The first page tells us not to focus on continuity. This is meant to be pure fun adventures and team ups. Will they be able to deliver?
The Good
Going back to 1943, it's an almost eerie feeling when Captain America and Bucky are sent after a man named Atticus Trask. The Germans are planning on hiding some sort of doomsday device into the ground that will awaken years later to cause destruction. The project is called "Contingency X."
If you caught it, you now the name Trask is synonymous with Sentinels. Sentinels during WWII? Things get really weird when they sneak up on Trask and he mentions using a "70s filter" and then Cable shows up. Yeah, time travel is involved.
Where does this story fit in? Did Cable really meet Captain America and Bucky back in the 1940s? Who really cares? Dan Slott writes a clever story that could actually fit into the normal timeline. Sure there should have been some mention or recognition the first time Cap met Cable in the modern times. Maybe it was left ambiguous and we never really realized it. It's a cool story with great art by Ron Garney. I've missed Ron drawing Cap.
The second story features Hulk and Wolverine by Jeph Loeb and Dale Keown. I have to admit, I actually laughed over the absurdity of Wolverine and Hulk fighting over a piece of cake. But before that can happen, future Hulk and future Wolverine show up to complicate things even further. Dale Keown's art is great and there actually is something to the ending that will make you perk up and wonder what it could mean.
The Bad
How important are these stories? As entertaining and fun as they may be, they are not essential. At least, it doesn't appear to be the case. The $3.99 price could be justified by the talent and characters involved. But we basically get 22 pages.
I was a little confused why Hulk would be hanging out in the Avengers Tower. He agreed to help out Captain America in AVENGERS VS X-MEN but I don't recall him officially joining the team. Perhaps another bit of continuity we just shouldn't worry about.
The Verdict
If you've enjoyed the classic MARVEL TEAM-UP stories and have wanted to see more, this is where we're going to find them. The idea here is to get fun stories and adventures without focusing on where the story actually fits into the overall continuity. With creators such as Dan Slott, Ron Garney, Jeph Loeb and Dale Keown, we get to see creators work on characters they don't normally get a chance to. Because these are more random stories, it could be questioned how important they may be to the characters and Marvel Universe, especially at $3.99. We'll have to wait and see if anything that occurs in these stories pops up in other titles in the future. These stories may not be absolutely crucial but if you're looking for some really fun stories with great art and you dig the characters involved, you will definitely want to check this out.