The super-hero team-up has been around so long that it's something of a cliche. DC had the first team-ups, probably beginning with the first appearance of the Justice Society of America (there may have been earlier team-ups - but they're all before my time anyway).
It was at Marvel during the Silver Age that the team-up reached its peak. The running joke at Marvel was: two heroes meet, fight because of a misunderstanding, agree to team up and then take out the bad guy.
It was such a successful formula, the company eventually created titles such as Marvel Team-Up and Marvel Two-In-One to get the maximum mileage out of the idea. (Again, DC was way ahead of Marvel with titles like The Brave and the Bold and World's Finest - but we're talking Marvel in this entry.)
It's a tradition that continues (to varying degrees of success) to this very day. The latest example is the new issue of The Invincible Iron Man, wherein Tony Stark teams up with Spider-Man (thus bringing together the stars of Marvel's most successful movies).
It's an interesting mix of serious fare, as Tony tries to deal with the widespread damage inflicted on Stark Industries, and light-hearted romp, as Spider-Man teams up with Iron Man despite Tony's repeated efforts to run off the web-spinner.
Writer Matt Fraction puts together a solid story here, mixing just enough of each character and giving the book a humorous slant to counter some of the more serious undertones. It's a nice break from the serious stories that have been running in Iron Man's comic up to now.
The art by Salvador Larroca is very good, with strong figures and excellent color work by Frank D'Armata. A couple of panels are a little hard to follow, but that's a minor quibble - most of the book is outstanding.
The story doesn't really address Peter Parker's "lost years" - they were altered / retconned by the hated "One Day More" storyline - but apparently Peter did work for Tony for a while, although we don't know why they went their separate ways.
Still, the story is fun, with a poignant twist along the way. As team-ups go, it's a good one, even if they forgot to include a big fight between Iron Man and Spider-Man.
Grade: B+
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