Marvel Team-Up #49 picks up with part two of this great four-part Wraith/Jean DeWolff storyline. Last issue introduced a mystery for Spider-Man and Iron Man. A mysterious assailant recently bombed a local bank, the home of a New York slumlord and a Stark International fuel depot. The heroes set out to solve the crime, aided by newly introduced Police Captain Jean DeWolff. The best clues they have are some letters from the bomber written on official police stationary. The bomber attacks Captain DeWolff's office. Iron Man stops the bomb, but his armor is knocked out of commission. Meanwhile, Spider-Man is attacked by the bomber, who turns out to be a powerful masked man known as the Wraith. Marvel Team-Up #48 ends with the Wraith dangling a helpless Spidey off the roof of a building.

And that's where this issue begins. "How am I going to get away from him -- much less stop him?" Spider-Man thinks. And the Wraith reads his mind! "Those are questions you will carry with you to your grave, Wall-Crawler," he says. We then learn that the nature of the Wraith's powers are psychic, not physical. Spider-Man becomes convinced that he is falling to the street. Artist Sal Buscema does a great job illustrating this nightmarish sequence. The Wraith then uses his mental powers to control Jean DeWolff's mind and force her to shoot at Spider-Man. Interestingly, the Wraith can only control one mind at a time, meaning Spider-Man is able to break free when the Wraith uses his powers on Jean. Meanwhile, Iron Man struggles to regain consciousness. A kindly cab driver helps the Golden Avenger to his feet and Iron Man joins the battle against the Wraith. However, the villain disappears, apparently through teleportation, but more likely by clouding the minds of the heroes and slipping away.

After the battle, Jean's father, the former police commissioner Phillip DeWolff, stops by to visit his daughter - and rub in the fact she hasn't been able to catch the bomber. The two have a strained relationship, as Phillip DeWolff believes the police precinct is no place for a woman and also feels Jean has the job that rightfully should've gone to her brother, Brian. However, as Jean reveals, Brian died two years ago, apparently killed in a shootout with some criminals, although his body never was recovered. She also says there was never any rivalry between them, as Brian supported her police career. Phillip DeWolff hands his daughter a note, which he says was delivered to his home that morning. The handwriting is Brian DeWolff's and it says, "Dad, tell Jean I want the job that should've been mine!" And it's signed "The Wraith." "Either we're fighting a ghost," Iron Man says. "Or somebody's got a weird sense of humor!" But if they are fighting a ghost, Spidey and Iron Man figure they need to get some help from a professional - a man called Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts!

Last issue set up the mystery and introduced the players. This issue gives us plenty of action (the fight scenes take up most of the issue), along with a few more storyline developments. But the main questions still are unanswered: Who is the Wraith? What is his agenda? And how does Jean DeWolff's dead brother fit into the picture? Those answers - at least most of them - will come in the next installment. This four-part storyline has a nice pace, as the story builds and unfolds, but leaves you wanting more. It's a definite step up from most Marvel Team-Up stories.

Next month: The Wraith/Jean DeWolff storyline continues in the 50th issue of Marvel Team-Up and Doctor Strange joins the battle!

Reviewed by Bruce Buchanan.