Issue(s): Marvel Team-Up #129, Marvel Team-Up #130
Cover Date: May-Jun 83
Title: " ...And much to ponder before the dawn..." / "Till death do us part!"
Credits:
J.M. DeMatteis - Writer
Kerry Gammill / Sal Buscema - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker
Eliot Brown - Assistant Editor
Tom DeFalco - Editor

Review/plot:
With Scarlet Witch still sleeping, Vision responds to an unconscious summons and flies "westward" from their New Jersey home to the New Hampshire town where the Mad Thinker created robotic replicas of historical thinkers. It turns out that SHIELD didn't do a great clean-up job, so Mark Twain has done a partial restoration on several additional robots, including Shakespeare, Confucius, and Lincoln.

They'd like the Vision, as a living, thinking android, to help them understand the modern world.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker is riding up to a nearby New Hampshire town with a reporter named Andrew "Paunch" Pauncholito, who is nearing retirement age and looking for one last big scoop. He's got a friend, a former New York police officer who moved up to New Hampshire to get away from all the crime, who has captured a suspect in some local serial killings. However, the suspect turns out to be a robotic Dostoyevsky, who escapes, leading a mob of New Hampshire-ites to the robotic town.

Peter tries to stay out of the conflict due to the fact that (for once! Thank you for this, DeMatteis!) he realizes that Spider-Man showing up outside of New York City at the same time that Peter Parker is visiting would be a secret identity problem. But when the Vision is disabled by a high tech gun that one of the police manages to grab...

...he has to get involved anyway.

It turns out that Paunch's friend is in fact the serial killer, driven crazy by the crimes he experienced back in New York.

Spider-Man gets knocked out by the attack robot that the historical androids were using to defend themselves...

...but the Vision wakes up and stops the serial killer.

The historical androids decide to withdraw from society.

And Paunch strongly hints that he's deduced Spider-Man's secret identity.

Sal Buscema only does Breakdowns for #130, and the art looks like Sal at his worst, not at all like the awesome stuff he is doing with inkers Ian Akin & Brian Garvey at the moment.

While the Vision is still out in New Hampshire, the Scarlet Witch's old foe Necrodamus shows up disguised as her husband.

Necrodamus would really like to trade bodies with the Vision, so he shows up where the Vision is still standing around with Spider-Man and Paunch.

Vision agrees to the switch to save his wife.

Once in his new body, Necrodamus burns up his old one.

Whoops! You sure that's a good idea, guy? There's no turning back now! Spider-Man is pretty upset by that move, because he was under the assumption that the Vision's soul had been transferred to Necrodamus' old body. But Necrodamus pointed out that since the Vision is an android, he had no soul. He then phase-punches Spidey...

...and goes away. When both Spider-Man and the Scarlet Witch later wake up, Wanda gets the news, and i liked this sequence of her resolving herself to take care of Necrodamus.

The battle with Necrodamus is long and arduous, and watching it, Paunch makes a few observations. First, that Spider-Man is a brave young man that heroically risks his life with no thoughts for his own safety. Second, that Necrodamus seems to be holding back against the Scarlet Witch, suggesting that the Vision is still in there somewhere. Third, that puppies don't deserve to die just because of a demon vs. super-hero fight.

Thanks to Paunch vocalizing his second observation, the Vision is able to reassert himself and Spider-Man takes it the rest of the way. With his original body destroyed, Necrodamus decides to take over the puppy, but then decides death would be better.

Poor puppy!

The Scarlet Witch informs the Vision that his ability to resist Necrodamus proves that he has a soul.

When it's over, Paunch lets Peter know that he doesn't intend to spill anyone's secret identities.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Amazing Spider-Man #241-242. For the Vision & the Scarlet Witch, needs to take place before they rejoin the Avengers (the Vision is referred to as "the robot that they tossed outta the Avengers"), especially since as soon as they rejoin, the Vision is disabled.

References:

• The Mad Thinker's historical androids were previously seen in Captain America #269.
  
• Necrodamus first appeared in Defenders #1, but he later showed up to bother the Scarlet Witch in Avengers #128.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Steve Englehart seems to have been unaware of this story when he used Necrodamus again in Fantastic Four #324, but there is no direct contradiction between the two tales.

I agree with fnord that this has to be about the inker, because Buscema drew Necrodamus in his two previous appearances, but the art here and in Avengers #128 are both simply awful and his work on Necrodamus in Defenders #1 is great. A world of difference - I can't even believe it's the same penciller.

"
Steve Englehart seems to have been unaware of this story when he used Necrodamus again in Fantastic Four #324, but there is no direct contradiction between the two tales."

I can't stand when I hear that. IMO, If you're using a character, do some research and see that character's previous appearances. I would think that the writers have access to a lot of the older comics.

Well, Englehart is absolutely notorious for it.

@AF- notorious for doing research or notorious for using a character without regard to their last appearance?

Weirdly both.

There wasn't an organized Marvel library on hand until the 70's, Clyde, but Dave Kraft has said he organized what they had in a big room upstairs from the Bullpen and started overseeing a regular library of Marvels. So yeah, by this point (1983) at Marvel, at least, there was a "morgue." I'm not sure what condition it was in by 1987-there's lots of creators and editors online we can ask- but it's funny that Englehart is also famous for tying stories back into previous continuities, so he really has done a share of both as y'all mention.
I imagine someone keeps all of Marvel scanned to CD-ROM today, but I'm not sure!

All the 1983 Marvels I read were almost two years after printing, but #130 was one, and I really enjoyed the story! I don't think much else was done with Paunchilito - he isn't tagged, but I don't remember more than a mention afterwards. Perhaps he simply retired.
The robots were potentially interesting- I haven't read their appearances in CAP- but I'm not quite sure where you'd go with them in the Marvel U. I do think it's good to have characters besides the ones who fight and appear on Underoos. JM's stories seemed deep and made me very reflective at that age. This was my introduction to the Vision, too- he seemed quite cool and powerful.
I think at the time, if a story really tickled my grey matter, weaknesses in the art were forgivable; art was secondary. I eventually got # 129, too, and Gammil's art looks less rushed, substantial.

Cecil - Here are some of the known comics on CDs:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/listmania/fullview/R3J86VLTTACOV6

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_comic_books_on_CD/DVD

So, at least nowadays, it wouldn't be a problem. Of course, now it's meaningless after the "Secret Wars" event.