Superman and Spider-Man were teaming up again, and this time they brought their friends along for the ride. In an over sized treasury edition carrying a hefty $2.50 price tag, the Man of Steel paired for the second time with Marvel's iconic web-slinger, after 1976's "Superman Vs the Amazing Spider-Man." The issue came together thanks to the script of writer Jim Shooter, a bit of plotting assistance by Marv Wolfman, the pencils of longtime Marvel luminary John Buscema, and a veritable fleet of inkers.
Reaching from Manhattan's dark corners to the bright city streets of Metropolis, this 64 page blockbuster also featured a painted cover by Bob Larkin over a design by John Romita Sr. When Fantastic Four arch foe and megalomaniacal super villain Doctor Doom embarked on his latest attempt at conquering the world, he unleashed the powerhouse known as the Incredible Hulk on the unsuspecting people of Metropolis. As Superman defeated the green goliath by destroying the insect-sized drone emitting an ultrasonic screech that had sent the Hulk into a frenzy in the first place, he failed to notice that the resultant destruction had freed his old foe, the energy-draining Parasite, from his underground cell.
Superman soon deduced that Doctor Doom had a hand in the Hulk's attack, and temporarily set up shop in New York in search of him, while Spider-Man, in the guise of Peter Parker ventured to Metropolis on assignment for his paper the Daily Bugle.
When Wonder Woman was tricked by Doctor Doom into believing that he and Spider-Man were working together, the Amazing Amazon battled Spider-Man. Doom then kidnapped Wonder Woman and Spider-Man found himself in the villain's underground lair after witnessing the attack. In order to free the Amazon Princess and a similarly captured Hulk, Spider-Man and Superman joined forces and thwarted Doctor Doom's attempt at setting into motion a planet-wide power outage.
Apart from its large-scale battles and the first clashes between Superman and the Hulk, and Spider-Man and Wonder Woman, this cross over is particularly notable for the inventive handling of Clark Kent and Peter Parker, and their lives as newsmen at opposite ends on the spectrum of success.
