Issue(s): Marvel Team-Up #79
Cover Date: Mar 79
Title: "Sword of the She-Devil"
Credits:
Chris Claremont - Script
Chris Claremont & John Byrne - Plot
John Byrne - Penciler
Terry Austin - Inker

Review/plot:
This is a fun issue by the team supreme Claremont & Byrne that teams up Spider-Man with Red Sonja. Ancient wizard Kulan Gath is revived in modern times by a security guard possessed by a mystical amulet.

Mary Jane follows Peter and a reporter from the Daily Bugle to the scene of the incident...

...and gets possessed by Red Sonja's sword and transforms into the barbarian warrior.

They manage to defeat Gath, in part because once Gath is out of the museum exhibit that mimics his time period, he is overwhelmed by modern society. Sonja is also affected by the bright lights and big city as well, but not as much as Kulan Gath.

Red Sonja does not speak or understand English in this story, resulting in some interesting and funny dialogue.

Spider-Man tries to get Dr. Strange at one point, but isn't able to escape.

Any time Mary Jane gets thought bubbles, i check and see if there's anything that contradicts the idea that she's known all along that he is Spider-Man. There's definitely a slight problem in this issue. When Peter disappears to investigate the strange happenings at the museum, MJ thinks "Oh, Peter--- no! It could be dangerous. And you're just not cut out to be a hero."

A few panels later, however, she sees Spider-Man fighting a bunch of monsters and immediately starts looking for a way to help, which you could say she wouldn't do if Spidey were just some random super-person and not someone she loved.

In an epilogue, Peter nearly becomes possessed by the amulet himself. To avoid its temptation, he throws it into the river.

In the opening panel, Peter mentions the fact that he "lost track of time at Cissy's". This is the first mention of Cissy Ironwood, a minor love interest for Peter that appears exclusively in Marvel Team-Up.

Quality Rating: B+

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - first Kulan Gath and Red Sonja in the modern Marvel Universe

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Amazing Spider-Man #207-208, which is way later than the publication date. This is based on the Marvel Index going into contortions trying to place this at a Winter Solstice. I find this an exercise not worth engaging in, especially since it causes the Index to come up with really contrived reasons why Peter Parker would be at a Daily Bugle holiday party and receiving a bonus from JJ at a time when he wasn't supposed to be working there. One thing i do agree with the index about is that Marvel Team-Up #82 takes place almost directly after this story, thanks to a newspaper article referring to the events here (and it's winter in that story, but summer in Marvel Team-Up #80-81. While i normally ignore the weather, having it be winter here, then summer, and then winter again is a bit much for me). So i've placed these issues out-of-sequence relative to Marvel Team-Up #80-81. Based on my decision here, this needs to take place prior to Peter getting fired in Amazing Spider-Man #193. Also takes place after Ms. Marvel #22.

References:

• An anonymous Daily Bugle staffer says to a co-worker that he still says Jameson was a fool to fire Carol Danvers, a reference to Ms. Marvel #22.
  
• Those of you interested in learning more about Red Sonja can check out her own book, on sale bi-monthly.
  
• Kulan Gath says that he is a High Priest of the N'Garai. A N'Garai demon previously appeared in Uncanny X-Men #96, but no reference is explicitly given here.
  
• During the battle, Spider-Man seals a Sa'arpool that Kulan Gath was trying to open. A footnote says the first of three such pools was sealed in Giant-Size Dracula #2.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Kulan-Gath first appeared in the Conan-Elric issues of Conan the Barbarian, but there was no mention of the N'Garai there.

John Byrne seems to be drawing Red Sonja in the Frank Thorne manner as much as possible, including bugeyes and huge boobs.

Marvel no longer owns the rights to Kulan Gath. Gath was last used in the Dynamite comic publisher's Red Sonja series.

I had to go look at Uncanny X-Men #189-191 and make certain there was no actual inbound reference, because I remember being very confused reading those issues as to when Kulan-Gath had appeared before and when Spider-Man had faced him and was glad to read in your listing there that it doesn't actually directly reference these issues. Good to know my memory wasn't failing me.

That first panel of Red Sonja is some seriously awesome cheesecake.

It's Red Sonja, she's practically cheesecake defined.

I know you don't track him, but Earth-616 Clark Kent appears in this issue as well

http://www.comicscube.com/2012/07/easter-eggs-clark-kent-visits-daily.html

"John Byrne seems to be drawing Red Sonja in the Frank Thorne manner as much as possible..."

You say that as if it were a bad thing. ;-)

Not having read these for years, I'd forgotten entirely about Cissy, who doesn't seem to have made many appearances, and thus was thoroughly confused (as I'm sure many contemporary readers were) by the splash-page reference. The whole thing seems seriously strange: not only that Peter would be a girl-in-every-port guy who had a girlfriend exclusive to MTU, but also that he would get involved with somebody else when he was already torn between Betty and M.J.

note the conan refs:
Krom! sound effect (Crom god from Conan)
and the title lettering is def an homage to BWS lettering from early conan's

this issue is prob one of the best for Byrne & Austin art