MARVEL TEAM-UP #6

"...As Those Who Will Not See!"

• Writer: Gerry Conway
• Artist: Gil Kane
• Inker: Mike Esposito
• Print Date: Jan, 1973

Featuring:

Plot Summary:

Hey, this looks like it picks up where the last issue left off. If I recall, the last issue ended with the Vision leaving Spider-Man atop the Fantastic Four building with the Monstroid inactive on the roof, and the Puppet Master unconscious inside. With Spider-Man bent over the prone form of the Puppet Master on Page 1, it seems a safe bet that this story immediate follows last issue.

Spider-Man bends over the Puppet Master in a destroyed lab inside the Baxter Building which is where The Thing (with Alicia Masters in tow) finds them. The Thing bawls out Spider-Man for 'trespassing' until Spider-Man shows him the Puppet Master. Thing shakes the villain back awake, and when the Puppet Master begs for mercy, Alicia rushes forward because she recognize that as the voice of her step-father. Apparently, she's not mistaken, and the Puppet Master is REALLY her step-father. She knows he can control minds, but she still cares deeply for him. Despite the revelation, Thing still drags Puppet Master off for a private conversation. When Thing returns, he suggests that the Puppet Master may be able to cure Alicia's blindness!

I recall from reading early Fantastic Four issues that the Puppet Master was related to Alicia Master (Thing's at-the-time girlfriend). I wasn't aware that this was all revealed in Marvel Team-Up. For a master criminal, the Puppet Master seems pretty submissive and whiny in this issue. Is that normal for him?

So, the Thing, Spider-Man, Puppet Master, and Alicia Masters all hop aboard the Fantasti-Car towards Pennsylvania. On the way, the Puppet Master recounts his origins...

When he was younger, the Puppet Master worked with his partner Jacob Reiss trying to discover the so-called building blocks of life. The professional relationship went astray as the Puppet Master was jealous of Jacob's family - his wife and child, and the love shared. The Puppet Master resolved to sabotage their experiment as an easy way out of the partnership. Jacob stumbled across him, and in a fit of the Puppet Master attacked him. During the struggle, the radioactive clay reached critical mass and exploded, killing Jacob Reiss, knocking his wife unconscious, and blinding Alicia. The Puppet Master was unharmed, and later ended up marrying his former partner's widow and adopting Alicia in the process. He tried several times to cure Alicia, but when his wife died, his pain turned him towards a life of crime.

Wow, what a slightly twisted origin. How do you admit to your step-daughter that you killed her father and accidentally blinded her in the process? Other than that, seems to be a typical super-villain origin involving scientists, strange substances with unique properties, and a hefty dose of jealousy mixed in. One explosion later, and we're well on our way to down the path of crime.

Thing lands them near the old, destroyed laboratory, and they leave Alicia in the Fantasti-Car (Boy, that's tough to spell!) while they head through the woods looking for this lab. Apparently, there is more than meets the eye here as a laser-defense system pops out of the ground and blasts Thing and Spider-Man. Dazed, they are unable to prevent the Puppet Master from diving down the aperture that the laser popped out of. A moment later, the laser retracts, and shuts the opening.

There is so much bad writing that I don't know where to start. And that's just on these two pages! They fly Alicia to an abandoned factory, but then leave her in the car for no particular reason. Spider-Man seems concerned about her safety all alone in the Fantasti-Car, but apparently she's the one staying safe. I'm not even going to touch on the logic of having an abandoned laboratory in the remote wilds of Pennsylvania where it could remain, apparently, undisturbed for 20-some years (judging by Alicia's age). But then, the Puppet Master knew about the laser defense system, so maybe there is more here than meets the eyes. Spider-Man should've known about the laser defense system - his spider-sense was warning him. But, it suited the plot at that point for him to be stunned by the laser blast. Yick.. Poor writing.

Thing wakes Spider-Man before smashing his way into a hidden underground lab containing the laser. There, the two decide to split up and separately explore the underground lab complex - Spider-Man taking the North Passage, and Thing taking the South.

