This is a part of the Marvel Adventures/Marvel Universe lineup, but since the Marvel Adventures part was not on the cover, I decided not to put it in the title. Marvel Adventures is a way to see your favorite Marvel characters in a setting that is suitable for all ages. That’s all well and good, (Except that comics are supposed to be for everyone already) but they usually don’t seem to put that much effort into these. You’d be surprised at the “artwork” that goes into these comics. Still, for the most part, the Marvel Adventures are usually fun. Since Spiderman and the Avengers will be present…it should be exciting!

The first (out of 4) comics involves the Lizard. This is actually the first time that Spiderman runs into him in the series, or at least the first time that he finds out his true identity. Dr Connor’s family tells Spiderman not to hurt him and Spiderman looks for an antidote. We also have the Parker subplot where everyone mocks him and he looks really bad the whole time. It wasn’t a bad comic, but after reading about Spiderman back in his prime, you can tell that things have changed. Spiderman is a lot worse in this comic and I’ll go more into that later on. It’s a decent story and it’s fun. The art can use some help, but it could definitely be much worse!

The next comic involves The Avengers! Loki decides that the humans should pay and he frees the U Foes and The Wrecker. The Juggarnaut is also by his side, so Loki has definitely amassed a solid lineup of villains. With these villains at his side, Loki decides to attack the Avengers! The Avengers are pretty shocked about the school in the air that is about to crash and they get horrified when they realize that dozens of kids may have died. The villains quickly assure them that they made sure that the school was empty and then proceed to attack.

The Avengers are definitely holding their own, which is good. Ironman initially has some trouble with two of his opponents because they can turn into air and energy. Wolverine tangles with the Juggernaut….which is certainly interesting in itself! Spiderman doesn’t do too well and he’s quickly knocked around by the laser U Foe and one hit is enough to take him out of the fight. He’s not unconscious, but we don’t get to see him again until the end. Not the best appearance for our friendly neighborhood Spiderman! The ending is definitely a little cheesy, but at least Captain America can get to talk tough for a while.

The third comic deals with…The Lizard……again! Basically, he was feeling a little tired and he bangs into his cures/lizard drinks. See, since Dr. Connors is a very smart man, he keeps vials of green liquid in a cabinet. Half of them are cures that he needs to keep taking so that he stays human..and the other half are Lizard injections that turn him into the Lizard. Since they look identical, he grabs the wrong one and turns into the Lizard. It’s time for Spiderman to get involved and stop him once and for all!

Well, the comic plays out almost exactly the same as the first. I don’t know why they’d want to put both of these comics in the same collection, but it’s been done. No use dwelling on the repetition I suppose. Peter Parker looks a little bit better except for the parts where he fails at gym class. He does get to go to a debating club and things get interesting!

The final comic deals with the Avengers as they are getting slaughtered by living trees! It’s definitely intriguing since they are Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and all! Spiderman is quickly knocked for a loop because his spider sense doesn’t seem to work in the modern comics. Two ravens from Asgard appear and the Avengers quickly follow them into Asgard. It would appear that Malekith has slain all of the Asgardians and now rules in their place. Spiderman and Storm are going to have to save the day in this battle!

There is a twist and I can safely say that Malekith didn’t destroy them all. Aside from having us all roll our eyes at the thought of Malekith defeating Thor, Odin, Lady Sif, and Volstagg The Great, it would have been a terrible twist. The real one isn’t much better, but I suppose that it will have to do. Due to the unique twist, Storm and Spiderman are the most useful fighters in the comic. The Frost Giants do wipe the floor with the heroes for a while at first, but then they launch their counter strike!

One of the major complaints with this comic would be Spiderman’s portrayal. In the first comic, he gathers his nerve and asks one of his classmates out to a dance. So far so good right? The problem is that while talking with her, he had gotten nervous and said that he was in college. (An awful attempt to impress her, which failed utterly) So, realizing that he has been lying to her, she just left and Parker had to go to the dance alone…again. He basically asked for it that time. I also can’t sympathize with the fact that he wasn’t going to go and save people in Florida when the Lizard attacked. He only did once he didn’t have anyone for the dance. (So, maybe he just skipped it) So much for Spiderman being a hero!

