Superior Foes of Spider-Man #8 – Review

by Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: As Fred’s problems get bigger, the rest of the Sinister Six begins to understand that their boss might be an absolute crook.

The Review: It’s always fun to see a title that should not work actually managing to do just so. To see a book with a concept that could fail or with characters that aren’t popular enough see success, be it critical or commercial, is something to look forward to. It encourages diversity and it means that some of the less-appreciated stereotypes aren’t always true, as readers can be open to diversity when dealing with capes comics. X-Men Legacy, Hawkeye and, of course, Superior Foes of Spider-Man each does things differently and they are all very good.

However, doing things differently isn’t always a proof of innovation and a certain path to quality, as not every writers can handle everything in the same way. Nick Spencer, for all his worth, can stumble here and there, with even the best of his series getting in a funk once in a while. Is this issue, in a way, the fall in terms of quality for this series?

It would be rather harsh to say that this issue is bad, as it stands far from this approximation in terms of quality, yet it unfortunately isn’t as strong or as funny as previous ones. While this does mean in any way that this is a bad issue, there are certain flaws that makes this issue far less enjoyable.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man #7 – Review

by Nick Spencer (Writer), Rich Ellis (Artist), Lee Loughridge (Colorist)

The Story: How does one become a super villain? Beetle sure seems to know the answer as we see her secret origin.

The Review: In ensemble books, there will always be characters delegated to the background, some that will receive less spotlight than others. It’s something that is fairly common, with books like Hickman’s Avengers and even some issues of Morrison’s JLA run being culprits when it comes to putting a certain focus on certain characters over others. Writers can usually overcome this by either pushing forth with some stories or a single issues featuring them heavily, to balance things out for readers who might start to question the reason behind the inclusion of one of the cast members.

In this month’s issue, Nick Spencer does this by putting the spotlight on the new Beetle, who had been some kind of mystery in the issue of Superior Spider-Man in which she was first introduced. Mostly there to add some tension and to provide humor, we didn’t know much about her, as she shared the same fate as Overdrive in mostly being there without being particularly active, with being reactive being mostly the case as far as character work goes. She wasn’t absent so much as merely there most of the time.

This issue changes this sad status, however, as the rather big reveal of the last issue is not only fleshed out, but it also acts as a character piece revealing just how Beetle grew up to become a member of the Sinister Six. This is told via the relationship between father and daughter, as a very different Tombstone is shown here, presented as a loving and rather doting paternal figure instead of a relentless mob boss. The way both Janice and Tombstone interacts is rather fascinating, with the certain cruelty he is known for mixing with his attitude toward someone he genuinely cares about. It is both funny and rather cute to read at the same time.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man #6 – Review

by Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: Boomerang goes on a date and in more trouble as the other Sinister Six are the captive of the Owl.

The Review: Identity is something impossibly important for a book. In a market where there is a severe load of stories in similar settings, a title needs a hook, a style or something else in order to differentiate itself. There are plenty of zombie, super hero and post apocalyptic stories, yet there is a huge difference between title like Hawkeye and Swamp Thing, like there are differences between Sheltered and Wasteland. Some people may like a specific genre, yet there must be something different between each titles or else the interest of readers would soon become naught. Thankfully, some titles goes out of their way to be different, which may work or not depending on the angle.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man is a title that simply works very well, as its identity, style and angle of presentation are close to unique, with a specific insight on one side of the meta-human equation that doesn’t always get presented as much as it should. However, how does the adventures of a bunch of super hero losers tend to work so well in terms of entertainment?

Superior Foes of Spider-Man #5 – Review

by Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: After a few twists and turns, the Sinister Six are finally ready to go ahead and retrieve the head of Silvermane. How can things go right?

The Review: I’ll call it, this issue is Nick Spencer now hitting his stride with this series. Previous issues have been rather fun, some of them great, yet there were always one or two things that was in the way for this title to be the true force of laughter and foolhardiness that it could very well be. There were always a lack of focus on other characters, or one small aspect that kept getting in the way of its potential.

With this issue focusing on the heist, not only is Nick Spencer able to put on display all of his characters, but he is also showcasing all of the title strengths all the while. The humor, the crazy way the Marvel universe’s underworld function, how it is to live as a low-rent super-villain as well as the dysfunctional Sinister Six.

