Title:
#5 Marvel Team-Up
Synopsis:
1st frog man the story opens to the exterior of the Baxter Building. A smiling Human Torch flies around the building and performs other aerial maneuvers. He is feeling ”antsy” and just trying to let off steam. He suddenly notices a crowd of New Yorkers cheering him on and waving at him. He contemplates that ”after all these years”, New York City is still in awe of the Fantastic Four. The Torch feels proud, because he and his team have repeatedly risked their own lives to save these people from the likes of Doctor Doom and Galactus.
The Torch then starts feeling nostalgic about the early days of the Fantastic Four. They were at the time a new and unknown commodity, still uncertain about themselves and their powers. But they had a bright-eyed innocence, which in his opinion has since been lost. His thoughts are interrupted by angry cries. A gang consisting of four armed men has just robbed a liquor store, and the store’s owner is calling for someone to stop their escape. The Torch decides to intervene.
The Torch chases the gang and is about to talk them into surrendering when he hears someone else issuing a warning to them. He turns and sees Spider-Man standing near him and talking to the gang. The gang members feel quite intimidated after noticing two super-humans threatening them. The Torch turns off his powers and protests that he had the situation under his control. Spider-Man mocks him for being only interested in hot rods and girl-chasing. The two heroes start exchanging insults and seem to pay no attention to the gang members.
The gang members take advantage of the arguing to escape and split into two groups. The Torch goes after one of the groups and berates them for underestimating the two heroes. He melts the handgun of one of the crooks and arrests both of them. He lifts them both up and flies away with them. Rocky, the red-haired crook, jokes that their mistake was getting out of bed that day.
The other two gang members have climbed to the top of a building and try using a door to enter the building itself. They find Spider-Man waiting for them behind the door, and try to run away from him. He points out that he had predicted their every move. The blind running of the crooks leads them to a well-placed net of webbing that Spidey had set as a trap for them. They are trapped and helpless. Spidey lifts them both up and delivers them to the police, who have already taken custody of the Torch’s prisoners.
Spider-Man attempts to personally deliver the stolen money to the owner of the liquor store. His spider-sense suddenly alerts him to danger, and someone running at super-speed snatches the money from Spidey. The thief reintroduces himself as Speed Demon. The Demon knows that Spidey’s spider-sense warned him about his attack. But claims that warnings are not enough to stop someone with his speed. While running circles around Spider-Man & the Human Torch, the Speed Demon claims that the money he stole means nothing 2 him. He just wanted 2 inform his old foe Spider-Man that he is back in business. The Demon then runs off into the distance, laughing. The heroes are too slow to react.
Spider-Man’s quite surprised that Speed Demon is back on the streets since he had personally captured the villain only a few weeks ago. A police officer suggests that Speed Demon escaped from prison, and claims that it is ”mighty hard” to hold onto a villain like this. Human Torch counter-claims that it should be easy for someone with his own experience and powers. He activates his flames and flies away after the Speed Demon, assuring Spidey that he will single-handedly capture the villain. Spider-Man is ticked off at the Torch’s arrogance. He uses his webs to follow the Torch. The police officer tries to stop him, pointing that the Torch can handle the situation alone. Spider-Man replies that the Torch can not even handle his own ego.
The gathered crowd of New Yorkers watches the heroes leave, & some of them are smiling. But among the crowd is former super-villain Vincent Patilio and his young son Eugene. Vincent is angry at those show-off superheroes, who in his view have no respect for the little guy. He starts loudly ranting about his hatred of all the costumed characters. The crowd is staring at him, while an anxious Eugene tries to calm down his father. The boy manages to pull his father away from the crowd, leading him towards their home. Belker, a young police officer, points to his colleague Francis that Vincent looks like trouble to him and suggests stopping him for questioning. The older and more experienced Francis replies that they can not stop every nut who looks like trouble.
Eugene & Vincent r now calmly walking towards their home. Eugene berates his father for publicly embarrassing him like that, claiming that he could have crawled into a hole and died to escape the crowd’s scrutiny. Vincent apologizes but explains that he gets crazy whenever he sees these so-called superheroes. They remind him of his own humiliating past. Eugene reminds his father of Vincent’s own advice to him. That he should let go of the past and keep his eyes on the future. Vincent accuses himself of making a total mess of his own life and that of his son. He suggests that his wife is better off dead, because she is unable to witness his failures.