Another problem is the fact that his Spider Sense seems broken. It will warn him about danger, but only once in a while. It’s like the Spider Sense only works when it feels like it. That’s definitely not very convenient for Spiderman. Another scene that was sad for him was when he tried to make a joke and told everyone that maybe Thor got lost in a cave. (During the final comic when the Asgardians were all gone) Everyone basically glared at him in unison and said that “Thor does Not get lost” Spiderman winced and realized that it was not the best joke to use. Cmon, Spiderman’s got more common sense than that right? Adding in the fact that Spiderman gets thrown around by D rank villains and trees that are alive and…he just doesn’t look good in this comic.

Spiderman appeared the most, but I may as well address some of the other characters. The Lizard was a decent villain and he was definitely tough. It was mostly at the expense of Spiderman’s spider sense, but a win by any other name is still a win right? Spiderman had to utilize a “tactical retreat” after being hit only once! The Avengers looked pretty good and there wasn’t really anything wrong with them. They didn’t seem to take Spiderman seriously, but I guess that I probably wouldn’t either at this point. Loki wasn’t that great, but villains usually aren’t in this series.

The art isn’t that good either. It’s not quite as bad as some of the other Marvel Adventures, but it could still use some work. It’s not up to par with any of the big Marvel/DC series that have been coming out and that’s a little sad. Can’t we get some of the All stars to help out with this series once in a while? It deserves respect! It deserved honor! It deserves…..something better than this! I’d give the art a B I suppose. The collection is pretty short since there are only 4 comics, so you’ll be forgetting the art soon anyway.

Overall, this is a decently fun comic collection. It’s essentially what you would expect from Marvel Adventures and it doesn’t pull any punches. That being said, it’s much better than the Infinity Gauntlet collection that I read a while back. That one just went a little too far with the jokes and comedy. This one actually didn’t have any big moments of comedy and was just the usual humor that you would find in any comic. They actually didn’t overly kidify it and that’s a good thing. It’s still family friendly, but without making sure to show you this over and over again. It makes for a good read and all Marvel fans should enjoy it if you like some lighthearted action. I officially recommend this product for comic readers!

Overall 7/10

Marvel Team Up was always a really good idea. Everyone always loves to see Marvel heroes team up and this way they wouldn’t have to constantly appear in each other’s series. The point of a guest star is the fact that they are a Guest. This time, the heroes can keep on teaming up and it’s okay that it happens every issue. There are so many great team ups that could happen so the series always has potential. Time to look into the collection and see how much fun it was!

For this collection, I’m just going to go comic by comic and give the summary, goods, bads, etc. Usually, I just do a broader version of that at the very end, but since each team up is a stand alone, (Except for multiparters) I’ll just break them all into groups. Not sure if I just explained that correctly, but read on and you’ll get the jist of it.

The first comic that we’ll talk about is the big annual. Spiderman must team up with The Incredible Hulk to save the world from World War Three! Peter Parker is attacked by the Soviet Heroes when he’s outside with a friend. They somehow manage to defeat him and hopefully this will teach Spiderman to fight at his full power next time. I don’t believe that these guys could really beat Spiderman. Even if he was in his Parker form, his spider sense should make mince meat out of those guys. Crimson Dynamo and Darkstar can be challenging opponents for mere mortals, but not somebody of Spiderman’s league. The Hulk is dragged into this as well, which may prove to be a mistake on the Soviet’s part.

Well, this was a fun team up. Crimson Dynamo isn’t a very likable character and he did aim to destroy the heroes. This is why he can’t be known as a hero. Darkstar and Vanguard are all right at best, but they were suckered way too easily. Hulk doesn’t look good during his first fight and that can be a little disappointing since Vanguard should have quickly been defeated by such a powerful opponent. Spiderman’s still a superb character in this comic, but the amount of plot hax against him can be a little hard to believe at times. I mean really? This isn’t the last time either!

The other big annual comic in this collection deals with Luke Cage and Iron Fist as they are hired to guard something of immense importance. Things are going well…until The Hulk arrives and steals it. A lady had told him to get it for her from the crooks and the Hulk is a hero so he decides to help. Luke Cage and Iron Fist find out that the Hulk is being manipulated and head out with the Machine Man to go stop him, recover the object, and also bring the trickster to jail. A lot of jobs to do, but these are The Heroes For Hire!