One of the stronger aspect, of course, is the humor as it uses the incompetence of the protagonists as well as the juxtaposition of credible elements with the more surreal ones to inject some ludicrous moments in the story. The fact that the Owl, a psychopathic man who eats rats, seems to love his Prius for some reason, or how the arrogance of Boomerang actually does him a disservice more than anything are only some of the aspects that adds hilarity to the whole that is this issue. The mix between absurd details along with a certain addition of common sense makes a lot of the moments here rather memorable, to say the least.

The way Spencer also use the narration and the perspective of Boomerang adds another level to this issue, making some elements not quite as they seem firsthand. It adds a note of unreliability to the character and to the issue that really add to the theme of scumbags and criminals that this series is good at portraying. The way he never seems to work well around his crew by either belittling their abilities or mistrusting them is solid gold.

Superior Foes Of Spider-Man #4 – Review

by Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: The Sinister Six gets in even more trouble as Boomerang manipulate the others and himself into bigger problems.

The Review: There are times in everyone’s life when we screw up. We might try to make the situation better, only for it to be even worse. It’s a fact of life that can happen in every situations: employment, love, money, friendship and so on. It’s never pleasant when it happens, whether it’s our own person or our friends.

Where it’s fun, though, is when it happens to the characters of Superior Foes of Spider-Man, as the misery and the constant struggles for success of these low-tier super-villains manages to reverse the trend. With their problems being our entertainment, Spencer understand that while they certainly aren’t heroes by any mean, it doesn’t mean that we can’t get attached to them. Written as some kind of hyper-dysfunctional family, the Sinister Six works in a way that allow for their vile nature to not only be very fun to read, but readers may find themselves anticipating what kind of figurative backstabbing will happen next.

With the collective misery of those characters being the main source of comedy for the series, potent examples of success need to be shown in order to draw a comparison, which makes the scenes with Luke Cage and Iron Fist particularly great. Even when they are getting beat down and they try to fight back, their very nature are being sent to the forefront to the readers amusement and to see exactly who they are, like when Overdrive has a fan moment with Luke Cage or when Shocker really do try his very best at fighting back. Not every writers are able to really mix humor, plot progression and character defining moments so naturally in their story, yet Spencer truly does in quite a few ways.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man #3 – Review

Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: Boomerang has to deal with Mach VII trying to reform him as he tries to make sure the job he is about to pull can get done.

The Review: We all love the big noble characters. Those that go on saving lives, fighting evil and trying to be decent people altogether. Thos beams of optimism might not be our favourite characters, yet there is something absolutely endearing about those optimistic do-gooders that can warm the heart of a lot of people and bring in readers.

However, this is not a series about them, as Superior Foes of Spider-Man instead deals with the scumbags, those that are traitorous, egoistical and just plain unsavoury. The characters here cannot really achieve redemption and don’t want to even grasp the concept for themselves as they manipulate, cheat and besmirch each other. It is, without a doubt, inncredibly fun to read as the tale of Boomerang, the villain who bites off more than he can chew, continue trying to manipulate the failures of his life into victories.

Nick Spencer gives us an insight into how the small-time crooks of the Marvel universe see and deal with things, providing the readers with a point-of-view given by Boomerang. Not only are some of the concepts interesting on their own, the way they are delivered on the page is simply hilarious, as the writer balance the serious with a certain dose of realism that manage to make the world of costumed criminals rather silly, or at least as silly as it’s supposed to be. The narration given by Boomerang is simply great, as the character really has a voice that manage to be endearing, funny, yet also show the readers how he thinks. It really brings out some quality entertainment to the forefront of the issue.

Superior Foes Of Spider-Man #2 – Review

Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: Boomerang is a manipulative scumbag who bites more than he can chew as he tries to keep his partners happy, the deals he have in check and the law off his back.

The Review: I love villains. While this does not mean that I enjoy evil things being done altogether and that am unable to find satisfaction while reading the good guys, there’s something really entertaining about reading those who are usually antagonist in most stories. Titles like Secret Six and Thunderbolts understood that scumbags and unsavoury characters makes for a fun read, allowing for their rather non-civil traits to dominate their beings as they went into trouble.

