File:Marvel Team-Up Vol 1 68 001.jpg

Description
It is night as Spider-Man approaches the glass tank containing the Man-Thing. The creature sees him and lunges, but because the Man-Thing is away from his swamp, he can barely stand up. Earlier that day, Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson went to the circus to give Peter a break from his studies. Both were surprised to see the Man-Thing on exhibit. Peter thought it quite unethical that the creature was caged up, so he found the circus owner, Amos Jardine, and questioned him. But Jardine treated "Peter Parker of the Daily Bugle" with contempt, and he said that since he captured the creature, he could do with him as he saw fit. Then four of Jardine's employees approached, and Jardine smugly ordered Peter and Mary Jane off the premises. It took some time for Peter to get away from Mary Jane and, as Spider-Man, to sneak back into the circus after closing time. As Spider-Man contemplates what to do, a security guard shines a flashlight at him. Spider-Man prepares to defend himself, but he soon discovers that the guard is one of his biggest fans. He asks how Jardine captured the Man-Thing, and the guard replies that it happened as the circus passed by Citrusville on its way back from its winter quarters in Florida. The Man-Thing, his grotesque body aflame, wandered onto the highway in front of the trucks and was easily taken. Then a special habitat was built for him. Spider-Man comments that although everyone thinks the Man-Thing is a wild creature, he actually seems sentient. In fact, he seems to be in pain. Then Spider-Man tears the Man-Thing's habitat off its mounting. But Jardine enters with two of his men and orders Spider-Man to put the cage down. When Spider-Man webs the men up, Jardine orders the "hippie twerp" guard to use his gun. But instead, the guard gags Jardine and quits the circus on the spot. Then Spider-Man carries the Man-Thing and the cage to the roof. He will need help, he thinks, if he is to aid the creature. The next afternoon, a Beech Baron private plane is en route over the Everglades toward Citrusville with Spider-Man and the Man-Thing aboard. The pilot, Nina, flies Curtis Connors to and from Florida in this plane, and it was Connors who arranged the charter as a favor to Spider-Man. Not only that, the bill for the flight is being paid by the New York Ecological History Museum, as authorized by Dane Gavin. But as Nina, Spider-Man, and the co-pilot converse, something strikes the plane's right engine and it explodes. It is all Nina can do to keep the plane level as it plummets toward the swamp. It crashes, but a web cocoon keeps Spider-Man, Nina, and the co-pilot safe. Spider-Man had no time to make a cocoon for the Man-Thing, but as the plane sinks into the swamp, the creature emerges from the water. Now that he is back in his natural habitat, his health is quickly restored. But Spider-Man can see that whatever had hurt the Man-Thing before the circus found him has not gone away, and as the creature strides away, Spider-Man says he must follow him. Nina tells Spider-Man to do what he must do. The Air Force undoubtedly heard their Mayday, she says, and she is sure that a helicopter will arrive for her and her co-pilot soon. So Spider-Man poles a web-raft into the swamp after the Man-Thing. After three hours, as darkness falls, they approach what looks like a shack in the middle of the swamp. Spider-Man sees an old man and a young girl tied up on the front porch. The girl excitedly tells the man, Dakimh, that the Man-Thing has returned with help. But suddenly a sinister, black-robed figure appears behind them and informs the girl, Jennifer Kale, that neither the Man-Thing nor his companion can withstand his power. Then he tells Spider-Man that he is called D'Spayre, and that if Spider-Man values his soul, he should flee. Spider-Man declares that he has never run from a fight in his life, but then the Man-Thing puts a hand on Spider-Man's shoulder to hold him back. Spider-Man does not know that the Man-Thing is actually biologist Ted Sallis, whose life force was accidentally merged with the substance of the Everglades. Because the swamp contains the nexus of several mystic dimensions, the Man-Thing perceives reality differently, and he can see the "shack" as it realty is—an obsidian tower rising a mile into the sky, radiating a malign aura of pure evil. The old man, Dakimh the Enchanter, and his disciple, Jennifer Kale, have battled D'Spayre for several weeks, but D'Spayre's tower has steadily drained their hope and their life. If they are not freed tonight, they will die. Despite the Man-Thing's warning, Spider-Man attacks the demon, nearly breaking his hand against D'Spayre's granite Jaw. Then the demon clamps a hand around Spider-Man's neck, and as he holds him aloft, Spider-Man begins to scream in terror. The empathic Man-Thing abhors fear above all other emotions, and, unable to tolerate the terror emanating from Spider-Man, he shambles toward the combatants. He tries to strike Spider-Man, but he stumbles and fortuitously hits D'Spayre instead. This knocks Spider-Man free, but D'Spayre then applies his power to the Man-Thing. Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch, and this time it is the human part of the Man-Thing himself that feels fear and ignites. As quickly as he can, the Man-Thing lumbers into the swamp to quench the flame. Laughing harshly, D'Spayre approaches the weeping and cowering Spider-Man. Dakimh tries to comfort the crimefighter, saying that the battle is not yet over. The sorcerer whispers that D'Spayre is Dakimh's evil counterpart, who captured Jennifer and himself and bound them to the tower. If they give in, their souls will be twisted to D'Spayre's service. Still cringing, Spider-Man asks Dakimh what he is talking about, and Dakimh replies simply that if D'Spayre is not stopped, he will kill them all. This Spider-Man understands, and with a tremendous effort of will, he grabs D'Spayre around the waist. As the two combatants splash into the swamp, Dakimh tells Jennifer that he fears Spider-Man's courage may not be enough. Realizing that her master is losing his will to resist D'Spayre's power, she too begins to fear, and D'Spayre's strength thereby incrementally increases. Having caught D'Spayre by surprise, Spider-Man lands some quick punches, but the mud slows him down, and the demon once more envelops him in an aura of terror. Spider-Man begs D'Spayre to stop, but the demon gloats that Spider-Man is helpless. But then the Man-Thing, attracted by Spider-Man's fear, this time heads for D'Spayre, whom he perceives as the source of the abhorrent emotion. D'Spayre again causes the Man-Thing to burst into flame, but Spider-Man pole-vaults into D'Spayre's face and, berserk with rage, pummels the demon mercilessly. He tore out Spider-Man's most private emotions and laughed, screams Spider-Man. How does it feel, he asks, to be on the receiving end for a change? Spider-Man's onslaught renders D'Spayre unconscious, and Dakimh and Jennifer have to calm Spider-Man down lest he actually kill the demon in his rage. As Spider-Man snaps out of it, he can see Dakimh and Jennifer in their mystic raiment now that D'Spayre's spell is broken. Dakimh then tells Jennifer to link her power with his, and a tremendous burst of energy reduces the mile-high tower to crystalline shards that fall into the swamp. Spider-Man weaves a web-umbrella to protect them all from the glassine rain. With the tower shattered, D'Spayre's power is at least temporarily destroyed, and, their work done, Dakimh and Jennifer start to fade away. Spider-Man asks for an explanation, but they simply tell him to think of it as a dream, and to remember that he has their gratitude. Perhaps, says Spider-Man to the Man-Thing, it was all a dream—a hallucination induced by hours of slogging through the swamp.