The villains in Marvel Comics’ ESSENTIAL SUPER-VILLAIN TEAM-UP: VOL. 1 are as often at odds as they are teamed up. The bulk of this 1970s series features Dr. Doom – the Fantastic Four’s favorite foe – and Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner. Now, I’ve always thought Namor to be an arrogant cock, but a villain? Let alone a “super” one? I’ll let it slide.

Kicking it all off is a batch of ASTONISHING TALES issues, featuring short, 10-page adventures that – with all the underground fortresses, torture chambers, robots, mummies and the word “fool” bandied about – is the stuff of vintage Saturday-matinee serials, with Dr. Doom filling in for a Fu Manchu or whatever crazy scientist nutball Bela Lugosi always played. The Black Panther shows up to brawl for a spell, in hopes of shutting down Doom’s dreams of creating rockets impervious to vibrations that might throw them off course. The first four of these issues are drawn by the great Wally Wood.

Then we get into the title from which this collection draws its name, with Doom and Namor joining forces, splitting up, fighting, joining forces, splitting up and fighting – just like a volatile married couple that shouldn’t be married. When they’re not battling each other, they battle the Fantastic Four, an army of androids, various underwater baddies, a traveling circus and – spilling over into a three-issue arc – the mighty Avengers (a lineup complete with the aging, heart-troubled speedster known as Whizzer. Whizzer! With a name like that, I’m guessing his superpower is urination).

For the final few issues contained within (30 in all), Namor quietly exits to make room for the Red Skull, the freaky-looking archenemy of Captain America, who shows up to kick his ass around for a couple of issues. Magneto – the antagonist to the X-Men – also enters the picture to cross hairs with Doom, forcing an appearance from The Champions, that bizarro supergroup comprised of Hercules, Ghost Rider, Iceman and others. But the best of these is SVTU #16, in which the Red Skull and the Hate Monger (Adolf Hitler in a KKK-type shroud) have an island of prisoners, from which one suave man tries to escape. It’s total James Bond-kinda stuff, and one of the most fun single issues I’ve ever read.

But I already hold a soft spot in my heart for the entire title, as SVTU #12 was the first Marvel comic I ever had, from 1977 – purchased for me by my mom in preparation for a long car trip to Lake Texoma. For the six-year-old I then was, it began a lifelong love affair (not to mention a to-this-day lesson on how to spell the word “villain”).

One more thing to note: You know how brazenly hyperbolic Marvel was in this era, promising slam-bang events and storylines that weren’t as earth-shattering as they made them out to be? Well, SVTU #6 promises “the most unexpected guest star of all! We kid you not!,” and for once, they weren’t fibbing: Henry Kissinger. –Rod Lott

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OTHER BOOKGASM REVIEWS OF THIS SERIES:
• ESSENTIAL DEFENDERS: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL GODZILLA: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL IRON FIST: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL KILLRAVEN: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL MOON KNIGHT: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL NOVA: VOL. 1
• ESSENTIAL SAVAGE SHE-HULK: VOL. 1