The Toy Box: Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 146

Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 146
Release Date: October 1984

Highlights

First appearance of Tony, Black Abbott, the Black Apostles, the Butcher-Dogs, Deke, Tom, and Jesse
Jack Monroe helps Peter fight off the Butcher-Dogs, and then invites him to join him at the movies to see Rio Bravo
Tony, a kid who wants to join Deke and the Butcher-Dogs steels the package of artwork with Jack was supposed to deliver - Artwork drawn by Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America
Peter and Jack split up to chase Tony, and when they do, Peter changes to Spider-Man, and Jack to Nomad - Neither know each other's secret
Spider-Man accidentally lasso's Nomad while aiming for the fleeing kid
Taskmaster is meeting with various thugs, offering to train them to work for Black Abbott
Reference is made to Marvel Team-Up 103, and 140
Even after Taskmaster and Black Abbott overwhelm and defeat Spider-Man, and Nomad, one of the thugs decides he wants out

Black Abbott first tries to use his psychic poweres to bring the thug back in line, but when he resists, Abbott turns him into a smoldering pile of ash with his burning touch

Nomad throws Taskmaster's shield at Black Abbott, just as he's about to touch Spider-Man with his burning touch - The reflected powers turn Abbot's hand and arm to ash
Tony gets stuck in a burning building, set ablaze during the fighting - Rather than help him, Deke runs off, leaving Nomad to rescue the kid himself
Tony decides he no longer wants to be a gang member, and asks Nomad to return the drawings he stole

Low Points

This issue must occur at some point during the events of The Amazing Spider-Man 258 - They must because at the end of that issue, Peter no longer has the symbiote suit

After Mary Jane Watson runs from Peter's apartment, and the Black Cat arrives, the story cuts to Thomas Fireheart, AKA Puma, returning to his office headquarters in Hartsdale, New Mexico
The day after the symbiote once again envelopes a sleeping Peter Parker, and takes him out into the night, but prior to Peter going to the Fantastic Four's headquarters

Peter references both Mary Jane knowing about his secret identity, and being exhausted, making this latter option the more feasible
This would also puts the events of Marvel Team-Up 146 occurring after Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 4

Because the events of Marvel Team-Up 146 are sandwiched in between the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man 258, nothing of any real importance occurs in this story

Oddities

Though we won't find out for several more issues that the symbiote is highly sensitive to noise, it's odd that it doesn't react now when Taskmaster hits Spider-Man with a sonic arrow, so loud that even Spider-Man says it's splitting his head

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

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