The Hulk was a decent character once again, except for the fact that he was tricked. It is a little sad to see him being deceived all of the time. He’s The Hulk after all! Luke Cage and Iron Fist were pretty fun and this is definitely during their better years. I do prefer Iron Fist because he seems like the better fighter and he takes things a lot more seriously than Luke. Seeing Iron Fist go up against the Hulk was definitely fun. The Machine Man was a nice addition to the cast and his plot was very interesting. I’d love to check out his comics someday. It had a bit of a Clark Kent feel to it and the supporting characters seemed to be pretty fun. Definitely another solid comic in the collection! (It should also be noted that Spiderman makes a brief cameo and nearly steals the show, but he realizes that the danger is over and leaves. Things would have been very different if he had come to help!)

One of the other team ups involve Ms Marvel, Spiderman, and Dr Strange as they must work together to stop the Silver Dagger. It’s a good thing that Spiderman was in the neighborhood and Ms Marvel gets involved when she runs into Wong. The heroes unite and prepare to take on their strongest foe yet!

Well, the Silver Dagger is definitely a fun villain and his abilities are definitely fearsome. he was easily able to match Ms Marvel’s strength and he had enough agility to fight against Spiderman as well. He is still a magical user as well, so he is a match for a weakened Dr Strange. The team up was pretty fun because it was mostly a lot of nonstop action and Spiderman looked pretty good. We didn’t have your usual plot hax in this comic and that’s a good thing. If I wanted to be picky about it, I’m sure that I could find some, but there are no big ones. It all flows naturally as you’re reading the fight scenes.

The next team up was with Wonderman! The Griffon has returned and he wants revenge on the Avengers! He heads to the mansion, but Wonderman is the only one there and he quickly challenges the beast. He’s easily overwhelmed and Spiderman says that he’ll go after the Griffon while Wonderman waits for backup. Wonderman makes the tough call and goes after Spiderman!

The Griffon is definitely a tough fighter and this issue proved it. Wonderman’s best blows don’t really seem to faze him and Spiderman can’t really slow him down either. He continues to get stronger and stronger as they fight. He would be a nice match for the Avengers, but since Spiderman is already here to help, Wonderman doesn’t really need to feel too afraid. This was another fun comic to read!

In the next team up, Doctor Strange returns and he is losing his soul! Doctor Strange is now a werewolf and Spiderman is forced to step in when he attacks his apprentice. Spiderman overpowers him pretty easily, but Dr Strange makes his escape. Satana appears and announced that she has the power to save him if he hasn’t destroyed anyone yet. If he has destroyed someone, then she will destroy him! The story has a tragic ending and one of the heroes will die! (Until he/she is revived in a future comic!)

Well, Doctor Strange doesn’t look so good since his magical blocks should be able to stop something like this from happening. Unfortunately, that was not the case and he lets the animal inside of him do whatever it wants. Spiderman quickly puts a stop to that and proceeds to beat him up when he needs too. This definitely shows why Spiderman shouldn’t be underestimated and it was one of his better comics. Satana was a pretty cool character as well and she definitely has some powerful abilities. It’s too bad that she doesn’t appear that much in the comics.

Next up was a long comic arc involving the Black Widow. Spiderman saves her from some crooks and realizes that she has lost their memory. For some reason, S.H.I.E.L.D. wants to destroy her so now Spiderman must find out what is happening. Shang Chi, Boomerang, and Silver Samurai are also involved, so the battle will be a very tough one. Has SHIELD (Yeah, I’m going to stop with the periods) been compromised?

Well, it certainly seems that way since Nick Fury actually attempts to destroy Black Widow! Unfortunately, there is a scene with major plot hax towards the beginning. After Nick Fury “destroys” Black Widow, Spiderman vows vengeance and quickly lunges at Nick Fury….only to be shot and knocked out. Spiderman was in complete rage mode so he should have easily defeated Fury. That was definitely the worst part of the comic and the biggest moment of plot hax that I’ve seen in Marvel in a long time. I just don’t know what to say…it was disappointing. Spiderman looked good for the rest of the comic as he dealt with Silver Samurai. He did have one moment where he didn’t look good and had a little romance with Black Widow that was very forced and unnecessary, but he seemed to have gotten over it by the end. Black Widow was all right, but she was at her best when she regained her memories. Her civilian persona just wasn’t that good and her fighting skills weren’t quite as lethal.

