Edge of Spider-Verse 2, Superior Spider-Man 33

Edge of Spider-Verse 2

The newest Spider-Man we get a chance to look in on isn't, in fact, a Spider-MAN at all (see what I did there? Capitalizing the "man" part implies that is where the difference lies. Italicizing it would have had much the same effect). Instead, it's Gwen Stacy, Spider-Woman! Gwen of this universe was bitten by a radioactive spider, granting her spider-based powers which she now uses in her life as a vigilante crime-fighter. Her story of power=responsibility hinges on the fact that fellow classmate Peter Parker, in an attempt to be more like the new Spider-Woman, injected himself with a dangerous toxin of his own design that turned him into the Lizard, who would ruin the school and die in Spider-Woman's arms. The police, led by Captain George Stacy, are on the hunt for Spider-Woman. Meanwhile, Gwen just wants to play the drums for the Mary Janes, the rock outfit led by Mary Jane Watson. However, everything comes to her doorstep when Kingpin hires Rhino to take out George Stacy in a show of faith to the new Spider-Woman. Rhino attacks at the Mary Janes' show and Spider-Woman fights him off, eventually revealing her true identity to Captain Stacy, all under the watchful eye of another Spider-Man.

We're still on the EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE, so we're not really getting into the main thrust of the story just yet, we're more getting a sense of the players. This Spider-Woman already seems like a hit and Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez make the most of their one-shot with her, with Latour writing a very solid character and developing, in twenty short pages, an entire universe that makes sense and intrigues (Matt Murdock is a villain lawyer! But how??) and Rodriguez drawing an absolutely fantastic book and designing a really cool costume for Gwen. In addition, Rico Renzi adds some outstanding colors to the book. It's a pretty quick read (as quick as you can manage for a one-shot that has to develop a new character and new universe and new problems) and it looks really good. It moves quickly but it also gives more than enough time for quiet moments and introspection. Great stuff.

Total Score: 5/5


Superior Spider-Man 33

Superior Spider-Man has teamed with a number of other Spider-Men/Women/Girls/Monkeys and has gone after the spider-killer named Karn. Doc Ock has developed a device he thinks will work well on the killer but is overwhelmed by the being's power, particularly when members of Karn's family show up, a pair of twins named Brix and Bora. The spiders manage to get away, escaping to 2099 to regroup while the siblings bicker. Doc Ock removes himself for a bit, talking to his Anna Maria computer, and comes back with a new plan. The spiders set to work while he pulls aside Spider-Girl (Ashley Barton) and Assassin Spider-Man to let them know he agrees with them, that killing these villains is a necessity and that they may face resistance from the other spiders but that nothing can be allowed to stand in their way.

It's a tough loss for Doc Ock as his team is forced to flee and he's forced to wonder how it's even possible to stop Karn, let alone Karn's apparently pretty big family (there's an extra story at the end of this issue that revolves around Karn and his family, showing just how big it is and, of course, showing that Morlun is a member of it). There's a brief moment of hubris for Doc, as ever, as he believes he defeats Karn only to have it shot back in his face. Still, it's good character building and Gage does a pretty good job building the supporting cast of spiders, who each register a specific voice and tone, even though none of them is given a particular focus in this episode. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 33 adds to the already interesting event, establishing a bit more about our villains and a tiny bit more about our heroes. Strong work.

Total Score: 4/5

Comics this week

Hey everybody, pretty busy week for comics with a few books that you'll definitely want to keep an eye on (and a few that I'm certainly not going to tell you to). Here are some examples!

Avengers 35
This recommendation comes with a bit of a caution: this will start Hickman's grand conclusion to his AVENGERS time (if memory serves and I'm not just making that up) called TIME RUNS OUT, so it's bound to be a pretty big issue but it's also $4.99. Don't get me wrong, it's meant to be an extra-sized issue so it may be worth that extra dollar after all. I just tend to be wary (and everyone else should be too) of Marvel putting out so many extra-priced books. I'm all for people getting paid appropriately for their work but I worry what all of these releases could mean for my wallet going forward.


Daredevil 8
We're back in San Francisco after a brief New York/Wakanda detour for the ORIGINAL SIN tie-in and this issue will kick off a new arc about THE PURPLE CHILDREN, seemingly the many offspring of persuasive villain Purple Man (or perhaps just some dumb kids under his thrall, though illegitimate love children makes more sense to me for a guy who has persuasive powers and is a real creep). Purple Man, despite being a real creep, obviously has some scary potential and Daredevil fighting children should be fun. Wait, maybe I could word that better.


