MARVEL TEAM-UP #3

"The Power to Purge!"

• Writer: Gerry Conway
• Artist: Ross Andru
• Inker: Frank Giacoia
• Print Date: July, 1972

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

A few weeks ago: Against the background rumblings of the nearby Harlem River Drive...

A pale, limp hand rises from the water unnoticed by two nearby arguing brothers, Jacob and Jefferson. Jacob is college-bound, but Jefferson accuses him of "shining the white man's shoes". Jefferson hangs out with "creeps" and are looking to "burn some building downs". The pair obviously don't see to eye-to-eye, and the argument ends with Jefferson slugging Jacob on the chin.

Jacob strolls, washing his hands of his brother, and as Jefferson turns to go, he spies a pale figure floating in the river. Without a second thought, he divers in and pulls the motionless body of Morbius to shore. It is only when Morbius awakes, hungry, that the boy notices the sharp fangs. As Jefferson screams, Morbius pounces on his would-be rescuer.

Tonight: Pale light from a new full moon, the cold rush of bitter wind past hidden features, the distant wail of traffic hundreds of yards below...

A disoriented Spider-Man losses his focus mid-swing, misses his webline, and begins to fall. Twisting, he tries to regain himself, and manages to reach out and grab onto a nearby ledge by his fingertips. Spider-Man stands on the ledge wondering what happened. One minute he was swinging along, the next someone pulls the plug on his brain. As he tries to pull himself together, he wonders if he caught the flu. He sways for a moment, and then as consciousness slips away, he collapses and falls onto a rooftop where he lies motionless and silent.

Elsewhere at that moment, the Human Torch and Thing argue over TV channels. In a bit of nostalgia, the Thing insists on watching "All in the Family" and the familiar face of Archie Bunker is displayed in the background. The front bell rings, and the Torch flies off leaving Mr. Grimm to answer the call. The elevator doors carry the passenger up to the penthouse, and off steps a strange woman, dizzy and faint. Sue and Reed enter the room, and Martine tells them the story of her former fiance, Michael Morbius and how, trying to cure his fatal blood disease, he accidentally transformed himself into a vampire. Martine is looking for help from Reed or another of Morbius' former correspondents - a Professor Hans Jorgenson who teaches at State University.

Morbius story is new to Reed, Ben, and Sue, but the Torch recalls a story Spider-Man told him about his battle with a vampire named Morbius. The Torch sneaks off, and flies off to State U hoping to find Spider-Man near the State U campus.

As Johnny flies over one particular battered warehouse in Long Island City, below Morbius has managed to recover his strength and has found some measure of companionship with his new vampire protege, one Jefferson Bolt. Morbius leaves Jefferson vowing to find the one man who may save both of their lives. Jefferson however feels no guilt or remorse in being a vampire and follows Morbius to the State U campus.

In a section of Queens known as Bayside, Peter Parker finally manages to make it to State U campus. He's feverish, dizzy, and obviously sick. He decides to seek the advice of his biology teacher, one Professor Jorgenson, to find out what's wrong with him. Hopefully without revealing his secret identity. As he walks across the moonlit campus, he spies the Human Torch flying circles overhead. Groaning, he changes back into costume.

Through history, men have wondered at those sometimes-crucial coincidences - those twists of destiny which bring men together against all reason!

Hans Jorgenson leads his class in a discussion of blood and blood disease and mentions research performed by a Michael Morbius. His lecture is rudely interrupted by the blazing arrival of the Human Torch. The Torch announces that he must discuss Michael Morbius with the professor, but this discussion is cut short as Spider-Man appears on the scene.

Later, over a cup of hot tea, the threesome discuss Morbius. Spider-Man tells the two that he met Morbius and fought him, but that only Spider-Man survived the battle.

As fate would have it, on the outskirts of the college park. Morbius feels faint from hunger. He needs to feed. Nearby his spots a drunk, singing to himself on a park bench. The last such song he'll sing when Morbius grabs from him from behind.