Shang Chi was actually a pretty good fighter and he reminded me of Iron Fist. He took on Boomerang and it was a pretty close battle. I’m not sure about Shang Chi having the upper hand in that fight, but he is an experienced warrior so we can’t count him out. Boomerang was cool and the Silver Samurai was also impressive. His teleporting skills mixed with his sword skills make him a very lethal opponent. Black Widow’s big fight against Viper was also good and Viper is definitely very good at hand to hand combat. She’d have to be to keep up with the Black Widow! It was a decently solid collection of comics and it had a lot of action! They just should have edited out that Spiderman scene and also made the comic more accurate.

We also had a comic where Spiderman teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy! Remember, this isn’t the (cool) current group of members. This is back where they had a character who looked like Wolfsbane, a Crystal man, Starhawk, and some other guys. The group couldn’t be taken seriously back in the day because Starhawk was the only member who could actually fight. Needless to say, they don’t look so good in this comic. Their mission is to destroy some evidence that is on file in a building, but they don’t move quickly enough and a kid snaps a photo of them. Now they must crush the photo and make him forget that they were ever there.

That’s a pretty rookie mistake to make right? Well, luckily Spiderman’s in town and he saves the kid. The kid isn’t too grateful and Spiderman does end up destroying the kid’s camera and saving the Guardians. It’s too bad since I think he could have done it in a nicer way, but it happens. I’m still satisfied with Spiderman’s portrayal because he knocked out Starhawk in a single hit. That’s definitely how you do it if you want an accurate comic. The Guardians are all right, but I just don’t really like the members. Starhawk is the most amusing and it’s because he’s always talking in a way that upsets the others. (On purpose) It was a fun comic, but there weren’t really any stakes and felt like a filler comic.

Spiderman also teamed up with the Beast and they had to work together if they had any hope of defeating the Modular Man and Killer Shrike. Well, Spiderman could probably beat both of them, but he doesn’t want to be a showoff…right? The Beast and Spiderman make a bet since Spiderman has to leave at one point and Beast bets that Spiderman won’t be able to find him. Spidey does with ease of course (and a Spider tracer) and they fight the villains. It wasn’t a very eventful comic and the enemies were pretty weak, but it was all right. The important part is the fact that Spiderman looked pretty good and Killer Shrike was just no match for someone of his talents!

Spiderman also got to team up with the Invisible Woman, but it wasn’t one of the better ones. Some crooks managed to kidnap Franklin Richards so now they are forcing Invisible Woman to rob banks if she wants to see him. With her abilities, it should be a simple matter for Invisible Woman to save the day. Unfortunately, it appears that she doesn’t have much appearance with this sort of trouble. Luckily, Spiderman is on hand to help save the day!

The comic must take place during some of her earlier days because her abilities are not really at their peak yet. She has to exert great effort to keep her barrier up and there are a few times where she nearly fails. If Spiderman had not called the cops, things could have gotten ugly. Unfortunately, Spiderman’s portrayal isn’t that good. Not only does he have to call the cops for help, but he also trembles with fear after driving a car for a while. We get that he doesn’t have a license, but driving is a piece of cake with his spider sense! Invisible Woman also could have looked better and just defeated the crooks without all of that effort. This definitely wasn’t one of the better comics in the collection.

The Ghost Rider team up (With Spiderman again!) was not the best comic as well. The big reason involves the fact that Ghost Rider is quickly mind controlled. I don’t believe that a being such as he could be controlled so easily and he just doesn’t look impressive. It’s nice to see Spiderman take him on with such ease, but that just shouldn’t have been what happened. Moondark is the mastermind behind this and he runs a circus that is actually evil! Peter Parker heads there with a friend, but he’s thrown out by some “tough” guys. As Spiderman, Parker decides to go back and save the day!

This is one of those comics that does have a decent amount of plot hax at the ready. Peter Parker says that he reacted with his full strength when the men grabbed him, but they didn’t even feel it as they threw him away. I can accept that they had enhanced strength, but that is just a little too high tier. Spiderman is definitely not a pushover. Beyond that, his portrayal was good, but he looked way too weak. Ghost Rider also looked bad since his mental abilities are definitely beyond that.

