“Mayhem is the Man-Fish.” Classic.
Namor was such a major player in the early 1970s. He turned up everywhere! I’m not a huge fan of the character to begin with, but having him be the victim of a mugging is just bizarre.
That’s how this tale begins. Spider-Man is on patrol and stops a mugging–but it turns out to be Sub-Mariner, who doesn’t need Spider-Man’s help.
Then they fight, of course.
Storywise, Namor is in town because Tiger Shark and Dr. Dorcas are creating a race of Men-Fish (that’s really what they’re called).
They team up and stop them but first…
…Spider-Man gets stuck in a tube.
I know I have a tag (below) showing the ridiculous number of times tubes are used to imprison characters, but maybe this time it makes sense. Dorcas uses the tubes to create creatures–and you’d want to be able to monitor the creation process from all angles in real time. And when he needs to hold Spidey, he just sticks him in an extra tube. So he didn’t design a prison where the captives couldn’t be fed, sleep, or take a dump. He just had the tube lying around.
Also, Web waterskis.
Mr. Ekko gives this comic a “C”, which is pretty conservative, considering that this issue delivers on every score. A literate script, a believable conflict, awesome Gil Kane artwork. I do not believe that Len Wein ever wrote a script that was lower than a “B” in quality. He wasn’t big on sub-plots, and I hate sub-plots. I can still recall on purchasing this issue wondering where the Sub-Mariner’s dynamic new costume was at. I knew he was supposed to have it on by that point, and feeling irritated because he managed to get through the entire “Avengers/Defenders War” without it, ( a footnote was included in ‘Defenders’#11 as to why he still wasn’t rocking it, yet ) but by the time of ‘Marvel Team-Up’#14, he should have had that damn costume on!! Apparently, the issue was commissioned and drawn before the storyarc of the final six issues of the ‘Savage Sub-Mariner’ series, so Namor is conspicuously cruising the Big Apple without it. By Namor’s next visit to Fun City in ‘Marvel Two-In-One’#2, he will be totally decked out in it, and looking right! Between the suit, beautiful Namorita in her gold bikini rendered ( once again ) by the awesome Gil Kane, a stellar Steve Gerber script, and a cameo appearance by the Human Torch, ‘Marvel Two-In-One ‘ #2 was an absolutely flawless Marvel Comic!! That issue gets an “A”, and ‘Marvel Team-Up’#14 ( “Mayhem is ….the Men-Fish!!” ) gets a respectable “B”!! So there!!!