Superior Foes of Spider-Man #9 – Review

by Nick Spencer (Writer), Steve Lieber, Rich Ellis (Artists), Rachelle Rosenberg (Colorist)

The Story: It’s Boomerang versus Bullseye. Who will emerge victorious?

The Review: There is a certain trend that has been going around for a good number of years in the comic market, one that has changed the very way books are written and sold. For a good period of times, arcs and long saga were varying in their lengths, with creators having a certain control over the whole thing. Cue the arrival of the trade paperbacks, hardcover’s and the overall collection of storylines. With them came the popular expression ”written for the trade”, indicating a story that has been created specifically to be collected in one single book, leading to decompression sometimes and a general presentation that creators had to recreate as to get work. Long gone was the approach that made such epics like Walter Simonson’s Thor and other such work.

However, with a more open approach nowadays for creators, there is a certain resurgence of complete stories in a single issue, more stream-lined stories and experimentation more akin to the past of the market. One of the books that is clearly part of the new wave is Superior Foes of Spider-Man, with Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber simply making the story progress with each issue, the book being an evolving arc instead of a series of stories leading to a massive progression made step by step.

This issue, in itself, is a wonderful example of why that is a good thing, with plenty of the plot threads moving forward, yet without sacrificing what makes the title fun to begin with. Continuing the adventures of Boomerang, a loser super-villain, and the rest of his crew, the title entertain not only through its vision of what it means to be a lower-class villain in the Marvel universe, but also through its emphasis on showing them as people and not just as antagonists.

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.