Superior Spider-Man #19 – Review

Dan Slott (Writer), Ryan Stegman, Livesay (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Otto tries to reverse the current damage to the time stream with the people of Horizon Labs as Miguel O’Hara’s fate is revealed.

The Review: Dan Slott is kind of a tease, isn’t he? With the heavy marketing around this book, it seems that he simply has to make sure people try to guess whatever might happen, through whichever way possible. The ”nothing will ever be the same” is especially strong with this series and this writer, which may grate on the nerves of some people as promises are made. It’s enough for the skeptic in all of us lift an eyebrow when looking at all of this in an objective way.

However, it seems that not only is it working in gaining the interest of readers, but most of the time Slot actually do delivers on changing elements and introducing newer ones. This issue is a good example of this, as not only do the writer play with the various elements prior to this volume and the current one, but he also insert new elements into play that makes this series able to deliver on surprising twists.

Something he does in order to bring those changes in an effective manner is that he consolidate much of the plot threads together for the finale, which helps tremendously. With a focus on a particular scene and with all the players gathered together, it makes this issue less jumbled than the previous ones in this arc. With the issue mostly concentrated on Otto’s point-of-view, though not necessarily on all of his actions, the fallouts, the actions and the reactions ends up being much more satisfying to read and experience.

Superior Spider-Man #18 – Review

by Dan Slott (Writer), Ryan Stegman, Livesay (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Bizarre events in the present cause much trouble for Miguel O’Hara, Tiberius Stone, Horizon Lab and Otto Octavius.

The Review: Ambition and continuity can be great tools for any writers working in super hero comics. When the creative team are looking forward to a vast number of issues in order to tell a story, they need to pace out some of the elements in order for the readers to appreciate the larger pictures. Storylines are teased, some are seeded early on and so forth in order for the title to keep a certain level of excitement. If done well, it can give us some superb stories, but if done incorrectly, it can bring problems like obvious decompression. There’s a fine line between the two and not every writer is able to be on a unique side of the fence for most of their writing careers.

This issue has absolutely no problem in term of decompression, which may sound like a very good point in favor of its quality, yet in this case it isn’t. Simply put, there’s just too many things happening here as the pacing and the focus of the issue suffers quite a bit because of it. Many of these events are of consequences and are things that some readers might have been looking forward to, yet all of them are crammed in this issue without the necessary space to really let it sink in. There are many characters receiving development and panel space, with the people at Horizon Labs, the Goblin King, Miguel O’Hara, Otto and Tiberius Stone all seemingly fighting for relevance in this issue.

Superior Spider-Man #17 – Review

Dan Slott (Writer), Ryan Stegman, Livesay (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Miguel O’Hara needs to go back in time to stop something from happening in 2013, which may be connected to something Spider-Ock might do.

The Review: Sometimes, a writer may throw around an idea that is simply appealing. A concept that is perhaps simple, yet one that does raise the curiosity and interest of readers enough that they really want to see a situation like this occur. It is something that has occurred many times with close to every company, yet it is an efficacious tactic that always help raise the profile of a book when needed.

The latest use of such a stratagem can be seen in this issue as Slott, being playing with the expectations of readers, teased that he might do a Spider-Man 2099 story. What started as perhaps a bit of a jape went on to become a real thing, as this issue tells the story of such an encounter, or at least try to.

I say try, as any story with such a ludicrous concept cannot simply be simply be shown without at least contextualization as to the various explanation of why and how this is happening. Here, Slott builds up his story before letting the magic of his ideas go wild, which has its share of weaknesses and strengths.

The best about this issue would be the parts dealing with Miguel O’Hara himself, the Spider-Man of the future. Here, Slott brings out some of the most memorable aspects of the Peter David run on Spider-Man 2099, with the bizarre slang used, the strange tech, Alchemax and the general personality of its main character. All of those elements are handled well-enough in order to provide both those who knew the characters and those that didn’t enough of a feel to the character to know more about him.

Superior Spider-Man #16 – Review

Dan Slott (Writer), Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorists)

The Story: Phil Urich really gets what’s coming to him as Otto manage to manipulate a situation to his advantage.

The Review: For critics, it’s always easier to talk about great or horrible comics. When it’s in one of those two extremes, it’s surprisingly easy to say what works well and what truly doesn’t. The point is to be objective, of course, yet there will always be a touch of subjectivity when anyone talk about a cultural product, whether they want to or not. What’s harder, though, are the average comics, those that are competent, yet did not really leave a huge impact on the critic himself. When dealing with a middle-tier comic in terms of quality, it becomes a bit tougher to balance the good with the bad in a coherent manner.

This issue is a pretty good example of this, as it moves along nicely, shows some scenes that are well done, yet doesn’t go out of its way to really bring any ”wow” factor. Here, Slott conclude his Hobgoblin story competently, putting some pieces in place for the future of his title, yet a lot of what happens here just isn’t that impressive.

There are some good parts here, starting with the way Otto is written as a mastermind, featuring his villainous methods as being rather entertaining. He is manipulative, arrogant and this comes as fun as his interaction with Robertson, the Avengers and the general public shows just how cunning he can be in terms of how he appears to everyone.