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 #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 Spider-Man #1 – Review

By: Dan Slott (Writer), Ryan Stegman (Artist), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

*Spoiler alert*

The Story: Spider-Ock takes on the new Sinister Six formed by Boomerang.

The Review: So here we are, after the controversial 700th issue of Amazing Spider-Man, with this new status quo. For those who don’t yet know what has actually happened to Peter Parker, here’s the short version: Otto Octavius is now in Peter Parker body’s after promising to be Spider-Man from now on.

This decision, story wise, is ripe with potential, as we have a new point of view on how Peter Parker lives his whole life, thanks to the former villain. Indeed, Dan Slott takes full advantage to show that Otto is a very different person than Peter Parker. He reacts differently to the supporting cast and he has a much more tactical mind when it comes to being Spider-Man. However, he also is manipulative, violent, arrogant and much more self-centered, which results in him being a rather unlikeable character.

Amazing Spider-Man #676 – Review

By: Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks), Edgar Delgado (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Ellie Pyle (assistant editor) & Stephen Wacker (editor)

The Story: It’s an all supervillain throw-down as the Sinister Six attacks the Intelligencia.

Five Things: 

1. No Spider-Man in this issue. – It’s a very good issue and establishes a lot of stuff, but there is not a single appearance by Spider-Man in this issue.  Not even in one little panel.  And there’s no MJ, Carlie, Jonah, etc.  Everything revolves around the villains and putting them into position for future stories.  The “glass half empty” people will be annoyed by this, but I choose to be happy that this story happened in ASM #676 and not in some special one-shot with a screwed up title like Octopcalypse Alpha #0.  You know someone at Marvel wanted to do that and someone with sense talked them out of it.

2. Really enjoying the arc Dr. Octopus has taken. – Ock is becoming creepy and sinister.  Starting with the storyline from back around ASM #600 where he faced up to his brain damage from years of getting hit in the head by superheroes and continuing here and there in ASM until now, he’s really in a cool place.  You still have the arrogance mixed with a massive inferiority complex that has made him such a good villain all these years, but now he seems to be developing a fatalism about his own mortality.  That’s kinda scary: a supervillain who is working on his bucket list and knowing his days are numbered.  I just hope that Ock keeps going down this path because it’ll piss me off if next year he gets his brain dumped into a new cloned body.  We’ve seen “old Doc Ock” stories a million times.  This is new and fresh.  Let’s keep the character moving forward!

3. Funny. – It’s hard to have the Intelligencia appear and have it not be a funny issue.  Add in a healthy dose of Mysterio and it gets even better.  This battle between the Sinister Six and Intelligencia has a serious side to it with Doc Ock and MODOK fighting, but it’s hard to be completely serious when Red Ghost’s super-apes and the Wizard are around.

Avengers Academy #14 – Review

By: Christos Gage (writer), Sean Chen (penciller), Scott Hanna (inker), Jeromy Cox (colorist), John Denning (assistant editor), Bill Rosemann (editor)

The Story: Electro attacks France’s main science institute while most of the full-fledged Avengers are away. The kids need a chance to prove themselves and Electro isn’t the baddest guy in town. When they get there, though, it turns out he ain’t alone. The kids don’t do too bad, though, all things considered.

What’s Good: Gage did one thing every great writer must do. He made the heroes active. They wanted something. They wanted it bad, and we the reader can sympathize: they want to prove themselves. They’re not asking for a free lunch. Just put me in the game coach. I like them already. This situation also creates a lot of tension, because when has any battle plan survived contact with the enemy? I love how well the trainees do against the Sinister Six and I have to say, I really like the ending. For a while, when I saw how they got the bad press and all, I was thinking “Oh great. Another thin persecution story. Seen it.” But Gage tricked me. That wasn’t the end. The end was about stepping up to the plate morally that was the big climax of the book. The fight, for all that it was a great superhero donnybrook, was really just a plot device to get to the personal growth made by a surprising number of people at the end. What am I saying about the writing? Gage was right on target.

And, I have to say, after my first exposure to the Chen-Hanna-Cox team, I’m loving the art. The fine lines leave a lot of room to fill the panels with detail, which I love. The credit page is a pretty good example of this. From top to bottom, the big panel is brimming with the external accoutrements of the Avengers Mansion, the backgrounded and framing characters, the tight line of those arguing, with some intense Giant-Man action thrown in as background. That is visual storytelling! And Cox’ colors are beautiful and clear, with the bright spots attracting the eye to the important parts of the page. I also enjoyed Chen’s slanting camera angles and overlaid panels. His layouts and choices of borders (or not) kept the pages from ever feeling the same. Chen and team made it feel like there was so much action going on that it could only be layered. And a PS: I loved the texture of Reptile and Rhino when they slapped down.

