Issue(s): Marvel Team-Up #141
Cover Date: May 84
Title: "Blind justice!"
Credits:
Tom DeFalco - Plot
Christopher Priest - Script
Greg LaRocque - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker

Review/plot:
I've mentioned this before but it's worth repeating a few times to avoid confusion: in order to ensure that he's search-able consistently, i'm listing all Jim Owsley credits as Christopher Priest, which is what he later changes his name to. He's credited as Owsley in this issue, and throughout the 80s.

This issue follows up on the plot from Team-Up #140. In that issue, a pawn shop owner was killed, and a gang member was falsely accused. Spidey helped track down who he thought was the real killer, but it turned out at the end (after Spidey left for Secret Wars) that the second suspect wasn't the right one either.

Most of this issue deals with the Black Widow and Daredevil investigating the crime further, which means punching people.

Actually, that's not fair. It's the Black Widow's spy training that locks her in to the right suspect, but she doesn't have the evidence to prove it.

Spidey doesn't appear until more than halfway through the book, after he returns from Secret Wars. The real killer turns out to be the new pawn shop owner.

Relatively complicated plotting and decent scripting, actually...

...but not a story with a lot of long term impact. The most interesting bit is the fact that Daredevil gets some help from the Kingpin in getting the new shopkeeper to confess, and neither the Black Widow nor Spider-Man are too happy about that.

There's also a cute bit at the end with Spider-Man wondering why DD didn't comment on his new costume.

Quality Rating: B-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Spider-Man is shown returning from Secret Wars this issue. It's a scene that's repeated from Amazing Spider-Man #252 (with a small amount of new material), so events in these issues are all happening around the same time. Spider-Man returns on page 13 of this issue, and stops in at the Daily Bugle "the next day" to learn things aren't going well with this murder case. Daredevil appears here between Daredevil #205-206.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

If this issue was published in May of 84 and Amazing Spiderman 252 was published in May of 84, why is ASM 252 considered the first app. of the black costume?

I have a ready answer for you: http://www.supermegamonkey.net/2014/04/nerdchaeology.shtml

Thanks!

I think marking up the price of Secret Wars #8 is a gimmick. By the time it was released, the black costume had been published in several books.

Actually, this does beg the question of whether DD could detect the presence of the symbiote or not.

Maybe that storyline hadn't yet been decided?