The Superior Foes Of Spider-Man begin to show a better handle on what makes villains so interesting. While the debut issue was pretty okay, this issue really start to show what it can do in order to interest us readers in the tales of the Sinister Six and their misadventures.

The first of many improvement start with the characters themselves and their interaction, as we get a bit more from all of them. The way each characters have their defining traits and how they are used in the story makes for a rather likable bunch, amplifying on the fact that they are C or D-lister, taking the likeable loser aspect to a certain magnitude. With Shocker being the naive, yet kind one, Overdrive being the self-obsessed and Beetle being the smart but reserved member, everyone gets a bit more focus on them as it makes the team appear more cohesive in their lack of team-spirit and collaboration.

The Superior Foes Of Spider-Man #1 – Review

By: Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber (Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: We get introduced to the Sinister Six as they try to bust out Boomerang out of jail.

The Review: Villains books are rather hard to do, from what it seems. It can be difficult to make readers care about protagonists that aren’t exactly angels, but rather criminals, the kind of characters that are beaten up in other books. It can, of course, be done as we have seen in the likes of Thunderbolts and Secret Six, putting the villains in starring roles by making them sympathetic although their motivations, goals and methods aren’t exactly noble.

With that point-of-view, it is kind of hard to see what Nick Spencer was trying to do in this book featuring five D-listers (at best) that usually gets beaten up by pretty much any superhero in the Marvel universe. From what we can see, Spencer tries to have the Daredevil/Hawkeye effect, by putting his rather extraordinary characters throughout more ordinary circumstances, creating a rather sharp contrast between the normal world and these colored super-criminals. In some ways, Spencer does achieve that effect of normality, which does create some humor and some interesting moments on their own, yet he is not completely successful on that front.

Ultimate Spider-Man #124 Review

By Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Stuart Immonen (Penciler), Wade von Grawbadger (Inker), and Justin Posner (Colorist)

What can I say? For as long as my oldest daughter has been alive, Brian Michael Bendis has been writing Ultimate Spider-Man. And while he may never have written a truly great issue (after all, it’s in the nature of the Ultimate universe to be derivative), he’s never written a bad one either.

This issue is actually a bit confusing, as it bounces around through time. It starts “Several weeks ago” (with Spider-Man fighting Venom at the ESU Museum of Art), then jumps to “Months ago” (with Spider-Man fighting the Rhino, while Eddie Brock watches), then “The next day” (with a little Mary Jane banter that simultaneously amuses and sets up the idea that Peter’s spider-metabolism might have unanticipated side-effects), then “Later that night” (with Spidey trying to stop the new Beetle from stealing a Venom sample from a vault at Roxxon), then “The next day” (a Nick Fury cameo, just ‘cuz Nick Fury’s cool), and finally back to “Several weeks ago” (with Silver Sable showing up to cart the unconscious Eddie Brock away for some as-yet-unknown purpose).

There’s a reason I’m going into this in such detail about the way the story is constructed. I have a point to make. Once upon a time, these scenes would have been presented in “real” time as the issues of the comic came out. Spidey would have fought the Rhino in one issue. Then several issues later, he’d have fought the Beetle. Then, after some more filler issues, he’d fight Venom. The writer would be trusting us to pick up every issue and remember the elements of the storyline through the year or two it took to tell it. Now, with the ascendancy of the trade paperback, the writer is forced to work harder on structure. Every story arc needs to have a clear beginning, and four-to-eight issues later, a satisfying ending. You can still have bigger, multi-book story arcs (Ultimate Galactus being the best example), but those annoying little teasers where some villain appears for a single page in the middle of a book and doesn’t show up again for months are a thing of the past. Frankly, I think it’s an improvement.

Anyway, Ultimate Spider-Man #124 is another well-written, beautifully drawn book of the sort we’ve come to expect from this title. Spidey is funny, the sub-text is engagingly mysterious, and the new Beetle is waaaaaaaaaaay cooler than the original. I could go on, but really, if you love comics you should be reading this book yourself anyway. (Grade: A-)

– Andrew C. Murphy