His screams echoes over the campus. The Torch and Spider-Man both hear the faint scream, and hurry off to investigate leaving a very confused Professor Jorgenson behind. Below, the familiar face of Jacob Bolt spot the pair super-heroes heading off into the park, and almost automatically, sprints off to follow them. Spider-Man and the Torch come upon Morbius hunched over the dead body of his latest victim, and instead of wondering how Morbius has survived their recent battle, Spider-Man's horror overwhelms him and he tackles Morbius, beating him mercilessly. The Torch drags a crazed Spider-Man off Morbius which gives Morbius a chance to recover.

As Morbius gets to his feet, the Torch starts firing off fireburst after fireburst disorienting and driving Morbius off. The fight and fever take its toll on Spider-Man and he's too weak and disoriented to capture Morbius with a webline. With his last ounce of strength, Spider-Man leaps forward and tackles Morbius to the ground once more.

A mob of students, led by Jacob Bolt, arrive in time and in a mistaken assumption, attack the "costumed freaks who were trying to kill that dude". Jefferson Bolt, watching the fight from the shadows, leads the students in an attack on the Torch and Spider-Man. A hail of dirt clods, or his hesitation to injure college students, extinguish the Torch's flame, the mob. Spider-Man, too weak and dizzy to defend himself, lies on the ground and he falls pinned under several other students.

Jacob Bolt is shocked to see his brother Jefferson, but at that moment, he falls victim to a hungry, battle-crazed Morbius. Jefferson Bolt turns on his master in an effort to defend his brother, but he is easily thrown aside flying head first into the ground. Spider-Man manages to rally and rise to his feet, and rather than continue the battle, Morbius takes to the skies and flees. As the fight goes out of the college students, gentle sobbing the mob, the sound of gentle sobbing can be heard. Jacob Bolt mourns over the body of his brother Jefferson. The Torch drops some empty platitudes about discovering "what it means to be a man" as he and Spider-Man walk away from the scene.

Comments:

Two weeks later, I'm finally finishing this review.

I love the "classic monster with a twist" characters that populate Spider-Man. We've got the Man-Wolf. Looks and acts like a werewolf in everyway, but isn't a traditional 'supernatural' werewolf. And now we've got Morbius - Looks an acts like a vampire in every way, but isn't quite a traditional 'supernatural' vampire. I mean, it's even funnier because there are plenty of "real" vampires wandering around the Marvel universe. Hasn't Dracula himself faced off against Dr. Strange and other Marvel characters on occasion?

So, I never understood the need to create a pseudo-vampire character like Morbius, but he's made plenty of appearance in Spider-Man comics. He even went on to have his own series for a short while if my memory serves.

Our issue starts with a white writer trying to write black lingo and black attitudes back in the 70's. We've got two brother's, and their conversation is so stereotypical, it defies believe. We've got the classic 'working for the man' type in Jacob. Jacob is going to school, getting a degree, and looking to better his life working with the system. Then we've got Jefferson who hangs out with 'creeps' and 'wants to burn some buildings' - implied is that he's joined the Black Panthers or some other revolutionary type group. I suppose he might've just joined a common street gang as well. Anyways, going into Jefferson's (or Jacob's) background would require more than the 2 panels the writer devoted to any sort of 'character development'.

The two brothers come to blows and write each other off. I guess that explains how Jefferson can vanish for three weeks (after becoming a vampire minion of Morbius) without Jacob getting concerned. Jefferson shows that he's not totally unredeemable as he immediately dives into the river and drags Morbius' floating body to shore. Morbius rewards his would-be rescuer by pouncing on him, feeding on his blood, and turning him into another pseudo-vampire or some sort of vampire thrall.

