Super-Villain Team-Up #5

History

By the time issue #5 went on sale in January 1976 (cover-dated April), Steve Englehart was in the final months of his tumultuous tenure at Marvel before a falling-out with the company sent him to DC, where he would shortly produce a celebrated Detective Comics run — an irony made richer by the fact that he had already built the Shroud as his personal answer to the Dark Knight he hadn't yet been hired to write. Englehart scripted the main story ('…And Be a Villain!') with pencils by Herb Trimpe and inks by Don Perlin, while the cover was produced by Rich Buckler and Joe Sinnott. Marv Wolfman served as editor, and the issue continued directly from Marvel Spotlight #27, slotting into the bi-monthly publishing rhythm that characterized the series throughout most of its run.

Trivia · 9 facts

• First appearance of the Shroud (Maximillian Quincy Coleridge), created by writer Steve Englehart and penciller Herb Trimpe.
• Englehart publicly stated the Shroud was conceived as a mashup of DC's Batman and The Shadow — he wanted to write a dark-night vigilante and built his own Marvel version instead.
• The Shroud's powers center on Darkforce Dimension manipulation, granting him the ability to summon impenetrable darkness, combined with Cult of Kali martial-arts training and a radar-like extrasensory perception that replaced his blinded sight.
• Main story title: '…And Be a Villain!' — Doctor Doom disables Namor's protective suit and coerces Sub-Mariner's allegiance; the Fantastic Four (Reed Richards, Sue Richards, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm) appear as supporting characters attempting to counter Doom.
• The Shroud's debut scene involves him defeating the Human Torch in hand-to-hand combat on a rooftop near the Baxter Building, overpowering Johnny Storm with a kick and extinguishing his flame with an asbestos-lined cape.
• The issue also contains a shorter backup feature ('By Doom Betrayed!') with pencils by Rich Buckler and inks by Joe Sinnott, alongside flashback cameos by Medusa and Triton.
• Published bi-monthly on sale January 6, 1976; edited by Marv Wolfman; story continues from Marvel Spotlight #27.
• The issue has been reprinted three times: in the French anthology L'Inattendu #18 (1979), in Essential Super-Villain Team-Up #1 (November 2004, black and white), and in the omnibus Super-Villains Unite: The Complete Super-Villain Team-Up (2015).
• The issue includes a Series 'B' Marvel Value Stamp #67 (Spider-Man), a collector insert common to mid-1970s Marvel publications.

Full credits

Key issues in Super-Villain Team-Up

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#16 1st appearance — Rachel

Variants (1)