Marvel Team-Up (1972 series) #110

Spider-Man is swinging through Manhattan one morning when an earth tremor shakes the city. Spidey comes to the rescue of a falling window washer, noting it’s the third tremor this week in a city that doesn’t have seismic activity. He arrives at work and, as Peter Parker, dashes into J. Jonah Jameson’s office only to be berated for arriving late. JJJ sends him out to a photography job without telling him where, then ordering him out of the office. Fortunately, Robbie Robertson fills him in on the assignment. And so…

…Peter arrives at Stark International where Tony Stark is holding a press conference as he unveils his long range Sonic Strata Scanner, designed to locate the source of the Earth tremors. Then Pete’s Spider-Sense starts tingling, moments before an earthquake strikes the room, threatening to rip the huge machine from its moorings. Tony and Pete run in opposite directions to change into their superhero togs and return. Iron Man tells Spidey to hold back the toppling machine while he fires his repulsor rays to break the deadly debris into smaller chunks. When everything is settled again, a technician shows them the location of the origin of the shock, two miles away and half a mile down. So Iron Man and Spidey board the Stark Turbo-Bore which drills into the Earth and after a few minutes they break through into a cavern. The first thing they note is artificial light, then huge machines, followed by an attack by armored warriors with ray guns. The two heroes thrash the baddies who respond with gas that knocks Spidey out and Shellhead is then blasted by the Big Boss, a burly armored man with a lava cannon on his arm; his name is Magma….

Iron Man awakens to find he has been placed in an electro-magnetic field to keep him immobile while Spider-Man is in a tube filled with the sleep gas. Magma reveals his name is Jonathan Darque, head of a top mining company, helping America meet its energy needs. But he was always opposed by protesting environmentalists. And then his wife was killed in a car accident when she swerved to miss demonstrators and went off the road; after this his company was sued into shutting down so he took on the guise of Magma to seek revenge against the society that had opposed him. He demonstrates that his cannon shoots solid balls of lava as well as the liquid kind; revealing that he caused the eruption of Mount St. Helens, his latest goal is to level New York City with an earthquake unless he is paid one hundred million dollars. Iron Man tells him the city doesn’t have that much money and Magma replies, “I know.” After he is gone, Iron Man discovers he can fire his boot jet and ricochet the blast to destroy the control panel, freeing both of them. So they decide that Iron Man will go after Magma while Spidey will locate and destroy the villain’s earthquake machine. Iron Man follows the villain’s trail and emerges from the ground outside City Hall where Magma is presenting his demand to the Mayor; a battle breaks out but Magma’s armor is a match for Iron Man’s….

Meanwhile, Spidey fights his way through Magma’s horde of henchmen and discovers the machine. As he prepares to smash it, his Spider-Sense goes off, suggesting that the device is booby-trapped….

On the surface, Magma and Iron Man are at a standstill so Magma triggers his machine and the ground starts shaking around City Hall. But Spidey is able to adjust the machine, sending the tremor out to sea where it stirs up the waves and causes a volcanic eruption. Magma curses Iron Man and takes off, crashing his ship into the volcano. And so the Mayor thanks the two heroes for saving the city….