I swear, the whole "Spider-Man gets a cold/flu/virus, and it affects his powers" is really overplayed. I think this is the second or third story-line that uses that plot device for some reason or another. We spent two and a half pages watching Spider-Man fall, catch himself, try to regain his senses, pass out, and fall again. I'm not sure why establishing "Spider-Man man is sick" is so important to this story however. It's not really critical to any particular point in the comic. It might be an attempt to 'humanize' Spider-Man, but even that doesn't come across very well. Personally, I've never been so sick that I passed out. And normally, if I'm that sick, the world can go to hell-in-a-handbasket, I'm not leaving the comfort of my bed.

Wow, bit of nostalgia as we look into the Baxter Building. The Thing is watching "All in the Family" on a giant viewscreen. His television viewing is interrupted by a cute blonde who rides up from the lobby and immediate passes out. It's Morbius' former fiance. She's come to Reed Richard looking for help with Morbius' condition. Now, you'd think that Reed Richard would be the best person to assist with a medical condition. Johnny, remember a story Spider-Man told him about fighting Morbius, decides to take off, leave his team behind, and track down Spider-Man. What's the logic behind this? He's going to find Spider-Man and Morbius' former correspondent - Professor Hans Jorgenson.

We check in on Morbius who feels anguished at the thought of creating another vampire like himself. Jefferson seems happy to be a vampire. Flipping through the issue though, he doesn't really display any vampire abilities. I mean, he's got red eyes and fangs, but we don't see him flying (like Morbius does), we don't see any super-human strength, we don't see him feeding. I've seen kids at Halloween who are more convincing vampires than him.

Ok, despite being sick, passing out, and collapsing to a rooftop, Spider-Man is still going to class. Go figure. I'm sure in his light-headed, feverish state, he's going to get a lot of out the lecture. In a remarkable coincidence of the sort that occurs in poorly plotted stories, Peter professor is none other than - Professor Hans Jorgenson. Apparently, one of the world's experts in blood and blood disease is teaching Biology at State University. Go figure. Stretching my suspension of disbelieve further, the Torch (and later Morbius) both choose tonight to come calling on the professor.

Morbius' trip is delayed however as he stops on the outskirts of campus to feed on a drunk in the park. (Number of Marvel Team-Up Issues - Three. Number of issues featuring a drunk: 2) As Morbius attacks, the drunk's screams get the attention of, well, everyone on campus. Spider-Man and the Torch head out with the entire campus to determine the source of the noise. Spider-Man gets to Morbius first, and when he "lets his horror overcome him", he begins beating the pulp out of Morbius. The Torch pulls him off, and Morbius gets the upper-hand by throwing a trash bin at him. Ok, I can see how a vampire like Morbius could give Spider-Man a run for his money, but really, how is he supposed to pose a challenge to the Human Torch - unless the Torch acts like a complete idiot. And, instead of containing Morbius in a fire-cage or some other construct, the Torch fires flares into the sky to try to keep him at bay. Later, the Torch will stand still at allow his flame to be extinguished by, of all things, dirt clods thrown by rioting students. Ok, I can understand why he wouldn't want to risk harming the students, but why would he stand there and let himself be overcome. ?

Bad.. bad... bad writing. *sighs*

Naturally, to recover his strength, Morbius picks, out of a about a dozen or so students, Jacob Bolt who just happens to be on the scene. (Remarkable coincidences - four or five. Well-written scenes - 0). Jacob leaps to his brother's defense, and is easily killed when Morbius swats him aside. Morbius takes to the skies to flee the scene, and apparently forgetting he can fly as well, the Torch stands with Spider-Man and watches him go. So.. You got a vampire whose killed two people JUST THIS EVENING, and you're going to watch him fly off. Well done.

And, as Jacob mourns his dead brother, the Torch consoles him with: "I never knew him, kid. But maybe it wasn't what you did wrong, that counts, now but what you did right that made him, in the end, understand what means to be a man.." WHO TALKS LIKE THIS? AAAAARRRRRGHHHH.

Head hurts.. Ok, I'm done reviewing today. Where's my aspirin?