Edge of Spider-Verse 2
I think this event has the makings of some really interesting stories (I do tend to like well-done alternate dimension stuff, we'll see if this falls into that camp) and this, I believe, is the debut of the much advertised Spider-Gwen, the alternate universe Gwen Stacy Spider-Person. Could be fun!


Elektra 6
I really like this book, you guys. Give it a shot, willya?


Thor: God of Thunder 25
This one edges out UNCANNY AVENGERS, AVENGERS WORLD, and SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN as it marks the start to a really monumental shift for Thor, who we last saw in ORIGINAL SIN being told some secret by Fury that caused his hammer to IMMEDIATELY deem him not worthy and drag him down to the moon's surface. What was that secret? Who will be deemed worthy? What's the secret origin of Malekith? Possibly all that and maybe some more, up this week!

Death of Wolverine 2, Edge of Spider-Verse 1

Death of Wolverine 2

Armed with the knowledge that Viper has put the contract out on him and with a fairly new Iron Man helmet with which to barter, Wolverine travels in a fairly lax disguise to Madripoor and meets with one of Viper's underlings to set up a meeting with her, showing off the Iron Man helmet and offering to make a deal. When the underling brings him, she immediately knows who it is (he's really not hiding it) and she sics her real henchmen on him. He easily beats them and moves on to questioning his ex-wife. She admits that she's just subcontracting another job she got for an extraordinarily wealthy client, one whose name she refuses to divulge. She promises more answers if he can defeat Sabretooth in battle, which he does but only by the skin of his teeth and the intervention of Lady Deathstrike, who reveals her name has also popped up on the hit-list Viper put out to the world's mercenaries. Viper herself has disappeared and Lady Deathstrike suggests the pair of healers team up before learning Wolverine's not healing any more and rescinds her offer, instead hoping she can defeat him and trade his freedom for hers. However, she's surprised to find Kitty Pryde reaching through her chest before she can act.

Charles Soule just signed an exclusive contract with Marvel (his DC titles will continue through next March though, giving him time to wrap things up if you're reading those) and it continues to seem like an ace move by Marvel, who has proven in the last couple years that it's dedicated to keeping good talent around as best it can with the use of exclusive contracts (Kieron Gillen jumps to mind) and new titles (I'd look to someone like Dennis Hopeless for that, or Sam Humphries, though I haven't liked as many of his titles). So far, DEATH OF WOLVERINE is proving another in a long line of really compelling and exciting stories from Soule, who I lauded for revitalizing THUNDERBOLTS and for kicking SHE-HULK off to a very fun start (jury's still out a little bit on INHUMANS but I'm mostly liking it so far, just confused by its timing). This is the Wolverine I've been missing from his solo title the last couple years, one who faces danger head-on but doesn't always go in half-cocked. He's quiet, he's threatening, he's quick-witted, he's tough, he's maybe a little bit menacing, and...he's going to die? Geez, now I'm sad again. Really solid second issue with a number of twists and turns that generally work for me and some great art from McNiven.

Total Score: 5/5


Edge of Spider-Verse 1

In 1939, the magician Mysterio wants to take real control in the city and he aims to do it by taking the blood of the vigilante Spider-Man (Noir). Though he's working under the control of the Kingpin right now, he hopes to infuse Spider-Man's blood, which he believes is truly from the spider god Anansi, with his own and gain his mystical powers. Teamed with his own magic and illusions, he believes he could run New York City. He lures Spider-Man out with a threat on Spider-Man's old lover Felicia Hardy. Though Mysterio manages to trap Spider-Man, the vigilante breaks out and defeats the magician, though it doesn't stop the pounding of his danger-predicting sixth sense. Suddenly, a masked figure approaches, threatening to eat the Spider-Man, when another Spider-Man (Superior) appears, distracts the figure, and transports Spider-Man (Noir) out to meet in 2099 with a handful of other Spider-Mans (assorted).

EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE, the new Spider-Man event, has its official debut on the heels of a prologue in the suddenly continued SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN and the Spider-Man offices at Marvel make a good call by kicking things off with Spider-Man Noir, one of the more interesting ideas and visually compelling (particularly with Isanove's skill and affection for noir) Spider-Men we've seen. It's a strong first entry as writer David Hine manages to give us some good backstory and character development despite having to start in the middle of a story that isn't actually the story he's tasked with telling, which he gets to. LOOK, it's late and I'm tired and I KNOW my sentences are breaking down by the second but these books are both event books and AVENGERS 34.1 didn't really justify being in the first day so here we are. Anyway, good book, still an interesting premise even if we didn't really learn anything we didn't already really know from SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 32.

Total Score: 4/5

Leftovers 8-6-14

Hey guys, not that you're not used to a more sporadic schedule of late but I'd like to note I very nearly have an excuse for not posting yesterday (ignoring totally not posting Friday when I was just tired). I was at Boston Comic-Con, a con that started just nine years ago and has really exploded into something huge. It's not so big as some of your more established cons (your SDCC, your NYCC, your Chicago one whose name currently escapes me), but even the difference between this year and when Amanda and I went two years ago is CRAZY. It was at a bigger venue and the lines wrapped around the building all day long. Tons of cosplayers, tons of retailers, several cool celebrity guests (like John Barrowman, Sean Astin, and Jewel Staite, listing the people I was pretty pumped to be near), and, most importantly great artists like Neal Adams, Joe Quinones, Ming Doyle, Maris Wicks, Norman Lee, Jorge Molina, Greg Capullo, Kate Leth, Shelli Paroline, Braden Lamb, and oodles more (first half of that list is people from whom I bought stuff, +Neal Adams, the second half is just people I like but I didn't even get around to really seeing), and writers like Mark Waid and Scott Snyder. Lots of great people, lots of great art, pretty solid experience. LOOK, HAVE I SUCCESSFULLY DISTRACTED YOU FROM NOTICING THERE WAS NO POST YESTERDAY? Great, mission accomplished. I'll probably post pictures of the stuff I bought at some point. You know, low quality images of images. Don't let that dissuade you, though, everyone from whom I bought was awesome and all the stuff I bought was equally awesome. Okay, now that THAT'S through, let's get to the eight or so books we need to cover today. Yipes.

Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man 4
Bendis (w) and Marquez (a) and Ponsor (c) and Petit (l)

Kate's upset that Miles is Spider-Man, revealing it IMMEDIATELY to her sister, who says they have to break up because their parents will kill him and possibly Kate for her involvement with him (INTRIGUE, RIGHT?) but Miles has his own problems as he fights the ultra-powerful and somehow resurrected Green Goblin in front of Peter Parker's old home only to have Peter Parker, decked in full Spider-Man gear again, intercede and team up with Miles to drive Goblin away. The highly publicized fight is seen by everyone in their little worlds and suddenly Peter Parker's alive again. The book, when it gets to the fight, moves pretty well. The Kate stuff is a bit slow and I still feel the relationship is a little sudden and tortured. The fight is good but this seems like one of those stories that can only be judged when we have all the information. REGARDLESS, here I am judging it: Total Score: 4/5



Miracleman 9
A. Moore (w) and Veitch w/R. Bryant (a) and Oliff (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miracleman returns just in time to find Liz having very sudden contractions. Not wanting to give birth on Gargunza's facility, MM straps Liz into a truck, telling her to blast the heat in the cold air, and flies her to a nicer place. Meanwhile, a couple of spooks visit young Johnny Bates, still comatose, in the hospital. They go into his mind and can't find traces of Kid Miracleman there, so they leave, allowing him to come out from hiding and question their appearance. Back with Liz, an incredibly graphic birth scene happens and a baby is born, to the delight of Miracleman and Liz, replaced by surprise when the baby says "ma-ma." Plenty happening here, nice bit of Miracleman pondering life and death and birth and so on as we see full-on graphic birth. Sorry, limited vocabulary here, I have nothing to say but "graphic." Pretty weird, guys. I'd have bought it if you just showed me the baby born, probably just would have assume there was a graphic scene off-panel. Total Score: 3/5


New Warriors 8
Yost (w) and To (a) and Redmond (c) and Caramagna (l)

