Essential Marvel Team-Up Volume 4

Another collection of Spider-man team-ups with some of the best, brightest, and most unusual characters in the Marvel Universe. (The Adam Warlock/ Strangers tale might be one of the best cosmic stories that I've ever read!) It may not seem like much, this volume. But, this is perhaps one of the most important collections of Marvel Team-Ups ever put together. 

Volume 3 includes the some of the first ever appearances of Iron Fist, the Giant-Sized X-Men, the villain Arcade, and the first American appearance of Captain Britain. A number of these issues are the first ever pairing of writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, right before their lengthy partnership on X-Men. If anything else, this book also opened me up to a slew of issues and reprints that I didn't know I wanted until now, including the ultra-rare Essential Marvel Team-Up Volume 4.

There's a wealth of great Spider-man stories in this volume. But there's one noticeable omission, Marvel Team-Up #74 in which Spidey teams up with the Cast of Saturday Night Life. Due to licensing agreements, that issue could not be reprinted. But that's okay, as a very long time ago I bit the bullet and bought that classic issue for about $15- and it was worth every penny!

Along with Claremont and Bryne, there's a ton of great talent in this book including Bill Mantlo (Rom: Spaceknight), Sal Buscema, and Ralph Macchio. 

A collection that should not be overlooked just because it's in black and white.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.