Superior Spider-Man #32 – Review

By: Dan Slott (Plot) Christos Gage (Script), Giuseppe Camuncoli (Penciller), John Dell (Inker), Antonio Fabela (Color Artist), Chris Eliopoulos (Letterer), Adam Kubert (Back-Up Artist), Rain Beredo (Back-Up Colorist)

The Story: This looks like a job for Spider-Man. And Spider-Man, and Spider-Man, and Spider-Man, … etc.

The Review: I’m not sure how typical a comic fan I am– I read a lot of comics but virtually no comics-related news and certainly no comics previews. My digital subscriptions show up automatically, and I browse the cover gallery for things that might catch my eye in a given week. So it was with a bit of surprise that I find a new Superior Spider-Man on sale. Thankfully, the cover tells me that “Edge of Spider-Verse (sic?) begins with this over-sized spectacular!” So, since I was also among those who really enjoyed the Octavius-Spidey era (again, not sure how typical a comic fan that makes me) let’s see what this is all about…

Well, any story that has to provide BOTH a “Previously” page and a two-page spread of exposition isn’t off to a great start, I’d think. After another page of exposition, Spidey-Ock stands on a rooftop in a full-page splash that’s meant to show we are in an exciting new future of 2099… by showing us some nondescript buildings? At least throw in a few flying cars or Futurama-style pnematic tubes or something. Aside from the bands on some cone-shaped buildings waaaay in the distance, you’d be hard-pressed to say this was a future cityscape. Things improve a little bit in the subsequent panels with fashion and (finally) flying cars and laser guns, but overall, capital-S Setting should be an important element in this book, especially as Spidey-Ock starts traveling to other times, but these locations don’t seem to be treated with any special care in the art. Instead, it’s all merely in service for the real focus, the set-up for our crossover plot.

SENYC Report: Marvel – The Next Big Thing

Marvel came out in force for Special Edition: NYC. Though they easily flattened the competition when it came to number of panels, this was the one to see if you wanted to know what was coming from the House of Ideas.

The panel was moderated by Senior VP of Publishing Tom Brevoort and featured a slew of top name talent. This included Senior X-Men Editor Mike Marts, fan favorite writer Peter David, Storm writer Greg Pak, and Deadpool editor Jordan D. White. There was even a surprise guest in the form of Katie Kubert, the former editor of Batman and Detective comics who had announced her departure from DC less than twenty-four hours before!