Vincent is soon lost in his own memories and a flashback begins. The flashback begins with Vincent as a ”small-time loser”. He had some skills as an inventor and dreamed of making it big. But all his inventions were failures and never got past the patent office. Then he designed power-pack driven, leaping coils. They were his most successful invention, but he did not even bother with getting a patent for them. He designed a costume for himself and started a life of crime as the Leap-Frog. But his super-villain career ended when he was defeated by Daredevil. The flashback ends.
Vincent is still lost in his memories. He served his time in prison and was eventually released. He then returned to his wife Rosie and young son Eugene. Rosie Patilio was the breadwinner in the family and her salary had kept them afloat financially. But then Rosie died because of her cancer. In need of financially supporting his family, Vincent got a job. He sold inferior merchandise on the East Side of Manhattan. The earnings were barely enough to pay the rent for their home. He could not afford anything else. His teenage son Eugene is still in school, but had to get his own job to help support the family. Eugene works his tail off after school and has less time for studying. Vincent worries that his son is living an inferior life and that he can not help him.
As Vincent struggles with his feelings of despair, Eugene tries to comfort him and tells him that they will make it through their troubles. Vincent turns around and slaps Eugene for saying that. Realizing that he has just abused his son, Vincent is in tears. He apologizes and explains that he did not mean to do it. He claims that he is haunted by the Leap-Frog, the cause of everything wrong in his life. Vincent decides to go rest and instructs Eugene to prepare his own meal.
With his father leaving, Eugene stands alone. His attention turns to an open hall closet. He starts quietly searching through the closet, careful to not be overheard by his father. Under years of junk, Eugene finds what he was searching for: a version of the Leap-Frog’s Suit. Eugene takes the suit to his own bedroom, then starts wearing it. He believes that there is only one way for his father to stop being haunted by the ghost of Leap-Frog. And this way is for someone else to take over the identity and use it as a powerful symbol for good. He feels this mission belongs to him. Wearing the costume, Eugene becomes a new Leap-Frog and declares that there is a new superhero in town.
Eugene leaps out of his bedroom’s window and into the street. He warns crowds of New Yorkers to move out of his way. As he clumsily leaps along, Eugene has trouble actually avoiding collisions with pedestrians. People see him as a maniac who is close to trampling them. The constant leaping causes Eugene to feel stomach-sick. He contemplates that he has practiced using the flippers of the suit before, though he still seems inexperienced. He decides to tackle the Speed Demon, feeling that a victory over a super-villain would let everybody know about the new Leap-Frog.
The scene moves to Human Torch and Spider-Man, who are arguing again. The Torch insists that he can handle Speed Demon on his own. Spidey insists that the Demon is both tough and fast, making him a dangerous opponent. The Torch ignores the warning. In his view, Spidey has had trouble with the Speed Demon, but the super-villain would be an easier opponent for the Human Torch. The spider-sense suddenly warns of danger. Spidey leaps to safety and tries to warn the Torch. The Torch is soon caught in what seems like a whirlwind. His flames are snuffed out and he falls from the sky. The whirlwind effect was caused by a running Speed Demon, as an attack. The Demon points that Spider-Man’s warning came too late to be effective. He appreciates, however, that Spidey is aware of the danger the Demon poses it and tried to explain it to that ”numbskull” (the Human Torch). The Demon starts running in circles around a grounded and dazed Human Torch.
The Torch soon recovers and activates his flames. He uses rings of fire to attack the Speed Demon. The Demon effortlessly moves through the fire without being singed. He is too fast for the Torch’s attack to have any effect. The Demon then counter-attacks and gets the upper hand in the fight. Spidey, previously a spectator, decides to intervene in the fight. He unleashes web fluid towards the Speed Demon. The Demon easily evades the attack, and the web fluid strikes an innocent pedestrian. The Demon taunts Spider-Man for being a klutz. He feels that his previous defeat by Spider-Man was only a lucky break for
The Torch then starts feeling nostalgic about the early days of the Fantastic Four. They were at the time a new and unknown commodity, still uncertain about themselves and their powers. But they had a bright-eyed innocence, which in his opinion has since been lost. His thoughts are interrupted by angry cries. A gang consisting of four armed men has just robbed a liquor store, and the store’s owner is calling for someone to stop their escape. The Torch decides to intervene.