The Hawkeye team up was a little worse than you may have guessed. Spiderman is having a jolly time until he notices that Hawkeye seems completely terrified and faints at the sight of Spiderman. Hawkeye explains that there is a villain known as Mr Fear and he can make you deathly afraid. They split up and decide to look for Mr Fear, but Spiderman bumps into him first. This could get ugly!

Well, I’m also calling some serious plot hax on this one. Mr Fear makes you feel true fear through gas and needles like the Scarecrow. It’s the type of power that I could never take seriously and I don’t think that it would work on Spiderman. Spiderman is far too powerful and resilient for that. Hawkeye should also be able to resist its effects. Since that is the point of the whole comic, I just couldn’t take it seriously and everyone looked pretty bad. That’s definitely how you don’t make a team up!

Nightcrawler is having fun with his friend when he notices Arcade’s plane. He quickly finds out that an assassin is planning on terminating Spiderman while at the circus so he decides to impersonate the Web Crawler. It’s easy enough to pull off since he doesn’t even need to switch costumes. With the circus lights and everyone’s failing eyesight, they quickly think that he’s Spiderman. The Assassin pulls the trigger, but the real Spiderman saves Nightcrawler. Can they find and stop Cutthroat before he hurts someone!?

Well, it was nice to see Spiderman take the whole thing in stride. He was just having fun at the circus, but when he noticed Nightcrawler and the gunshot, he quickly sped into action. This is definitely the Spiderman that you want to see! They had a little too much trouble trying to take out Cutthroat, but we all knew that Spiderman had the situation under control. Nightcrawler is still not my favorite character, but he can be cool when he wants to be. This was one of the better comics despite the weak villain.

The Black Panther has an embassy in America and he is a powerful political figure. This is why everyone is alarmed when he kidnaps someone and the government quickly gets involved. Spiderman also attacks the Black Panther and the Panther is forced to admit that Spiderman is stronger and faster than him. They realize that someone was actually impersonating Black Panther and that’s when Hellrazor walks in.

Spiderman looks very good in this comic and not only does he easily overpower Black Panther and Hellrazor, but he also shows why he’s just a good character. When the politician is kidnapped, Spiderman quickly goes over to stop Panther and show that he’s a true hero. Black Panther is still a good hero and I like him when he’s written correctly. Hellrazor is a pretty good villain and he’s also really good at hand to hand combat. He was dealing with two powerful heroes after all. This was one of the better comics in the collection and the fight scenes were very good!

Spiderman also got to team up with The Werewolf. It doesn’t count as a big team up since they’re both part of the Spiderman EU, but it’s still cool I suppose. Tatterdemalion strikes during a big party and thanks to the smoke/darkness, Peter Parker quickly changes into Spiderman and The Werewolf transforms. Will they be able to stop such a tough fellow?

Tatterdemalion is apparently tougher than he looks because it’s hard for either of the heroes to get a grip on him. That being said, I don’t think that Spiderman should really have any trouble with him. The Werewolf has always come across as a pretty weak character and this comic definitely didn’t help to change things for me. He looked pretty bad right up until the very end. This comic actually leads into the next one, which is always cool to see.

Spiderman noticed that a woman had been following him and he chases her to her secret base. Her name is Dansen Macabre and she quickly hypnotizes Spiderman with her dancing and sends him off to kidnap the Shroud. Spiderman listens and being the ultimately powerful being that he is, defeats the Shroud with absolutely no effort. Luckily, the Shroud is smarter than we think and that was actually a decoy. After helping Spiderman break free from the spell, they must join forces to defeat Dansen!

Spiderman definitely isn’t the type to get hypnotized, but I did like how they portrayed his power and skill. He was definitely in a different league from the other fighters and he proved this as he essentially wiped the floor with them. The Shroud is a cool character, but he could have explained his objective to Spiderman a little better. I’m assuming that he is trying to control the mobs to make the world a safer place or something, but Spiderman assumes the worst and tries to stop him. The Shroud escapes, but Spiderman gave it his all and heads home. It was a pretty fun comic and we got a lot of action in this one. It was one of the best comics in the collection!

