Issue(s): Super-Villain Team-Up #1 Super-Villain Team-Up #2, Super-Villain Team-Up #3, Super-Villain Team-Up #4
Cover Date: Aug 75 - Feb 76
Title: "Slayers from the sea! / Ch.1: An alliance asunder?/Ch.2: Frenzy on a floating fortress" / "In the midst of life...! / The way to dusty death!" / "If vengeance fails!" / "A time of titans"
Credits:
Tony Isabella / Jim Shooter / Bill Mantlo - Writer
Bill Everett, George Tuska, & George Evans / Sal Buscema / George Evans / Herb Trimpe - Penciler
Fred Kida & Frank Springer / Fred Kida / Jack Abel / Jim Mooney - Inker

Review/plot:
Four issues, three writers, five artists, four inkers. What does that tell you? It tells me that Marvel has overextended itself at this point, and a high concept / high profile project like this is not getting the attention it deserves. Instead it is coasting entirely off of the concept. In reality, this is just a continuation of the Sub-Mariner series (canceled with issue #72, Sep 74) that happens to feature Dr. Doom as well. The plot, the villains, the supporting characters all belong to the Sub-Mariner.

This isn't to say that there aren't some good character moments for Doom. Doom contemplates his pride and the fact that it tends to hold him back.

He also thinks back on his super-villain career and realizes not only have his fights against the FF generally ended in either defeat or stalemate, but he's been thwarted by a lot of "lesser beings" (i.e., Daredevil, Spider-Man) as well. it's very true that Doom's threat level was seriously downgraded due to all of his defeats and badly written appearances at this point, and this series could have been the means to bring him back up to top tier status. Unfortunately, Marvel didn't really know what it was doing with this book and had no plan.

But the main story is a group of Sub-Mariner villains taking over Hydro-base.

Namor is defeated by them as well. Doom has been observing events from afar and he takes the opportunity to come to Namor's aid in order to convince Namor that an alliance is in their mutual interest. He runs into Policewoman Betty Dean, Namor's only friend, except now she's a scaly amphibian. In the rescue attempt, Betty is killed.

This makes Namor... angry. But he's still weak so Tiger Shark and company beat him up again. Doom, seemingly barely aware of the other villains, continues his appeal for an alliance to the Sub-Mariner (a little violently)...

...and then teleports him away so that Namor can recover.

Namor wakes up in a nutrient bath in Latveria. He has a discussion with one of Doom's subjects and finds that she actually respects Doom. We're left not sure if it is a ruse. The two try to work together, with Doom helping Namor extract vengeance for the death of Betty Dean before getting involved in any world conquering schemes, but the arrogance of each of them gets in the way. This is nicely handled by Jim Shooter in issue #3, which may be his earliest Marvel writing job.

The alliance of villains attack with Octo-Meks.

Doom and the Sub-Mariner return to Hydrobase and this time they defeat their enemies. Dorcas is crushed and killed by an Octo-Mek.

However, the alliance is strained when Doom murders Attuma's jester Saru-San in cold blood after the fighting is over. In the past, Saru-San had been used as a King Lear style jester that spoke truth to power, but in his later appearances he was just annoying, and apparently Doom agreed.

Namor didn't though, so they fight.

During their fight, a completely unrelated plot regarding a character from Deathlok creeps in. A passing Navy ship bearing Captain Simon Ryker nears the location of the Namor/Doom battle. Ryker tries to siphon some of the energy from Doom's army to power his first experimental super-soldier.

In Deathlok's alternate future (as depicted in his Astonishing Tales series), Ryker becomes a cyborg opponent of Deathlok. In our reality, Ryker's super-soldier will be the Symbionic Man, a character that appears in a Namor solo story in Marvel Spotlight #27.

Dr. Doom doesn't have much time for this Ryker guy.

Namor, not being able to defeat Doom, allows Doom to think he is defeated and swims away.

This arc gets some points for acknowledging some of the problems with Marvel's treatment of Doom and for Shooter's decent handling of the two characters' egos, but overall it isn't very good.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 4 - first Jim Shooter writing at Marvel. Death of Betty Dean.

Chronological Placement Considerations: This arc begins with the Sub-Mariner still in Latveria, following the events of Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #2 (indeed "minutes after" that issue). Namor and Ryker next appear in Marvel Spotlight #27.

References:

• Doom refused an alliance with Namor in Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #1.
  
• Doom was then defeated by the FF in Fantastic Four #157.
  
• Because of that defeat (according to Namor) Doom returned to Namor to create an alliance after all, but bungled it by damaging Atlantis in a power display and getting attacked by his own robot army in Giant-Size Super-Villain Team-Up #2.
  
• The Hydrobase first appeared - as the island of Dr. Hydro - in Sub-Mariner #61.
  
• Dr. Jennings first appeared in Sub-Mariner #68.
  
• The Octo-meks used by Attuma's army were first used in Sub-Mariner #36.
  
• Dr. Dorcas and Tigershark were last seen in Marvel Team-Up #14. They were presumed dead when their Men-Fish Plant was destroyed.
  
• But they were actually rescued by Attuma, who needed a scientific genius since his man Ithkon, last seen in Sub-Mariner #37, is currently in a coma along with the rest of the Atlanteans. Dorma was killed in that issue as well.
  
• And Namor's father was killed, by Tiger Shark, in Sub-Mariner #46.
  
• Tiger Shark's origin was in Sub-Mariner #5.
  
• Doom was attacked by Namor using his little-used electric eel powers in Fantastic Four #6. "Alert Marvelites will recall that Iron Man's thermo-coupler serves a similar purpose. Wonder who holds the patent? - Len".

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

Bill Everett's presence here confuses me, as he'd been dead for two years at this point. I have no idea if his artwork was a reprint or unused inventory pages.

Tony Isabella's blog confirms that Everett's contribution was pages from an unused solo Dr. Doom story(intended for Astonishing Tales #9?)

On the 1975 page, should there be a "D: Betty Dean" (or similar) notation?

Sure. Added it.

According to an interview with longtime comics fan Harry Broertjes in Comics Interview #108, Jim Shooter actually first appeared at Marvel in 1970 after writing his last stories for Mort Weisinger at DC, but he only stayed about 2 weeks and then left comics for 5 years. He didn't provide any details about what Shooter did there.

Jim Shooter writes about his earliest work for Marvel here:
http://www.jimshooter.com/2011/03/washed-up-at-eighteen.html

Not sure if it ups the significance too much, but Dr. Dorcas is killed in issue 3.

And comes back to life without any explanation decades later to do nothing (that's Brevoort's Marvel for you).