Marvel Team-Up #135
Published and © by Marvel, November 1983
Title: “Down Deep in Darkness!”
Synopsis: When the kids she’s babysitting are snatched by Morlocks, it’s Kitty Pryde to the rescue – with some help from Spider-Man.
Writer: Bill Mantlo
Penciler: Ron Frenz
Inker: Mike Esposito
Review: Full disclosure: This reviewer’s love of Kitty Pryde probably scored this issue a higher grade than it otherwise would have earned. Still, this is a perfectly serviceable late-Bronze Marvel comic. Bill Mantlo’s story scoots along at a tight pace, hitting the requisite notes of then-current characterization for both of the headlining characters. Not everything works, but the story feels connected to the larger Marvel Universe of its time. The Ron Frenz art – obviously influenced by Sal Buscema – seemed a bit anachronistic at the time of publication, but now certainly feels of the Bronze Age. An unspectacular-but-solid outing.
Grade: B
Cool factor: Kitty Pryde. ❤︎
Not-so-cool factor: Since when do the Morlocks have high-tech, underground “magne-cars”?
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a 75¢ Canadian variant of this issue. … According to MyComicShop.com, there is also a Mark Jewelers variant.
Character quotable: “Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!” – Kitty Pryde, a better superheroine than babysitter
Editor’s note: This review was written June 5, 2021.