The Mocking Bird is reported to actually be a traitor to SHIELD and it seems like she is planning on assassinating Nick Fury! Spiderman certainly isn’t going to let that happen so it’s up to him to bring her down for the count! (Since he let her escape at first when he thought that she was a hero) It’s definitely going to be one of his toughest fights yet, but is SHIELD telling him the full story?

The comic has a pretty tragic ending for one of the characters and Nick Fury doesn’t look too good. The problem is that SHIELD will always have traitors and there will always be leaks. It’s impossible not to have such things happen when you have such a large organization. Spiderman looks all right, but he nearly dies from a car crash and that just doesn’t seem like it was accurate. Such a fall wouldn’t defeat The Spiderman! Also, there aren’t really any super villains, so it’s just about corruption and guys with guns. Another decent comic, but nothing that will really get your heart racing!

Finally, we have a team up without Spiderman! Spider Woman and the Hulk are the ones teaming up, although they don’t really get to team up. Spider Woman is in town to arrest a fugitive and the Hulk is kidnapped by an old man. Spider Woman infiltrates the lair and wakes up Bruce Banner who gets pretty upset. Can the Hulk really defeat the villains?

There isn’t really a sense of danger in the comic since the Hulk is around, but that’s all right I suppose. It was ingenious of the villains to use a pleasure ray to make the Hulk turn back into Bruce Banner, but also a little disappointing for Hulk fans. The Hulk still managed to easily destroy the robots and basically save the day when he woke up. Spider Woman looked decently good, but the villains were a little too numerous in this comic so it’s good that the Hulk was around. It was a decent comic, but I have to say that I missed Spiderman. The portrayals for Spider Woman and the Hulk were sound, but the villains were pretty boring. It was a decent comic.

Spiderman gets another team up with the Black Widow, but this time there is no amnesia to take away her fighting skills. They beat up on some random crooks for a while, but then the Owl appears. It gets pretty dicey since this guy has taken on Daredevil in the past! (In the Essential that I reviewed not too long ago) Can they really defeat an old man who can’t really fight!?

The Owl definitely has his tricks, but he’s seriously no match against these two fighters. Once again, that means that there isn’t really a threat. Still, it’s always good to see these heroes beat up on the expendables and there isn’t really much chance for plot hax. The Owl gets a cheap shot on Spiderman, which definitely counts, but it’s pretty minor. Another decent comic for the collection.

Spiderman’s team up with Howard The Duck is easily one of the greatest team ups in the collection! There is a new villain on the block named Status Quo and he uses Howard’s cab to get all the way to Manhattan. From there, he convinces everyone that fads are evil, so they attack joggers and other innocent people. While Spiderman deals with them, Howard goes off to battle Status Quo in an ultimate showdown!

This comic was pretty awesome and it’s totally how such a team up would go. I didn’t really like Spiderman’s attitude since he was downright rude to Howard the whole time, but I’ll just assume that it was an off day for him. He just didn’t seem like he was in the mood to save the day at the time. Howard gave a pretty deep speech and showed Status Quo that he may not be in the right. Status Quo had some pretty big revelations and it was definitely interesting. New York’s Finest also looked pretty good and it was just a very solid comic all around!

The Art is consistently good for just about all of the comics. I seem to recall at least one comic that I thought looked a little strange, but I can’t remember which team up it was. That being said, the rest still look really good and the art is not a problem in this collection. This is basically the prime of Marvel’s character designs, so everyone can look really cool.

Pretty much all of the team ups involve Spiderman and that is definitely a good thing. It’s nice to see him portrayed back in the good ole days and he is definitely a good hero. With his Spider Sense at the ready, there aren’t many opponents who could really hope to defeat him. There were some moments that were not great for him, but the majority of the comics did their best to portray him accurately.That’s what counts in the end!

Overall, Marvel has done it again! This is another really fun Essential and it’s the best one that I’ve read in a while. We got to see many different heroes in the collection and they were mostly all likable. The art is solid and there aren’t really any big negatives in the comics. We have some plot hax, (Fury shooting Spiderman) but that is just something that will come with just about anything that you witness, Whether it be comics, movies, or games. I highly recommend this collection and all Marvel fans should get a kick out of it. There aren’t really any bad comics in the collection and that’s pretty rare for any team up of the week series. Usually there is at least one bad team up, but I couldn’t really see any. Add Spiderman to anything and it can become cool!

Overall 8/10