Haechi and Sun Girl are trapped in the presence of Lash and two of his ambassadors, one who controls the "puppets" (read: humans) outside to hold off the New Warriors and one who is pretty much made of knives. Lash offers Haechi a place with them and he considers it, remembering the humans who beat him when he first gained his new powers, but rejects it, remembering the man who saved him from the punks that day. Outside, Water Snake and Scarlet Spider get annoyed with Justice as he's unwilling to use much force against the mind-controlled humans attacking them. Fortunately, Hummingbird is able to eject the Inhuman Nocculus from their minds so they can pass. Facing the might of the New Warriors, Lash and the two other Inhumans leave, swearing to meet Haechi again. Meanwhile, Nova arrives at Mount Wundagore to learn from Jake Waffles that the team has already completed a couple of their missions without him and, according to Speedball, he sucks. Tons of fun spread throughout the issue but well-balanced by seriousness and action. Chris Yost has written some of the most enjoyable Marvel stuff over the last four or five years, from my much-mentioned and much-beloved Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes to AVENGING SPIDER-MAN/SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN TEAM-UP to SCARLET SPIDER to this. Such a great energy in this book and some real, genuine laugh lines to boot. Total Score: 5/5


Original Sin 3.4 - Hulk vs. Iron Man
Waid and Gillen (s) and Gillen (w) and L. Ross (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Caramagna (l)

Iron Man escapes below Troy to find a new suit and turns up in a Hulkbuster to bust Hulk, who, in fact, busts him, knocking him out and drugging him before taking him, trapped in his own ruined suit,  out to the gamma testing site where Hulk was born. While Hulk derides Tony, ready to punish him further, Tony shows him one last piece of information, including Banner's original plans for the bombs and Tony's updates. As it happens, Tony was hired to power-up the bomb behind Banner's back but he actually discovered when he examined it closer that Banner's excessive shielding would have ended up doing far more harm than good, likely killing Banner and tons of innocents in surrounding cities as a result of Banner's "safety precautions." The updates Tony made, though still potentially responsible for the Hulk (never quite cleared up), saved lives, including Banner's. Banner apologizes, going on to thank Tony, but Tony keeps some information to himself, including an email he sent to Banner after looking at the bomb (which Banner deleted) that may have set Banner on the track of adjusting the bomb himself to keep it from Hulkifying him and also would have paved the way for plenty of Earth-friendly technologies Banner could have discovered, sparing Banner from knowledge that may legitimately have caused him to commit suicide (or try, you know that Hulk guy). Pretty strong stuff and a nice little ending for the science bros but I can't help but be a little disappointed that Tony is apparently arguably a bigger hero than he was going in and not just a little bit of a villain. I know you don't want necessarily to taint your cash cow but I liked knowing that his hubris had such a huge ramification on the Marvel Universe (not the first time, certainly, that would have been true, but still a pretty poignant one). Total Score: 3/5


Original Sin 5.3 - Thor and Loki
Aaron and Ewing (s) and Ewing (w) and Garbett and Bianchi (a) and Woodard, Dall'Alpi, and Peruzzi (c) and Sabino (l)

Thor and Angela fight with Angela gaining the upper hand thanks to her speed and brutality while Loki learns about some Heaven history from the queen, who reveals that she once had a deal with Odin that had her and her angels watching over Midgard to protect it from jerk Asgardians. When she betrayed Odin and joined up with the Frost Giants and other enemies to Asgard, war was declared and the battle that "killed" Odin's daughter started. Loki, though, is just as much an outsider to Asgardians and a villain to these honor-bound people as the money-craving angels are, she points out. Back outside, Angela is stopped from killing Thor as the queen and new "Mistress of Strategies" decide that he's more useful alive than dead. That Mistress of Strategies? A transformed woman Loki, of course. This is probably the first issue of this tie-in that starts to give a little more new information and contextualizing, though it does drag a bit when that happens. Still, it seems like a classic Thor/Loki story as Loki has gone ahead and seemingly betrayed his brother and his people for whatever quick gain or long con he could be playing at. Strong enough to pass, slow enough to overstay. Total Score: 3/5


She-Hulk 7
Soule (w) and Pulido (a) and Vicente (c) and Cowles (l)

