One of Marvel’s more fun titles of the 1970s — going from memory, mind you — was MARVEL TEAM-UP, in which Spider-Man teamed up (hence the title) with a different hero (or villain) from the mighty Marvel universe. The rotating guest-star formula made for great variety.
Jump ahead to the ’00s. Marvel had let writer Brian Michael Bendis loose on rejuvenating just about every title of theirs under his ULTIMATE brand, so it was only a matter of time before they let him get his mitts all over this one, too. His entire 16-issue run is collected in ULTIMATE MARVEL TEAM-UP ULTIMATE COLLECTION. The results are as wildly mixed as Spidey’s co-stars.
For a while, it cruises on an up note, with the webslinger encountering Wolverine battling Sabretooth, a rampaging Hulk, a cartoony Iron Man and a dark, brooding crossover involving both The Punisher and Daredevil. But then it starts to stumble; the Fantastic Four issue is too silly; comedy is not Bendis’ forte. But even that is a gem compared to the nadir of the X-Men meeting; no one – and I mean no one wants to see the X-Men and Peter Parker hang out at the mall. I mean, if you’re going to pull that kind of crap, where the hell are Jughead and Veronica? (Furthermore, I detest the manga-style art in which it is drawn.)
Things pick back up with a blocky Dr. Strange and a red-hot Black Widow, closing with a two-parter that reaches for the obscure with Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu. I welcome Bendis’ decision to dig deeper from the well — a commendation that also goes for the brief partnering with Man-Thing.
Each issue (or arc, as a few of these bleed into a second issue) is in the hands of a different artist, so you’re going to see some real talents, including Mike Allred, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jim Mahfood, Matt Wagner, Phil Hester and Ted McKeever. But the wildly varying styles go a long way in giving the book a palpable sense of schizophrenia. It’s almost too inventive for its own good. (And, at times, far too verbose than should be allowed in a highly visual medium.)
That jarring look becomes even more problematic with the added bonus of ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN SUPER SPECIAL, which employs nearly 30 artists in the span of a single story. When you’ve got a tale that manages to work in Blade, S.H.I.E.L.D., Elektra, Captain America and a slew of other do-gooders, I suppose such a move is tempting. Though it’s nice to see indie stalwarts like Craig Thompson or James Kolchaka getting a page or two to play with the big boys, the cliché regarding too many cooks rings true. –Rod Lott
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