Monday, September 24, 2018

Marvel-ous Monday: "Beware the Basilisk My Son!" by Wein, Kane, and Mooney

Greetings, Groove-ophiles! We're gonna kick off this week with a rare teaming of Spider-Man and Captain Marvel (the male, cosmic one) from Marvel Team-Up #16 (September 1973). "Beware the Basilisk My Son!" introduces a new villain named (what else?) the Basilisk, and it has Spidey and Mar-Vell tracking down some powerful cosmic Kree jewels--no, not the Infinity Stones, believe it or not--but the Alpha and Omega Stones. Were they some kinda relation to the far more famous gems for which Thanos hankers so much? Evidently not, which is either a missed opportunity or a save from an even more convoluted back story. Anywho, it's interesting that Marvel's cosmic adventures are so tied into cosmic gems of some type or another, no? It's a fun, action-packed tale by Len Wein, Gil Kane, and Jim Mooney. It's also a set-up for a team-up with Mr. Fantastic and Spidey helping our Kree Captain from his predicament--with Mole Man tossed in for good measure. Mull that over for a month or so, baby, but until then, let's dig on today's titanic tale!
Cover art by John Romita Sr. and Frank Giacoia




















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3 comments:

  1. Dale HoustonSeptember 25, 2018 at 1:02 PM

    This must be one of the earliest Marvels I got. I don't remember the cover so it must have been coverless for a long time. Really fun issue filled with fun details, like Basil Elks somehow learning the word 'cretin'.

    I didn't get to read the concluding chapter until it was published in Essential Marvel Team-Up 30 or so years later.

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  2. B SmithSeptember 25, 2018 at 10:13 PM

    I'd say Kane and Mooney are as unusual a team as Spider-Man and Captain Marvel.

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    1. keythd23October 16, 2018 at 3:27 AM

      They were unusual but looked great together, something that couldn't always be said of those inked by Mooney's stiff brushwork. I like the early Marvel Team-Ups when they were fresh and not yet fallen into formulaic storylines. Len Wein scripting was a guarantor of quality.

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Special thanks to Mike's Amazing World of Comics and Grand Comics Database for being such fantastic resources for covers, dates, creator info, etc. Thou art treasures true!


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