"Before the Awesome Power of the Dark Rider!"

Marvel Team-Up 43 (March 1976)
"A Past Gone Mad!"
Bill Mantlo-Sal Buscema/Mike Esposito

Doug: Face Front, Marvelites -- it's the penultimate chapter to our little tour through Salem, Mass., circa 1692. When we left off, Doom had arrived on the scene in all his pomposity to face the Dark Rider. Mather falls apart, claiming allegiance to this new "angel of light". While the Dark Rider offers Mather to Doom, Doom backhands ol' Cotton, sending him reeling back toward Spidey and the Vision. It's obvious a face-off is coming!

Karen: I thought it was quite some hyperbole for Doom to say to the Rider that "It was your power that drew me here...power such as even Doom has never known!" considering that Doom had once stolen the power cosmic of the Silver Surfer! But I love the way Sal drew that backhand -whoosh!!

Doug: The Dark Rider reveals that his only interest in Doom and the others of his time is their knowledge of magic. As Spidey and the Vision now move in, the Rider unleashes a cat that had been perched on his shoulder. The cat, like the raven in the previous issue, begins to grow, posing a formidible opponent for our heroes. This scene is a nice two-page spread, where the Rider tells Doom his own origin -- it's a nice recap of the origin tale from way back in FF Annual #2.

Karen: A giant cat. Spidey and the Vision have fought aliens, robots, monsters....yet they are in trouble facing a giant kitty cat. Oh please.

Doug: The bad kitty gets whacked, but by whom? Ah, yes -- the Scarlet Witch has arrived, weakened as she is from her ordeals of the past two issues. Apparently the jig is up (or something), because all of a sudden the Dark Rider flips off his lid, revealing a quite curious look. First off, he sports a Mohawk hair-do. Next, he has shriveled lips like he doesn't have his dentures in, yet has teeth that have been filed to a point (think Dee Snider of Twisted Sister). Lastly, he grows. Really big, he grows.

Karen: This guy reminds me of Necrodamus from Defenders #1, also drawn by Sal.

Doug: Scripter Bill Mantlo cuts us away to a courtroom in Salem, as John Proctor meets his fate. Two pages are devoted to more of the Witch Trials, with the young girls frothing at the mouth and proclaiming "They be witches!" and stuff like that. Even the judge is called out.

Karen: The court room scene, as well as the Salem history lesson in the previous issue, seem over-long. Not all of us are fascinated by this particular point in history the way Mantlo seemed to be!

Doug: Back to the battle, Doom utters one of the greatest lines of his career: "Back! Back, you damnable leech!" Awesome. That is something the Doc would say. Great characterization by Mantlo.

Karen: Yes, Doom constantly referring to himself in the third person was a fitting tribute to his ego.

Doug: During all of this, Wanda is for the most part useless. Spidey and the Vision, as well as Doom, are out-classed. The issue ends with a triumphant, gigantic Dark Rider holding the defeated Doom in his hand as Kong once held Fay Wray. But be optimistic, O Keeper of the Flame -- this yarn's "To Be Continued"!