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Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976 series) #3

on-sale: Aug 19, 1980
Roger Stern | Herb Trimpe

Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976 series) #3 cover

Story Name:

Mayhem in Middle America!


Synopsis

Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976 series) #3 synopsis by Peter Silvestro
Rating: 3.5 stars

Hulk is walking through a forest, knocking down trees so he doesn’t feel crowded when a mystery figure in a red cloak and mask fires a meto-probe to capture his mind. But Hulk just has a headache and chases his tormentor and smashes the device. Ripping off the hood reveals Nightshade who apologizes and asks Hulk’s help in recovering a package that was stolen from her. Hulk agrees….

On the Manhattan docks, a crook named Alfred Savin watches a man deposit a briefcase full of blackmail money in a trash can. Savin recovers it then finds himself facing Iron Fist who advises him not to go ahead with his plan, namely keeping the film with compromising pictures of a young actress. Savin draws his gun and fires repeatedly at Iron Fist, who dodges every bullet. The crook panics and tosses the film to Iron Fist before running away. But then he runs into Fist’s partner, Luke Cage, Power Man. He shoots Cage but there is no effect—beyond tearing his new shirt. Cage tosses Savin away and he and Fist take the money and film and return to their office. Spider-Man was watching from above but decides Cage and Fist have things under control and he swings off….

The next day at the office of Heroes for Hire, Power Man and Iron Fist listen to some prospective clients as their office manager Jennie Royce advises. Brock Jones of Delmar Insurance and Joy Meachum of Rand-Meachum outline the job. Rand-Meachum has developed a unique computer circuit that needs to be delivered to their Chicago lab; word of the device has leaked so a dozen other operatives will act as decoys, with Cage and Fist carrying the real package to its destination—for triple their usual fee….

And so Power Man and Iron Fist find themselves on a disguised freight car on a train taking a circuitous route via Tennessee to Chicago. It’s a quiet trip—until suddenly the train is derailed and the Hulk smashes his way in, seizes the package and departs. Cage ties to stop him but Hulk just swats him. Fist is trapped in the wreckage and must use his signature move to break out and when he reaches his partner, Hulk is long gone. Hulk delivers the package to Nightshade, glad he could help the nice lady….

At a train station in Tennessee, Power Man and Iron Fist are meeting with agents of the Delmar Insurance firm: Maggie Jones, Eddie Harris, and Aaron Stack. Aaron, secretly Machine Man, is curious to learn how the Hulk was involved so he hacks into the phone lines and fakes a call for Eddie from his bookie, telling him he won a fortune on a sports bet. Eddie heads back to New York to collect his winnings, leaving Aaron in charge…which angers Maggie who feels slighted. And so Aaron arrives as Machine Man, persuading Power Man and Iron Fist that they should team up to find Hulk. So MM flies out following the gamma trail left by Hulk while Luke and IF follow in a borrowed jeep, unaware that Maggie Jones has stowed away in the back. MM tracks the emission to a remote house; he crashes into find Bruce Banner. Cage and Fist enter and MM tells them Bruce was sedated. Then Maggie bursts in, accusing Bruce of having masterminded the crime and refusing to believe that he has no control over Hulk’s actions. She slaps him to make him confess but that only triggers his transformation into the Hulk. Maggie panics and Machine Man seizes her and deposits her outside for safety. Hulk hurls MM and Cage through the roof so Iron Fist tries to take him down with his namesake move—but it only annoys Hulk. Luke enters and tells Hulk to hit him instead of Iron Fist—which confuses Hulk long enough for Cage and Machine Man to calm him down; they convince Hulk he was tricked and he gives them the name Nightshade….

Meanwhile, Nightshade has taken a room at a motel and hooked the new circuit up to her PC and goes to work, now able to bypass any security systems. In just a few minutes she has transferred 46.5 million dollars into her own account. But then the angry Hulk tears the wall down, followed by Power Man and Iron Fist. She flees out the back and runs into Machine Man so she faints. And then an examination of the PC reveals she was about to order the US and USSR to launch nuclear strikes at one another…but they are just in time for Machine Man to cancel the orders. Cage destroys the circuit and then they discover Nightshade was faking and took off while they were distracted. As she drives off, Hulk leaps through the air and lands on her hood, sending her flying into a nearby stream where the police pick her up….

Back in New York, Jennie Royce scolds Luke and Danny for flubbing such an easy job but the guys aren’t upset….

At the Delmar offices, Eddie Harris has been lambasted for leaving the scene of an investigation, his bookie denies having called him, and Maggie Jones arrives to further rebuke Aaron and Eddie for abandoning her. And Pamela Quinn tells Aaron the most surprising part: Rand-Meachum is not filing a claim over the destroyed circuit, thanks to the intervention of Daniel Rand with Joy Meachum….

Characters: Hulk, Power Man, Iron Fist, Nightshade, Spider-Man, Jennie Royce, Joy Meachum, Brock Jones, Maggie Jones, Eddie Harris, Pamela Quinn


Characters
Good (or All)
BRUCEBANNER
HULK
IRONFIST
LUKECAGE
MACHINEMAN
SPIDERMAN
Plus: Brock Jones, Eddie Harris (Edward Harris), Jennie Royce (Jennifer Royce), Joy Meachum, Maggie Jones, Pamela Quinn.

Enemies
Nightshade (Tilda Johnson).

> Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976 series) comic book info and issue index



Excelsioring your collection:
statue
Holy smokes, Batman!
(The Boy Wonder)

Main/1st Story Full Credits

Herb Trimpe
Many
Ken Klaczak
Frank Miller (Cover Penciler)
Joe Rubinstein (Cover Inker)
George Roussos (Cover Colorist)
Additional Credits
Letterer: John Costanza.



Review / Commentaries


Marvel Team-Up Annual (1976 series) #3 Review by (March 4, 2025)

Review: Decent story, no classic, lesser Roger Stern; okay art, leading into the 1980s blah period. It begins with Hulk throwing a fit because the trees in the forest are too close together—and he can actually do something about it. There’s a villainess who dresses like Emma Frost to pull off crimes—but at least she doesn’t go out in public (a lot) like that. We see Power Man and Iron Fist pull off a real, successful mission before they mess up on the main event. Machine Man does all of the detecting. The insurance company people are a hindrance when they aren’t being comic relief. The villain uses the McGuffin to steal a lot of money—then tries to start a nuclear war for no apparent reason. And everybody ends up being scolded for failing at their jobs—which is supposed to be funny.

Comments: Story title from cover. The story is divided into five chapters, each with a different inker. Inkers include Mike Esposito, Bruce Patterson, Frank Springer, Al Milgrom, Joe Rubinstein, and David Humphrys. Power Man and Iron Fist encounter Hulk again in MARVEL TEAM-UP #105. Machine Man last faced Hulk in INCREDIBLE HULK #235-237. Nightshade first appeared in CAPTAIN AMERICA #164 and 189-190 then POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #51-53. Brock “Torpedo” Jones was introduced in DAREDEVIL #126, appearing in that title, a two-issue starring role in MARVEL PREMIERE #39-40, and DEFENDERS #62-64 before this. Maggie Jones, Eddie Harris, and Pamela Quinn are regulars in Machine Man’s title. Heroes for Hire’s blackmail client is referred to as Ms. Page; could it be Karen?

Oh and I do love that cover with Hulk using Machine Man as a club to bash Luke and Danny.






Thor

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