Posted - July 27, 2014 | Updated : August 27, 2015


Marvel Team-Up 43
A Past Gone Mad




The splash page of this issue provides an almost complete summary of the events so far.


doc doom, spidey, the vision, cotton mather and the dark rider

I say "almost complete" because the Scarlet Witch is not in the picture.

Doom being Doom and Mather being Mather . . .


doctor doom hits cotton mather

Anybody interested in editing Cotton Mather's Wikipedia article and adding that at one point in time he was manhandled by Victor von Doom? You can even add "source: Marvel Team-Up #43". The ultimate kick would be if that little detail became part of somebody's school report on the Salem Witch Trials.

What I really like about Doom is the swagger.


doctor doom threatens the dark rider

Doom does this to beings like Galactus and the Beyonder for heaven's sake .

Here's a Sal Buscema panel showing both Spider-Man and the Vision.


spider-man and the vision

Clean crisp art, and Sal Buscema's penciling will only get better over the years, but I wish this was done more to scale. Peter Parker is a lithe 5'10", the Everyman as superhero. The vision is over six feet, he should be more massive visually - a machine exhibiting the ideal dimensions of a powerful human being. It would have been more enjoyable if these distinctions were reflected in the panel.

Here we have the mysterious Dark Rider giving a concise history of Doctor Doom.


dark rider showing doctor doom story

Interesting to note: Doctor doom was a warlock well before he was a scientist. You can be one if you like .

While Doom and the Dark Rider are poised for battle, Spider-Man and the Vision are busy battling a giant pussycat. No kidding. What's worst than battling a giant pussy cat? How about losing to a giant pussycat?


spider-man about to get mangled by a giant pussy cat

Thankfully, the powerful Scarlet Witch comes up with a save.


giant pussy cat blasted by scarlet witch

No more shadowy hat, the Dark Rider is revealed.


the dark rider in front of doctor doom

And now to battle! Doom lets fly at his gigantic opponent.


doctor doom blasts the dark rider

Great twin panels of a clash of energies.


doctor doom and the dark rider negate each other's energy attacks

Vision enters the fray with his fiery eye beams.


the vision attacks the dark rider with his eye beams

Alas, every attack is repelled. I particularly like the linework of this panel, that, unfortunately, shows the Vision falling before the Dark Rider.


the vision falls while spider-man swings overhead

Now its the Scarlet Witch's turn with another hex bolt.


scarlet witch hits the dark rider with a hex bolt

The Dark Rider shrugs it all off.


dark rider

Including a direct hit to the face from Spider-Man. Everything just does not work and the issue ends with Doom, the Vision, the Scarlet Witch, and Spider-Man defeated by the Dark Rider.

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