Excellent, "let's split up and look for the villain! We'll cover more ground that way!". Apparently, neither hero is a fan of low-budget horror films. I generally like Gil Kane's art, but in a few of these frames, the Thing looks like something from a Picasso.

While the heroes search, the Puppet Master explains to the Mad Thinker that he had to lead the heroes here in order to escape. Apparently, the Puppet Master teamed up with the Mad Thinker to create this underground lair, and now the heroes know where their secret hideout is. However, all is not lost, the Puppet Master points out that the Thinker now has two powerful adventurers to study and possibly capture!

Spider-Man crawls along down an elevator shaft but is caught off-guard when the walls emit some sort of super-slick oil. Spider-Man falls down the elevator shaft unable to slow his descent.

Meanwhile, a half mile away, the Thing enters his own death trap. He finds himself locked in a room made of some sort of titanium alloy so strong that he can't even break through it. As he looks for an exit, a vacuum kicks in and the air rushes out of the room cutting off the Thing's oxygen.

Finally, the Thinker dispatches an android to retrieve Alicia from the Fantasi-Car.

Excellent, a death-trap issue. I haven't read one of these in some time. Spider-Man is trapped in a frictionless elevator shaft plunging to his death, and the Thing is locked in an air-tight room while swiftly running out of breath. Normally, I'd wonder why these rooms would be set-up in the villain's lair, but this is the Thinker. I'll just guess that he had the foresight to know that some traps might come in handy. Actually, what I can't figure out is why Spider-Man didn't use his webs to rescue himself - either firing a line to the ceiling (presumably someplace the oils is not coating) or even creating a web cushion to break his fall below? I'm assuming that his web won't stick the super-slick oil coating the shaft.

Spider-Man concocts a plan to rescue himself. He bounces from side-to-side in the shaft which slow him just enough that he can get a grip in the bottom 10-feet of the shaft which are inexplicable dry. Lucky for him too, judging from the looks of the spikes waiting to impale him at the bottom of the shaft. Conveniently, there is an escape hatch at the bottom of the shaft, and Spider-Man crawls onward looking for the Puppet Master.

Physics was never my strong suit, but I'm not sure how bouncing side-to-side against a nearly frictionless surface would actually slow your decent. Plus, if you're going to create a deathtrap like this, why wouldn't you oil the whole thing? Why bother leaving the last ten feet dry and open the possibility of someone stopping themselves? And finally, why create an escape hatch at the bottom? Even if Spider-Man didn't impale himself on those spikes, the trap would've been just as effective if he couldn't climb out of the shaft. As death-traps go, I give these 2 stars out of 10.

At that moment, Alicia sits in the Fantasti-car listening for her friends return. Suddenly she hears someone approaching, but doesn't realize, until it is too late, that it is not her friend's return - instead the Mad Thinker's android has hear. Back in the fortress, the Puppet Master hears his step-daughter's screams through the android's transmitter. The Puppet Master tries to stop the Mad Thinker from terrorizing his step-daughter, but his cowardice prevents him from acting against the Thinker. Spider-Man arrives at the scene and knocks the Thinker out.

Eh, this would've felt like a more dramatic ending if the Puppet Master took out the Thinker himself instead of Spider-Man making a timely appearance.

Back at the Fantasti-car, the Thing has made his way back just in time. The Thing slugs it out with the Thinker's android, and in the strength department, the pair seem evenly matched. The Thing uses his brain, a tree, and some leverage to force the Thinker's android into the nearby lake. Apparently, the Thinker's android is not water-proof as submerging it puts it out of commission. Spider-Man pops out of the ground from a nearby opening, and the Thing recounts how he managed to punch his way out of the airless room. Finally, the tunnel Spider-Man exited explodes and fills in. Apparently either the Thinker or Puppet Master was not completely incapacitated. Alicia feels that her step-father blew himself and Thinker up in guilt over the past.

They really think they're dead? I mean, REALLY? Hell, I saw a tunnel blow up, and I am assuming they were covering their escape.

All in all, a very 'meh' story. Improved slightly because there are not enough 'deathtrap' stories in this series, but overall pretty weak.