She-Hulk and Hellcat have been hired by a scientist/inventor duo to work out the terms of a contract that would sell their new revolutionary shrink ray, the Shrinko (more affordable than Pym Particles), to an outside buyer. One member of the team, Rufus (the marketer), wants to sell while the other, Reza (the brains behind the Shrinko tech), wants to keep it out of the buyer's hands. Their partnership is 50/50 so Rufus would need Reza's approval to sell but Reza, in a fit of anger over the way the proceedings are going, has shrunk himself down and disappeared. She-Hulk calls in resident shrinking expert Dr. Pym for a hand and she, Pym, and Hellcat shrink themselves with Pym Particles to find Reza. Pym isn't optimistic and actually knows Reza's work, saying that Shrinko tech isn't ready for human testing and that people tend to explode with some great force when using the tech on themselves. After a couple scares and some in-fighting between She-Hulk and Hellcat, they find Reza and rescue him from some cats nearby. It turns out that the buyer interested in the Shrinko patent is Pym himself (Pymself), wanting to help them perfect their tech in exchange for a small percentage of the profits. Reza doesn't believe his exploding claims but quickly learns that he might have a point when his own severed finger, left behind in a coke can in which he hid himself from the cats, explodes, safely out of range thanks to a She-Hulk toss. Reza and Rufus agree to sell to Pym but She-Hulk already has a new case waiting with an elderly Captain America waiting in the lobby. Another fun issue and we've already seen this neat little formula, wherein a story runs kind of underneath but really quietly while individual episodes involving the superhero community in legal battles takes the spotlight, work really well and this one is no exception. Plenty of fun, a good deal of heart, and some fun art ideas. Total Score: 5/5


Superior Foes of Spider-Man 14
Spencer (w) and Lieber w/R. Ellis (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Cowles (l)

Very slight break in the action as the team regroups at Boomerang's secret safe-house. We learn why Overdrive joined this gang (trying to fight Spider-Man so he can eventually be recognized by the hero and, in turn, become a hero himself, like your Hawkeyes or Black Widows or so forth) and stole that bus that time (a very brief affair with Beetle after evading Mr. Negative's henchmen trying to collect debts from Overdrive exhausted him and they escaped their car on-foot, needing to power up the bus in a pinch when they needed new wheels). We also learn that Speed Demon's beloved corgi was actually a missing dog he adopted and he was missing for most of this while he did the right thing and returned the dog to its owners. After the stories and repartee pass, Boomerang mocks Shocker one too many times and he emerges from the bathroom and blasts them all. As I mentioned with ROCKET RACCOON this week, this book continues to be just a lot of fun and great humorous moments, grounded a little (as far as Marvel grounds anything) by its perpendicularity to the rest of the universe. Spencer's got something really fun here and he's doing just what he needs to with it. Total Score: 5/5


Superior Spider-Man 32
Slott and Gage (s) and Gage (w) and Camuncoli (p) and Dell (i) and Fabela (c) and Eliopoulos (l)
Spider-Sanction: Gage (w) and Kubert (a) and Beredo (c) and Eliopoulos (l)

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN returns as, during the events of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 19 (the exploding temporal portal, or temportal, that brought Spidey 2099 to the present and set of Spider-Man's exit from Horizon Labs), Superior Spidey is sent to 2099 in Miguel's place (universe course-correction). He manages to swipe some tech from Alchemax and create a computer for himself based on Anna Maria (little weird) and starts to jump in time and into other universes accidentally. However, each universe he hits on his way home has dead Spider-Men in it, hunted by the same adversary. Eventually he realizes how dangerous this adversary is and begins to assemble a team of Spider-Men from the universes he visits, eventually hoping to amass an army (he already has six including himself by issue's end). SPIDER-VERSE is coming and this is our prelude to it. It's an interesting story and one that allows the story to take place and commence, thanks to time jumping, with Superior Spider-Man getting his hands dirty too. Follow-up story SPIDER-SANCTION gives us a tease of one of our new Spiders, a colder, more withdrawn, and more brutal Peter Parker who has been driven to kill by the events in his life and who joins Doc Ock's army only when assured they'll be looking to kill the assassin. Some pretty cool stuff as the Spider-Man event of the year bears down on us (funny that this is the event in the year when Peter Parker came back from the dead). Total Score: 4/5

Comics this week

Lot of intriguing books out there this week. On the other hand, I'm probably just going to mostly pick books you're expecting me to pick? So, not so much intriguing here as "predictable." Look, these things happen. Maybe Marvel should release its intriguing books on weeks where fewer sure-thing books are coming out?

Black Widow 9
Great book all the time and it got an added boost of heart last time with Winter Soldier's inclusion. This one will crossover with this week's PUNISHER 9 as well. Expect a pretty fun one, particularly as both books are helmed by writer Nathan Edmondson, who has added life to both series.

