren is about to become more important.

WHAT'S AGED THE WORST? 

BEN: Here:

NITPICKS

DUY: It's always bugged me when stuff like this happened. In my experience, people WILL notice footwear when it's out of the ordinary.

BEN: Especially if it’s up to your knees.

DUY: If Jonas Harrow can build anything, why would he just help the Kangaroo jump higher? Why doesn't he build him.... armor? Or other things?

FAVORITE PANEL

BEN: Mine:

DUY: I love the perspective on this.

BEN: I bet you do.

WHO WON THE COMIC?

DUY: Conway again, for the second issue in a row. Masterfully balancing out everyone, working the Torch in there, getting rid of the Kangaroo.

BEN: I like the way Conway almost immediately brought back Spider-Man’s supporting cast on a much more regular basis.

Leave us a comment below or on our Facebook page. And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel! Go watch our Spider-Rama videos!

Watch: Captain Marvel and Wonder Woman Are Engaged

On June 14, 2019, Ashley Van Sickle and Deanna Mascia broke comics internet when Ashley as Captain Marvel publicly proposed to Deanna as Wonder Woman. How did it feel taking the internet by storm? When's the wedding? And how, just how, can a DC fan and a Marvel fan possibly stay together???

Watch: Roger Langridge Interview on Bill and Ted, Popeye, Thor, and Fred the Clown

 Roger Langridge talks to Duy about drawing Bill and Ted Are Doomed with Evan Dorkin, his creator-owned Fred the Clown, why he loves Popeye, Thor: The Mighty Avenger with Chris Samnee, and other books he'd love to work on! (Give him Plastic Man, DC!)

Support Roger Langridge heRoger Langridge talks to Duy about drawing Bill and Ted Are Doomed with Evan Dorkin, his creator-owned Fred the Clown, why he loves Popeye, Thor: The Mighty Avenger with Chris Samnee, and other books he'd love to work on! (Give him Plastic Man, DC!) Support Roger Langridge here: http://www.hotelfred.com http://www.patreon.com/hotelfred And you can get some of his books here: Fred the Clown: https://amzn.to/33iTsmY Fred the Clown: The Iron Duchess: https://amzn.to/33AV0cb Thor: The Mighty Avenger: https://amzn.to/2GU9QCM Popeye: https://amzn.to/3kdgFxo re:

http://www.hotelfred.com

http://www.patreon.com/hotelfred

And you can get some of his books here:

Fred the Clown: https://amzn.to/33iTsmY

Fred the Clown: The Iron Duchess: https://amzn.to/33AV0cb

Thor: The Mighty Avenger: https://amzn.to/2GU9QCM

Popeye: https://amzn.to/3kdgFxo

Watch: Leah Moore Interview on The Doors and Alan Moore

Leah Moore talks about her new anthology on The Doors: Morrison Hotel (out November 10, 2020: https://amzn.to/3h7nvmn), Wild Girl (31:19), Sherlock Holmes (39:53), and setting the record straight on her dad, Alan Moore (50:15).