Invincible Iron Man #503 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Salvador Larroca (art), Frank D’Armata (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Tony fights to disarm Doc Ock’s bomb while Pepper goes for another round with Sandman and Electro.

The Review:  I think it’s issues like this that make people aggravated about event tie-ins.  Looking at the cover of this issue, you’d think Fraction had postponed the conclusion of his Doc Ock arc altogether, going for the tie-in straightaway.  Thankfully, that isn’t the case, with Fear Itself only being introduced as the next storyline in the issue’s final few pages.

Unfortunately, that most likely mandated prologue makes this Doc Ock arc feel rushed in its conclusion, as Fraction seeks to tie up this story as quickly as possible in order to move on to Fear Itself ASAP.  It’s a damned shame, given how solid this arc has been.  This rushed feeling permeates the issue.  Pepper’s fight with Electro and Sandman is shockingly brief this month, with the baddies putting up no fight whatsoever.  Meanwhile, with respect to Doc Ock’s bomb, Fraction goes for the oldest and most predictable twist possible.  Given how much I’ve been enjoying the duel between Otto and Stark, that Fraction would resort to such a tired trick, and then act as though it’s clever, was more than a little disappointing.   Then there’s an image of Tony breaking Otto’s neck, but this is never addressed or referenced.

And all this is sped through in this manner to lead into Fear Itself through an event that is so conveniently timed as to feel utterly forced.  Ugh.

It’s sad really, given that there is a lot to like here, were it not for the big event gumming things up.  For instance, Doc Ock’s getting Tony to beg and call him “master” was a lot of fun, and this being his entire motivation for this scheme was crazy goodness.  I loved seeing Doc Ock gloating, rewinding and re-watching Tony’s begging again and again, treating the video as though it were internet porn.  Also, while the pacing was off, I did like how Fraction ended this plot, with a whimper and not a bang.  There’s no conclusive end of Doc Ock here, no huge battle, and no Otto walking away in handcuffs or lying unconscious.  While this particular conflict and situation are fully resolved, Fraction leaves the story feeling a little more open-ended and hence, less run-of-the-mill.  In fact, seeing Otto simply leave after getting his video of Tony (for his own personal enjoyment) just adds to the demented nature of the character.

Invincible Iron Man #502 – Review

by Matt Fraction (writer), Salvador Larroca (art), Frank D’Armata (colors), and Joe Caramagna (letters)

The Story: Tony continues his battle of wits with Doc Ock while Pepper battles Electro and the Sandman.

The Review: In its second installment, this Doc Ock story-arc continues to be really good, almost surprisingly so.  It’s great writing by Matt Fraction.

Case and point is the dynamic between Tony and Otto.  The dialogue between the two puts forth two completely opposite personalities at odds with one another.  Otto is bitter, stoic, and sullen while Tony is his witty, charming self and the resulting verbal duel is quite a lot of fun.  Naturally, Tony talks far more than Otto and is obviously the smarter and quicker of the two, yet Otto is, quite simply, a wall.  Tony may continually seem to be scheming, always one step ahead of Doc Ock, but Otto remains inscrutable and impassable.  Where dialogue is concerned, Tony is lots of flash while Otto is a blunt force object.  It’s a wonderful duel of wits where while Tony should win, Otto prove immovable and fickle.  Indeed, this struggle is much akin to the real battle for Tony to cure Otto, with the dialogue being representative of the stubborn nature of this quandary.  Essentially, Fraction writes dialogue between two characters that, in many ways, has a dynamic that is symbolic of the narrative’s conflict itself.  Tony can be super-smart and try a million things, but he just can’t get past Octavius, whether it be his villainous plans or his physical trauma.

That said, were the entire issue just this intellectual battle between Doc Ock and Stark, I can imagine a whole lot of grumpy Iron Man fans reiterating their complaints regarding Fraction’s book being to slow and/or talky.  Thankfully, Fraction expertly paces this comic by having the focus shift repeatedly between Stark/Doc Ock and Pepper’s battle with Electro and the Sandman.  As usual, seeing Pepper kick ass is always tons of fun.  She’s a hugely sympathetic character and it’s truly enjoyable seeing her whip some bad guy ass.  There’s also a really funny scene in this fight involving Pimacher.  I won’t spoil it, but whoever thought an Electro vs. Pimacher fight would actually be competitive?