Marvel Comics Presents #33

This issue's Excalibur focus is on Captain Britain. I don't mean to offend the people of the UK, but Brian Braddock is the worst member of England's mutant superhero team. Captain Britain is so powerful and yet he's completely insecure. His got a woman who is head over heels in love with him and he treats her like crap. Why did they make him the leader of the team???

So when the Loonies have older incarnations of the hero beat the crap out of him, I kinda cheered. I lie. I really did cheer!

With it comes to the Black Panther story, I hate it! First they killed off a friendly little dog. Then they killed off an innocent child. Now the best character in the whole story gets gunned down. And no, it's not Black Panther! Don McGregor and Gene Colan (Daredevil) have better not have made another poor decision and kill off this guy! 

The 8-page single story stars Namor, The Sub-Mariner. It's a poignant tale about the mass pollution and destruction of our oceans. Unlike other relevant comics stories that have been a part of this series, this story was actually good despite being preachy. I think artwork by a young Jim Lee (X-Men) has something to do with this! Don McGregor redeems himself. Well until I find out what happens in the next Black Panther segment.

Worth Consuming! But just barely!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

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.