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 5
Guys, do I have to cover why I like this book even more? There's a lot to like here and it's certainly worth a look if you somehow haven't looked yet, if just to see how the book plays. Lots of neat things, though maybe not quite as neat and predictably great as...

Moon Knight 6
Very sadly, this is the final issue for Warren Ellis and Declan Shalvey, who have really killed it on this book, completely redefining Moon Knight and blowing away readers at every turn. They've made this series, in just five issues, one of this best Marvel has in a lineup replete with good books. I don't want to write off the series when Ellis and Shalvey leave as Brian Wood will take over as series writer and I quite like Wood's work, not to mention that colorist Jordie Bellaire will stay on, which is certainly a win. Still, this will be the final issue for Ellis and Shalvey (who, excitingly, will team together again on Image's INJECTION, along with Bellaire) and I insist you read this book.

New Avengers 22
Back-to-back release weeks for NEW AVENGERS and I can't help but choose this book, which I've loved overall and whose last issue I particularly loved. Excellent work last week as we see a depth of character to Black Panther that Hickman had kind of danced around, particularly because Panther is someone who tends to play things close to the vest. How will the Illuminati react to Namor's ability to do what they could not?

Rocket Raccoon 2
Look, this is why having five books on this pre-game list is sometimes tough. SPIDER-VERSE starts this week with the return of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN, the compelling SHE-HULK is out this week, and the very fun NEW WARRIORS returns this week as well, recently revoking their own Avengers status (well, Justice, as the only Avengers member) to stand for the New Warriors. Instead, though, the pick goes to Skottie Young's already incredibly fun ROCKET RACCOON, which will hopefully get a few more pick-ups in stores this week on the heels of the immensely successful and delightful Guardians of the Galaxy. Not that, if the pre-order numbers were any indication, this book needs a huge pick-up.

Amazing Spider-Man 1

Amazing Spider-Man 1
Slott (w) and Ramos (p) and Olazaba (i) and Delgado (c) and Eliopolous (l)

Peter Parker is back and needs to catch up pretty quickly to the months he's missed. Parker Industries is in some trouble and he has to start getting out of it by severing ties with Spider-Man. Even that may not cut it as their big rollout invention is steeped in nano-tech (Nah Nohtek, shout out to my Croach the Trackers out there) and other cybernetics, a skill of Octavius' and not of Peter's. In addition, the city has turned on him in a much more vocal way than ever before. In the past, he's been seen as maybe a villain but never with the sort of antipathy and fear they have for him now. His first busted crime goes a little awry too as he brings down new villains White Rabbit, Skein, Panda-Mania, and Hippo but only after Skein, who has control over fabrics, disrobes him entirely but for his mask. He returns home to find Anna Maria waiting for him (who had found a wedding ring stashed away in their apartment) with, thanks to the videos that surfaced of a nearly naked Spider-Man stopping crime, accusations about his double life. This special quadruple size issue also includes a plethora of stories from the likes of writers Dan Slott, Chris Gage, Chris Yost, Joe Caramagna (stepping away from lettering to do a quick little writing pass with fellow letterer Chris Eliopolous as his artist), and Peter David and artists Javier Rodriguez, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Will Sliney, David Baldeon, and more that tell stories spanning from a recent attack on another prison that went badly for Electro, check-ins on Spider-Man 2099 and Kaine, the introduction of a new character we'll see in a special AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1.1, and a look at exactly how Black Cat is doing after her betrayal. The start of the issue gives a very brief recap of his origin and sets things up for the ORIGINAL SIN tie-in that's coming which will have to do a little more with the spider that first bit Peter. Also included in this issue is a special reprint of INHUMANS 1.

Story
Just looking at the main story, Peter is thrown exactly as far under the bus as seems necessary to kick things off. He's startled to find out just how much things have changed in his absence and it forces him instantly back into the reactive sort of Peter Parker we all know and love. Slott puts him up against a small gang of easily defeated adversaries for his first match-up back which gives us enough of an opportunity to see him in action while also knowing that he's not going to lose the fight so we don't have to worry too much about stakes, we can simply see how the world is reacting to Spider-Man these days. It's a smart play and, even amidst the blatant comedy of Spider-Man losing his costume right out of the gate, it helps to set up some of what's coming. There are plenty of irons in the fire as both the main issue and the many little stories indicate and Slott is ready to dive right back into things. 5/5