The Torch chases the gang and is about to talk them into surrendering when he hears someone else issuing a warning to them. He turns and sees Spider-Man standing near him and talking to the gang. The gang members feel quite intimidated after noticing two super-humans threatening them. The Torch turns off his powers and protests that he had the situation under his control. Spider-Man mocks him for being only interested in hot rods and girl-chasing. The two heroes start exchanging insults and seem to pay no attention to the gang members.
The gang members take advantage of the arguing to escape and split into two groups. The Torch goes after one of the groups and berates them for underestimating the two heroes. He melts the handgun of one of the crooks and arrests both of them. He lifts them both up and flies away with them. Rocky, the red-haired crook, jokes that their mistake was getting out of bed that day.
The other two gang members have climbed to the top of a building and try using a door to enter the building itself. They find Spider-Man waiting for them behind the door, and try to run away from him. He points out that he had predicted their every move. The blind running of the crooks leads them to a well-placed net of webbing that Spidey had set as a trap for them. They are trapped and helpless. Spidey lifts them both up and delivers them to the police, who have already taken custody of the Torch’s prisoners.
Spider-Man attempts to personally deliver the stolen money to the owner of the liquor store. His spider-sense suddenly alerts him to danger, and someone running at super-speed snatches the money from Spidey. The thief reintroduces himself as Speed Demon. The Demon knows that Spidey’s spider-sense warned him about his attack. But claims that warnings are not enough to stop someone with his speed. While running circles around Spider-Man & the Human Torch, the Speed Demon claims that the money he stole means nothing 2 him. He just wanted 2 inform his old foe Spider-Man that he is back in business. The Demon then runs off into the distance, laughing. The heroes are too slow to react.
Spider-Man’s quite surprised that Speed Demon is back on the streets since he had personally captured the villain only a few weeks ago. A police officer suggests that Speed Demon escaped from prison, and claims that it is ”mighty hard” to hold onto a villain like this. Human Torch counter-claims that it should be easy for someone with his own experience and powers. He activates his flames and flies away after the Speed Demon, assuring Spidey that he will single-handedly capture the villain. Spider-Man is ticked off at the Torch’s arrogance. He uses his webs to follow the Torch. The police officer tries to stop him, pointing that the Torch can handle the situation alone. Spider-Man replies that the Torch can not even handle his own ego.
The gathered crowd of New Yorkers watches the heroes leave, & some of them are smiling. But among the crowd is former super-villain Vincent Patilio and his young son Eugene. Vincent is angry at those show-off superheroes, who in his view have no respect for the little guy. He starts loudly ranting about his hatred of all the costumed characters. The crowd is staring at him, while an anxious Eugene tries to calm down his father. The boy manages to pull his father away from the crowd, leading him towards their home. Belker, a young police officer, points to his colleague Francis that Vincent looks like trouble to him and suggests stopping him for questioning. The older and more experienced Francis replies that they can not stop every nut who looks like trouble.
Eugene & Vincent r now calmly walking towards their home. Eugene berates his father for publicly embarrassing him like that, claiming that he could have crawled into a hole and died to escape the crowd’s scrutiny. Vincent apologizes but explains that he gets crazy whenever he sees these so-called superheroes. They remind him of his own humiliating past. Eugene reminds his father of Vincent’s own advice to him. That he should let go of the past and keep his eyes on the future. Vincent accuses himself of making a total mess of his own life and that of his son. He suggests that his wife is better off dead, because she is unable to witness his failures.
Vincent is soon lost in his own memories and a flashback begins. The flashback begins with Vincent as a ”small-time loser”. He had some skills as an inventor and dreamed of making it big. But all his inventions were failures and never got past the patent office. Then he designed power-pack driven, leaping coils. They were his most successful invention, but he did not even bother with getting a patent for them. He designed a costume for himself and started a life of crime as the Leap-Frog. But his super-villain career ended when he was defeated by Daredevil. The flashback ends.
