Issue(s): Super-Villain Team-Up #14
Cover Date: Oct 77
Title: "A world for the winning!"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
Bob Hall - Penciler
Don Perlin & Duffy Vohland - Inker

Review/plot:
How awesome is Doom? He's so awesome that he conquers the planet off-panel. He's got some kind of gas that makes everyone obey him, and he's just been sort of releasing it into the atmosphere. But now that he's conquered the world he's bored.

Magneto shows up in Latveria, seemingly out of boredom of his own, and challenges Doom to a fight. After demonstrating to Magneto that he can command even him...

...Doom releases him from the gas and allows him to go off and plan his attack.

Oddly, Magneto chooses to approach the Avengers for help. There's no real justification for this. I'd like to think it's subconsciously because he knows that the Scarlet Witch is his daughter or something, but of course that wasn't yet the case. The Avengers attack Magneto, of course...

...but after Magneto convinces them he's there to ask for help against Dr. Doom, Doom shows up and takes control of the Avengers, forcing them to continue the attack. Doom then allows Magneto to pick one Avenger to use as an ally. Magneto bizarrely picks the Beast, on the grounds that he's an X-Man. You'd think you'd rather have Thor or the Scarlet Witch on your side, but no.

Doom doesn't actually free the Beast from the effects of the gas; instead he just doesn't interfere when Magneto uses his rarely-used mental powers to free the Beast himself.

It's claimed that Magneto picked the Beast so that the Beast could take him to Professor Xavier, which makes sense until you realize that the X-Men would also be under the control of Dr. Doom and the fact that all the Beast does is take Magneto to the School for Gifted Youngsters, which Magneto already knows the location of. Xavier is currently at Jean Grey's apartment waiting by the portal to the Shi'ar territory with Firelord, so he's not available. They also try the Baxter Building, but the FF are also out of town (again, what good would it be if they were home since they'd also be under Doom's control?).

So, with the X-Men and the FF unavailable, the Beast takes Magneto to see the Champions, but guess what? They're controlled by Dr. Doom as well.

It is announced that this is the last issue of Super-Villain Team-Up. With plotting and motivation like this, it's really no wonder. However, three more issues of this series will actually be published, on literally an annual basis. Issue #15 will be a reprint of Astonishing Tales #4-5, and then the next two issues, published in May 1979 and June 1980, feature a two-part team-up between the Red Skull and the Hate-Monger.

Quality Rating: D+

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Takes place concurrently with Uncanny X-Men #107-108. A footnote says that the FF is not available due to the events of Fantastic Four #155, but that has to be a mistake. FF #155 was printed two years earlier. I assume they meant #185, in which case they are currently searching for Franklin Richards, who has been abducted by Agatha Harkness and Salem's Seven. The MCP seems to ignore these references (placing this story after X-Men #108 for Captain America, for example), but i've at least kept the relevant issues nearby. This SVTU story continues directly in Champions #16. The Vision is up and around again, placing this after Avengers #166. Captain America says of Magneto, "From what I heard of his battle with the X-Men, Magneto's more powerful than ever...". Now, you might think that Cap wouldn't have to rely on second-hand knowledge about Magneto if the events of Captain America annual #4 took place before this issue, but Magneto was dispatched by the aliens in that issue so Cap may not have been able to really assess his power, and the X-Men are the real experts on Magneto anyway. The Marvel Chronology Project confirms that this issue takes place after the Cap annual.

References:

• When Magneto first arrives in Latveria, they are celebrating Doom's defeat of the Red Skull and Prince Rudolfo, who had conquered Latveria in Super-Villain Team-Up #10-12.
  
• Doom asks how Magneto managed to not still be a baby. He was turned into a baby in Defenders #16, and restored to adulthood in Uncanny X-Men #104.
  
• Magneto's ability to control minds "by regulating the flow of iron-laden blood to the brain" was seen in Avengers #111. Prior to that, Magneto has been shown to have mind control and astral projection in addition to and unrelated to his magnetic powers going as far back as Uncanny X-Men #6.
  