Character
What can you say? Peter Parker is back. This is most certainly the same Peter Parker we've known for so long and Slott finds himself in the position of having very few character developments and instead letting us watch the character in a world that's developed around him. Peter rarely actually develops as a character in the same way that Steve Rogers rarely develops as a character; neither of them have the moral ups and downs that so often frequent heroes and anti-heroes. They're both set in their moral goodness and righteousness (though occasionally a particular writer will skew that one direction or another with varying results) and so it's the world around them that changes and they constantly need to find their place in said world. Peter's getting his legs back under him and this issue proves effectively that it's going to take some time. 5/5

Writing
I love Spider-Man. I love him as a character (how do you write a Marvel blog and not love Spider-Man?), I love his various titles, I love his stories, etc. I quite like Dan Slott too. And yet, I don't think I'll ever call this the best written series out there. There are people doing better things writing-wise and pulling out better tricks and using less exposition and so on and so forth. Still, Spider-Man gets something of a pass for this, almost like a legacy title, with rules that are grandfathered in. CAPTAIN AMERICA wouldn't have survived only being written one way. THE AVENGERS wouldn't have thrived with just one writing style through all of time. Just about anyone you can think of has seen writing styles change massively over their decades of existence. Not SPIDER-MAN though. SPIDER-MAN abides because this style of writing, this lighter tone (though obviously not always) and this hopefulness (that's really more what it is than a "lighter tone") is what we know and want from Spider-Man. I can't promise that I'll swoon over any writing technique out of this book like something out of HAWKEYE or EAST OF WEST or PRETTY DEADLY (which may as well be poetry) but it's hard to be particularly dissatisfied with it. 5/5

Art
With the return of Peter Parker comes the return of Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, and Edgar Delgado, three guys so inextricably tied to Dan Slott's Spider-Man that it would have been nearly impossible to see this book kicked off with anyone else's style. It's great to see so many good and effective styles in the stories following the main story but these guys embody this Spider-Man and they immediately return to form. Great way to start things off again. 5/5

Miscellaneous

Few things here. First off, this number one retails for 5.99, which is quite a price to pay for a single issue. Of course, within that single issue, we also get an extra 20-30 pages of tie-in stories and a special reprint of INHUMANS 1. I'm not sure I love the 5.99 price point for the book still; with Marvel's line wide price hike to 3.99 and amidst all the heat their taking from comic stars like Robert Kirkman and Eric Stephenson, I'd love to have seen a show-of-good-faith sort of thing for this launch and giving this much content for the now-regular 3.99 price. I'm not a businessman at Marvel so I can't say if that would have been feasible (though I do think I'm enough of a businessman to speculate that an incredibly profitable company like Marvel, who knows this book is going to sell like crazy particularly if it's all this content for 3.99, could have handled it), but it would have been a solid gesture, as opposed to charging 5.99 for it and still releasing about a hundred variants (also a little bummed because my girlfriend and I went all around checking out local and not-so-local comic book stores to see what variants were in stock and found retailers marking up the incredible Marcos Martin variant to as high as 40 dollars right out of the gate and even seeing the Skottie Young variant up to around $15). Is it worth it for the 5.99? Yeah, probably. If you're a Spidey fan or a regular Spidey reader, definitely. Do I get it if you're not willing to buy this book instead of buying two regular issues of many books (PARTICULARLY in a week when Image released a slew of reprinted number ones for just a dollar)? Absolutely. I do legitimately think that if this issue, in its current state, had been released for 3.99, we'd all be praising the price instead of eyeing it suspiciously.
Second order of business: I really dug myself into a hole here when I made that final issue a post all its own, didn't I? Now I feel compelled to do it for this number one. Hopefully this is the last isolated Spidey post, though, in truth, I clearly talked enough for this to warrant its own post, if only for that last paragraph I just wrote.
Thirdly: that Marcos Martin cover is gorgeous. It's right there, over to the left of that long miscellaneous paragraph.
Fourth: I swear I'll stop praising even the flaws of Spider-Man comics now that this one's done. I've been particularly easy on it as SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ended and with this kick-off because I do think they were particularly good comics but also because, you know, we're just all happy to have Peter Parker back and at the end of the day I'd rather give out good reviews than bad ones because I'm a happy sort of person.
Fifth: Sorry for this really long section here, I love you all, have a great day.