Vincent is still lost in his memories. He served his time in prison and was eventually released. He then returned to his wife Rosie and young son Eugene. Rosie Patilio was the breadwinner in the family and her salary had kept them afloat financially. But then Rosie died because of her cancer. In need of financially supporting his family, Vincent got a job. He sold inferior merchandise on the East Side of Manhattan. The earnings were barely enough to pay the rent for their home. He could not afford anything else. His teenage son Eugene is still in school, but had to get his own job to help support the family. Eugene works his tail off after school and has less time for studying. Vincent worries that his son is living an inferior life and that he can not help him.
As Vincent struggles with his feelings of despair, Eugene tries to comfort him and tells him that they will make it through their troubles. Vincent turns around and slaps Eugene for saying that. Realizing that he has just abused his son, Vincent is in tears. He apologizes and explains that he did not mean to do it. He claims that he is haunted by the Leap-Frog, the cause of everything wrong in his life. Vincent decides to go rest and instructs Eugene to prepare his own meal.
With his father leaving, Eugene stands alone. His attention turns to an open hall closet. He starts quietly searching through the closet, careful to not be overheard by his father. Under years of junk, Eugene finds what he was searching for: a version of the Leap-Frog’s Suit. Eugene takes the suit to his own bedroom, then starts wearing it. He believes that there is only one way for his father to stop being haunted by the ghost of Leap-Frog. And this way is for someone else to take over the identity and use it as a powerful symbol for good. He feels this mission belongs to him. Wearing the costume, Eugene becomes a new Leap-Frog and declares that there is a new superhero in town.
Eugene leaps out of his bedroom’s window and into the street. He warns crowds of New Yorkers to move out of his way. As he clumsily leaps along, Eugene has trouble actually avoiding collisions with pedestrians. People see him as a maniac who is close to trampling them. The constant leaping causes Eugene to feel stomach-sick. He contemplates that he has practiced using the flippers of the suit before, though he still seems inexperienced. He decides to tackle the Speed Demon, feeling that a victory over a super-villain would let everybody know about the new Leap-Frog.
The scene moves to Human Torch and Spider-Man, who are arguing again. The Torch insists that he can handle Speed Demon on his own. Spidey insists that the Demon is both tough and fast, making him a dangerous opponent. The Torch ignores the warning. In his view, Spidey has had trouble with the Speed Demon, but the super-villain would be an easier opponent for the Human Torch. The spider-sense suddenly warns of danger. Spidey leaps to safety and tries to warn the Torch. The Torch is soon caught in what seems like a whirlwind. His flames are snuffed out and he falls from the sky. The whirlwind effect was caused by a running Speed Demon, as an attack. The Demon points that Spider-Man’s warning came too late to be effective. He appreciates, however, that Spidey is aware of the danger the Demon poses it and tried to explain it to that ”numbskull” (the Human Torch). The Demon starts running in circles around a grounded and dazed Human Torch.
The Torch soon recovers and activates his flames. He uses rings of fire to attack the Speed Demon. The Demon effortlessly moves through the fire without being singed. He is too fast for the Torch’s attack to have any effect. The Demon then counter-attacks and gets the upper hand in the fight. Spidey, previously a spectator, decides to intervene in the fight. He unleashes web fluid towards the Speed Demon. The Demon easily evades the attack, and the web fluid strikes an innocent pedestrian. The Demon taunts Spider-Man for being a klutz. He feels that his previous defeat by Spider-Man was only a lucky break for
Cover Date:
Sep 1982
Publisher:
Marvel Comics Group
Issue Number:
121
Year:
1982
Variant Number:
1st Frog-Man
Printing:
1
Country:
United States
Cover Price:
$0.60
Era:
Copper Age
Genre:
Superhero
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Language:
English
Type of Comic:
Magazine
Characters:
The Human Torch (Johnny Storm)
Spider- Man
The Frogman
The Speed Demon
Show More
Date Added:
2018-07-02 22:54:19
Series:
Vol 1
Story Arc:
Look Before You Leap!
Automatic Estimated Value:
~$1.99
Automatic Estimated Date:
2026-03-27
Date Added:
2018-07-02 22:54:19
