Superior Foes of Spider-Man #11 – Review

By: Elliott Kalan & Tom Peyer (writers); Steve Lieber, Carmen Carnero, Terry Pallot, & Nuno Plati (artists); Chris Sotomayor & John Rauch (colors)

The Story: The first step is acknowledging that you have a problem…and that the problem is not Spiderman…

The Review: The Superior Foes of Spider-Man has carved out a fun little niche for itself, examining the hopes and aspirations of a very different class of supervillain, those just looking for the next big score or an ounce of respect. It’s a fascinating corner of the superhero genre that few books have really examined.

While Boomerang has served as our focal point, last issue gave us a look at the other four members of the Sinister Six. Now, with our roster ‘exhausted’, we turn to an even lower tier of crook, the recovering villains that Mach VII introduced Boomerang to way back when. The issue is split into two stories, the first about the Grizzly and the second about the Looter.
The Grizzly story is a pretty funny tale. The former wrestler is down on his luck, reduced to luring drunks into ambushes, but rather than simply mug them he takes just what he needs and splits a pizza with them. It’s a cute concept and one that brings a couple of resonant moments to the issue.

The strongest element of “A Grizzly Situation” is the way that all the parts work together. There are a couple distinct ideas at play in Grizzly’s character but, in the end, it all comes back to nostalgia and self-loathing. It makes sense why Maxwell ended up in a twelve step program.

Batman ’66 #7 – Review

By: Jeff Parker & Tom Peyer (story), Christopher Jones & Derec Donovan (art), Tony Aviña (colors)

The Story: Batman’s enlisted to track down Gotham’s newest villain—Bruce Wayne.

The Review: Parker definitely took on a different kind of challenge in committing himself to Batman ’66.  Although the show has garnered a cult audience over the years, even the cultists know better than to take the show very seriously.  Somehow, Parker has to sustain long-term interest in the series with a pool of story possibilities limited by the original show’s innocence, simplicity, and campiness.

Although Parker got compelling reads out of the first couple issues, the ones that came after have struggled to find a balance between retro and modern sensibilities, just as this issue does.  The plot, of course, is nothing much: villain False Face masquerades as Bruce Wayne to carry out his evil doing free from suspicion.  Obviously, this puts Batman in the awkward position of working with the police to capture himself, which Parker could have gotten a great story out of, but somehow falls short.

Amazing Spider-Man #628 – Review

By: Main Story: Roger Stern (writer), Lee Weeks (art), Dean White (colors) & Joe Caramanga (letters); Back-up Story: Mark Waid & Tom Peyer (writers), Todd Nauck (art), Andres Mossa (colors) & Joe Caramanga (letters)

The Story: Spidey tries to save Juggernaut (of all people) from the new Captain Universe, meanwhile in the back-up story, Peter’s attempts to resolve his employment issues are thwarted by an untimely villain.

What’s Good: I’ve always loved Spidey versus cosmic entities! One of my favorite Spider-Man arcs when I was a kid was in ASM 269/270 when Spidey faced off against Firelord.  This was during a phase when Marvel (via Secret Wars) was showing that “your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man” could hold his own against the meanest and baddest folks in the Marvel U.

Thus, I was excited when Captain Universe was revealed at the end of ASM #627.  As if Spidey + cosmic entity wasn’t enough, this issue also features Juggernaut (one of my favorites), so this issue was just a bundle of goodness.  The big questions are: “Who is the new Captain Universe?” and “Why is he trying to kill Juggernaut?” I’m fairly sure Captain U’s alter-ego will be someone known to us, but I can’t wait to find out who he is.  I would also love it if he somehow crossed over into the Marvel Cosmic titles, but that might be too much to hope for.