Issue(s): Marvel Team-Up #150
Cover Date: Feb 85
Title: "'Tis better to give!"
Credits:
Louise Simonson - Writer
Greg LaRocque - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker
Bob DeNatale - Assistant Editor
Danny Fingeroth - Editor

Review/plot:
It's Black Tom's birthday, and the Juggernaut has the bright idea to go back to the Korean temple where he first got his powers...

...and retrieve the Ruby of Cyttorak to give Tom the same power that he has.

It's an incredibly selfless gesture by the Juggernaut, who must really trust Black Tom if he's willing to allow another person to become like him. What actually winds up happening is that the Juggernaut power is split between the two of them.

Cyttorak is an actual intelligent mystical entity, so it's somewhat surprising that he/it allows anyone who touches the gem to receive the power. One would have thought that Cain Marko was uniquely qualified to be Cyttorak's avatar, perhaps due to his stubborn, nasty personality, but that's apparently not the case. This will have ramifications in future stories as well.

When Tom is first transformed into a half-Juggernaut, he and Marko get into a fight. Spider-Man, desperate to sell pictures of someone other than Spider-Man, assumes that Black Tom is a new super-hero and starts taking pictures...

...but Black Tom and the Juggernaut soon reconcile and team up against Spidey. Luckily, the X-Men show up to help Spidey out.

During the fight, Rogue absorbs the Juggernaut power from Black Tom...

...and uses her increased strength to rip the helmet off of the Juggernaut. However, the Juggernaut has cleverly (at Black Tom's suggestion) added a second helmet underneath the first.

However, the Juggernaut decides to end the fight, and he tosses the Ruby of Cyttorak into orbit so that no one else can access its power.

He and Black Tom then disappear into the sewers, and neither Spidey nor the X-Men want to give chase.

The Juggernaut says that the ruby made him "strong, unstoppable -- and untouchable... unless I want to be touched!" I wasn't aware he had the ability to turn off his forcefield.

In the end, Spidey's camera gets gummed up with web fluid and he fails to get any good pictures. Luckily, he also had shots of his neighbors Randi, Candi, and Bambi sunning themselves on the roof of his apartment building, and he's able to sell those as part of a "summer heatwave" feature in the Bugle. Randi, Candi, and Bambi look totally different than they did in their first appearance, and they also have a "valley girl" talk that, like, they totally didn't have when we last saw them.

We also learn that Peter's landlady, Maime Muggins, is Candi's aunt.

There's a running concern in Rachel Summers thoughts about the fact that in her universe, Black Tom and the Juggernaut were good guys, and it causes her to hold back for a while, but eventually she realizes that things are different in this dimension.

This is the last issue of Marvel Team-Up, which will be replaced with Web of Spider-Man. It ends on a high note.

Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Wolverine is not yet back with the X-Men, placing this before Uncanny X-Men #193. Takes place after Spider-Man meets Randi, Candi, and Bambi in Spectacular Spider-Man #99.

References:

• Randi, Candi, and Bambi were first seen in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #99.
  
• The Juggernaut was last seen in Amazing Spider-Man #230, when he was buried under tons of concrete (he also appeared in Code of Honor #3 and Marvel 1985 after that, but Spidey wouldn't necessarily have known about those appearances).
  
• The Juggernaut's discovery of the Temple of Cyttorak, and Charles Xavier's attempt to stop him, was shown in Uncanny X-Men #12.
  
• Another reference to Spider-Man being back in his original costume after the one he got in Secret Wars turned out to be an alien symbiote in Amazing Spider-Man #258. Also to Mary Jane revealing that she has always known that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, which gets a reference to Amazing Spider-Man #259.
  
• There's another reference to Secret Wars when the X-Men show up, since Spidey and the X-Men had a Misunderstanding Fight in that series.
  
• Colossus learned in Spider-Woman #38 that Black Tom's force bolts don't hurt him.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Referring to your Chronological Considerations (though it shouldn't affect placement), Juggernaut did appear between Amazing Spider-Man 230 and here, fighting Colossus in Uncanny 183.

Thanks, Erik. I've moved my (mostly irrelevant) musings about Code of Honor and 1985 to the X-Men entry.

Spidey does very well against two juggernauts on his own. Its only Black Tom's force bolts that overcome him in the end.

It doesnt feel so much like a team up. spidey fights them for the first half, then he sits out while the xmen fight for the second half.

I loved this story. One of the most striking memories was when Rogue saw Cain Marko's abused childhood. Was this followed up anywhere, her knowledge gained here? This aspect - Rogue's invasive gaining of insight upon using her powers- would have a cumulative effect worth exploring, and give her a personal connection to many of her foes (Carol Danvers is just the best example). She has potential as a solo series character.
MTU's last year or so was one of my first touchstones as a regular Marvel Universe reader. I loved meeting the variety of B-listers and team players, alongside the ever-lovin' wallcrawler.

The part where Rogue rips off Juggernaut's helmet reminds me of a pro wrestling match with Mil Mascaras or some other masked luchador, where the heel would finally pull the mask off the babyface, only to reveal...another mask! I just hope this wasn't inspired by seeing one of those old El Santo movies that came out of Mexico in bunches during the '60's.

This was a really cool issue. It's nice to see actual friendships between supervillains. I only disliked the huge amounts of exposition. I know this was the "any issue is someone's first" era, but this it even more forced than usual...

Maybe Cyttorak was busy fighting Dormammu or someone else in an unseen extradimensional villain war? That would explain why he didn't even check what was happening in this issue.

*whispers* btw, you forgot Randi in the Characters Appearing.

*whispers in parentheses* (yes, I'm Nate Wolf. it's okay to tweak one's screen name on this site, right?)

Thanks. Added Randi, and yes it's ok to tweak your screen name.