Marvel Team-Up #77
Published and © by Marvel, January 1979
Title: “If I’m to Love … My Love Must Die!”
Synopsis: The return of the Silver Dagger further complicates Doctor Strange, Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel’s efforts to save Clea.
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artists: Howard Chaykin, Jeff Aclin and Juan Ortiz
Review: The second half of a two-part tale (see review of part one), this installment falls apart under its own weight. Already laden with characters, the story is further bogged down by the return of an old Doctor Strange villain, the Silver Dagger. The supporting cast seems out of place in this mystic adventure, with Ms. Marvel feeling particularly misused. And, for a second issue, Howard Chaykin’s contributions are all but lost under the other artists’ work. All in all, not the best issue of Marvel Team-Up.
Grade: B-
Cool factor: You know, there’s just really isn’t much cool about this issue.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a Whitman variant and a 12p British variant of this issue. … According to MyComicShop.com, there is also a Mark Jewelers variant.
Character quotable: “But is even your occult talent a match for – the fearsome, fatal, Fangs of Farallah?!’” – Clea, possessed
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on March 17, 2009.