• The Fantastic Four is said to be out of town due to the events of Fantastic Four #185 (Possibly. See above.), and the X-Men are unavailable due to being in outer space as of Uncanny X-Men #107.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

"Captain America says of Magneto, "From what I heard of his battle with the X-Men, Magneto's more powerful than ever..."."

Aside from the question of when Cap Annual #4 takes place, when would the X-Men have had time to let anyone know of their battle? They came rushing back from Scotland, battled Eric the Red, battled Firelord and went right through the Stargate. Did they file a report to the Avengers while flying back from Scotland?

Actually, that's a kind of a cool idea. What if the Marvel super-heroes all had some sort of online database where they kept each other abreast of the current status of the various super-threats around the world (maybe created by the Illuminati)? I could see Cyclops taking the time, while in flight, to pull up the entry for "Magneto" and type in "No longer baby. Stronger than ever."

@Andrew: Ha ha ha ha ha!!! I can only imagine that happening. The X-Men don't even bother telling each other important information! How many months was it before the rest of the team found out that Wolverine's real name was Logan, his adamantium claws were a part of him, and that he was fluent in Japanese? I think on each occasion, when they wanted to know why he hadn't told them any of this, he replied with "You didn't ask." When the original X-Men formed X-Factor and posed as "mutant hunters" they couldn't be bothered to tell the current team what was actually going on! The examples are endless!

I never really thought about it, but probably the only reason why Cap and the rest of the Avengers know about Magneto's increased power levels is that the Beast is also a member of the X-Men. If he wasn't, I can only imagine that they would never have found out...

Captain America: Huh? Magneto's no longer a baby, and he's more powerful than ever? Why didn't you X-Men warn us about this?

Wolverine: Hey, bub, you never asked!

"What if the Marvel super-heroes all had some sort of online database where they kept each other abreast of the current status of the various super-threats around the world (maybe created by the Illuminati)?"

Thankfully, we do have that site. We're on it right now.:)

How come Magneto doesn't squeeze Doom's armor until the idiot suffocates? It would've taken a split second, but for the sake of this clueless story he forgot he was the Master of Magnetism!

How do we know Doom's armor is made of Metal? It is within the realm of possibility that he would have built an armor that couldn't be manipulated by Magneto.

It's got circuits, doesn't it? And Magneto can disrupt electricity. I'm pretty sure Dr. Doom's armor is made of metal; I remember reading its exact composition in a comic somewhere, it's really quite complex, and most of it is metal.

But Tony was able to protect his armor from Magneto in Avengers West Coast 56-57, so it's not much of a stretch that Doom could too.

Doctor Doom may be an arrogant and condescending jerk, but in the end he *is* a genius, one of the smartest people in existence. So if anyone could figure out a way to protect his armor from Magneto's powers it would be Doom.

@The Transparent Fox: I hope you are not suggesting that Magneto's power rivals Doctor Doom's, because... NO ONE RIVALS DOOM! NO ONE! :)

Here, here! Yay Doom!

@Ben Herman, I'm sorry to dash your hopes, because I kinda think of Magneto the way you (and I guess Chris Z) think about Doom! Except I wouldn't put it that way! "NO ONE RIVALS DOOM! NO ONE!" It's great, you nailed his act, lemme see if I can pull off a Magneto: "Delude yourself if you must, Herman, it makes no difference to me. Yours shall be the fate of all who underestimate the power...OF MAGNETO!"

But I can accept yours and Michael's argument that Doom may have found a way to protect his armor from Mags. I just wish it were acknowledged in the script, otherwise it just makes Magneto look stupid. Can't we just picture Doctor Doom, that quintessential arrogant and condescending jerk, gloating something along the lines of "Your feeble mutant abilities have no effect on me, my dear friend, for I am DOOM! I have found a way to circumvent your magnetic powers, for the genius of Doom is second to none!"