Marvel Team-Up #19

Writer: Robert Kirkman
Penciler: Cory Walker
Inker: Cliff Rathburn
Colorist: Bill Crabtree


In a prelude to the upcoming “Freedom Ring” storyline in Team-Up, the book jumps all the way back to the year 1991! Wolverine (in his old brown costume, complete with Jubilee hanger on) is on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D. attempting to steal a dangerous artifact from the deadly organization known as Hydra. At his hideaway in the future, Cable (the big shoulder pads Liefeld variety) learns that Wolverine is fated to die on his mission but since he’s important to the upcoming war with Apocalypse, Cable decides to intervene and save Wolverine’s life.

It’s no big secret that Robert Kirkman grew up on the comics of the nineties. The days when comics sold in the hundreds of thousands and sometimes millions. The days of big guns, big grimaces and bigger shoulder-pads. The days of the Image artists. So it’s no real surprise that in this issue of Marvel Team-Up, a book where he frequently utilizes characters not often seen since those halcyon days of old, Kirkman would choose to set the entire story in 1991.

Upon first reading this issue I was a little disappointed. It wasn’t nearly as good as some of the more recent issues of Team-Up. Then I flipped through it a second time and realized that it wasn’t Kirkman that had screwed up. It was I. Not only is this issue set solidly in 1991, when Cable was a fairly new character and leader of the polybag fresh, mint-condition X-Force, but Kirkman and crew have also managed to capture the style of comics at the time. Over-talkative villains who say a lot while saying nothing at the same time (hey, just like me), meaningless exposition, garish coloring and, of course, pointless double-page spreads that you have to turn the comic on its side to read. This issue of Marvel Team-Up has all of that and more. And the entire team pulls off the stunt extremely well, especially colorist Bill Crabtree, who perfectly recaptures the bright and gaudy colors of those old X-books.

It’s actually something of a history lesson, seeing how far storytelling and style in comics has come since the early 90’s. Boy, how they’ve changed. So if you have a hankerin’ for a comic with a good ol’ 90’s feel to it, featuring pointless pouches, punches and pondering then Marvel Team-Up #19 is the book for you. But if you hated the days of chromium, die-cut, variant covers, poly-bagged with exclusive trading cards and were glad to see them go the way of the dodo, don’t fret! There’s still some actual storytelling going on here, not to mention some beautiful artwork by Cory Walker. And don’t forget that this issue serves as a prelude to the next Team-Up storyline, “Freedom Ring”, which is set firmly in the present-day.

Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance preview books for review purposes.

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