Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 6, Superior Spider-Man Annual 1

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 6
Yost (w) and Checchetto (a) and Rosenberg (c)

News that Spider-Man is working with the possibly-reformed Sinister Six has broken and it's not making anyone in Spider-Man's life particularly happy. At the moment, though, he has bigger things to deal with. The quantum particle engine he took from Alchemax is still highly sought after and Spider-Man is lured from the new Parker Industries to fight the Masters of Evil with his Sinister Six and with the help of Sun Girl. Unfortunately, he figures out too late that they were just a distraction while Lightmaster goes to Parker Industries to steal the QPE, which has the ability to teleport matter and could potentially do so destructively. Spider-Man manages to bring the fight back to Parker Industries and catch up with Lightmaster, who he turns the Masters of Evil against without much persuasion. It also turns out that Sun Girl is the daughter of Lightmaster, complicating things a bit. Before the Masters of Evil can regain their footing, Spider-Man directs Sun Girl to activate the QPE using her powers, which creates a solid distraction but also gives the Sinister Six the break they need from Spidey's control to free themselves.

This arc is hurtling towards a conclusion which is both probably for the best and also a little bit sad. Yost used a good deal of the previous series, AVENGING SPIDER-MAN, to set up the idea that Spidey was gathering his former foes/companions (depending on what Spidey we're talking about) to some end and now we're seeing that end, only to have it wrenched away from us an issue or so later. On the one hand, I'm a little sad that this isn't lasting longer to build intrigue and suspense and to kind of pay off more dramatically from how long it took him to assemble this team. On the other, I really don't want this idea to overstay its welcome and stagnate, which I think it could pretty quickly run the risk of doing. I think it's a really cool idea and one I'm glad Yost took advantage of, but it feels like one that could end every issue with the Six going "we'll get you someday, Spider-Man!" and kind of burn out over time. Happy with the way it's headed now, though, and I'm excited to see just where this one takes us. I also constantly find myself really liking Marco Checchetto's art, even though I confused him in my head with Giuseppe Camuncoli, who worked on SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN last week and I was startled and how much I wasn't loving his art last week. MY BAD, YOU GUYS. Still really like it.

Superior Spider-Man Annual 1
Gage (w) and J. Rodriguez and A. Lopez (a) and J. Rodriguez (c)

Though Otto Octavius has taken over as Peter Parker, the link between Parker and Spider-Man is, perhaps, more amplified than ever. People still know, as much as Peter and Otto have tried to keep it on the down low, that Peter makes the tech for Spider-Man and so he's a target. Among those targeting him is out-of-the-limelight demon/unrepentant killer Blackout. He appears at Peter's Aunt May's house and kidnaps her, leaving a burner cellphone to contact Peter on. Peter begins to do his own research on Blackout and learns from former Ghost Rider Daniel Ketch about his powers and his brutality. When Blackout eventually calls Peter, he traces the thought-to-be untraceable call and sets up shop outside of Blackout's base. The inevitable fight is a tough one but allows Spidey to save May and get her out of the base in time for him to break down Blackout. He flat-out tortures the villain and examines him a bit while instilling true fear into him, a fear that Spider-Man hopes will spread throughout the villainous community and leave Peter clear. It immediately pays dividends the next day when a simple mugger steals Peter's wallet and immediately returns it, horrified. The person who it seems won't be scared off, though, is the Green Goblin.

I like Christos Gage and I feel bad that he kind of only gets called upon to do these single issues now and again. A book like SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL requires Gage to go in, tell a compelling story, give a lot of characterization, and, amidst all of that, explain what's gone on in Spider-Man's life to people who may not have been reading too much recently or who may not be overly familiar with the past of the characters involved AND it still has to be able to link to the ongoing story in SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN in the hopes that it will bring new readers onboard. The smart move, then, is to go with a lesser known villain like Blackout so explaining him to newer readers doesn't wear so much on long-time readers. That doesn't mean that explaining Otto Octavius' role in Peter's body for what feels like the thousandth time doesn't still wear but there's little avoiding that. Still, Gage does a good job telling an engaging story (en-GAGE-ing, get it?) and packing it with character. There's real concern from Otto about May and it translates into real anger and viciousness that Peter didn't really ever have, or had so infrequently that it counted as surprise. Here, Otto turns it on without hesitation and without any sort of moral aftermath. He does what he feels needed to be done and he does it quickly. Good little story, not without its flaws but they're necessary flaws, in a way, and only flaws that long-time and up-to-date Spider-Man readers will be annoyed at. Really not so much flaws. That's a poor word choice. Still, good book and Javier Rodriguez brings good art and his typical great colors to the story, though there was one panel where I couldn't help but notice, on a reflection of Peter in a window, that maybe Rodriguez forgot for a second that he wasn't drawing Matt Murdock's red lenses.