Total score: 5/5

Savage Wolverine 17, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 12, What If? Age of Ultron 4

Savage Wolverine 17
Isanove (w+a) and Petit (l)

Wolverine has managed to get Sophia and Matti out of town to go to their aunt's home in Colorado, hoping to get away from the action they've been up against. However, their assailants still have Peter, who hadn't quite died in the shootout and who tells them of his aunt's house before they officially kill him. As Wolverine gets a coffee in town, ready to leave, he hears that the two have been there and he races back to the house to find their uncle Burt already dead, their aunt Adele tied up to a mounted hunting trophy, Matti beat up on the floor, and Sophia getting stabbed in an eye. Wolverine dives into the fight and, with the help of the wounded Sophia and Adele ripping the trophy off the wall, he overcomes the villains. Eighty years later, he meets with Sophia again, now an old woman in a retirement home with family of her own and they talk and reminisce peacefully.

Story
The exciting gangster story continues and only gets darker and darker. Marion and Frenchy are driven by their need to finish this job, unable to live with the idea that they've been bested in even the slightest of ways, and will kill anyone in their way to prove they're the best. Wolverine plays his role, preferring only to get the kids to safety and not to attack the problem head-on, which he admits to Sophia isn't the way he's used to working. Framing it that way makes the issue and the story a little more interesting in retrospect as it does really showcase a younger Logan, pre-X-Men and really pre-Wolverine (for all I've been calling him Wolverine), needing to think about the responsibility he has on him during all of this. The downside of this arc is that it does feel like the story dragged a little bit, especially considering this was just a four-issue arc. Now that we've come to the end, it feels like this has been all the series has focused on, like we've never seen another SAVAGE WOLVERINE issue outside of this arc. Still, it's a nice look at another time in Logan's life. 4/5

Character
Isanove led off SAVAGE WOLVERINE 15 with a deeper look into Marion and the Frenchman in the hopes that we'd understand who Logan is dealing with better but, now that the arc is done, it seems like it was a strange move. We did get more understanding of what Logan was dealing with but there's not really a sense of sympathy to them and, truth told, I still largely forget about them until like, midway through an issue. That's probably on me but it still struck me as odd; a pair of villains driving an arc who I can't remember details about except that they liked Houdini? Kinda weird. Logan is ever Logan here and Sophia gets built up a little bit in this final issue as she convinces Logan that she understands him, that no one could have saved Vicky and that Peter died because he didn't listen to Logan. Good work with our main protagonists, a little less so with the antagonists. 3/5

Writing
It's hard to judge the writing of this issue. I don't think it's bad, per se, but I think Isanove's art drives the tone more than the writing. The writing is what it is and it conveys the plot well enough but it's the art and particularly the colors that give this issue some weight. Still, the writing does what it needs to and that's more than plenty of other books can say. 4/5

Art
As I hinted at, the art does a phenomenal job here in storytelling. There are some times where faces look a little bit off or the blurring sort of technique doesn't quite work on people but by and large the art tells the story as effectively as any writing. There is a sense that you could flip through this one and not read any of the words and still have a solid grasp on what's happening. The colors are wonderful and create a sense of the area these characters travel through and live in. It's a strange book because it's not my favorite art by any stretch but it's seemingly perfect for this story, helped, undoubtedly, by the fact it's all Isanove. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Not a bad little arc. One likely that will impress readers as they read it but maybe not stand out in their memory after the fact (okay, that's definitely a little too much personal opinion coming out).

Total score: 4/5


Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 12
Shinick (w) and Frenz and Checchetto (p) and Buscema and Chechetto (i) and Rosenberg (c) and Caramagna (l)

In the wake of Goblin's attack on Doc Ock's one-time love Mary Alice, Doc Ock pounds on the Goblin and vows revenge, prompting them into something of an arms war in their separate battles against Spider-Man. While Goblin continues to try to shatter Spider-Man's mind, Doc Ock continues to try to use science to shatter his body. Finally, Doc rather wins as he replaces Spidey's mind with his own and watches him die in his own frail body. In addition, he becomes the superior hero and fixes up the city through science. However, when Goblin takes Anna Maria, Doc Ock realizes he's not strong enough to face Goblin again and turns over the controls to the growing Peter Parker, allowing another defeat over Goblin at the cost of himself.

Story
I had some problems with this story last time as it feels like it's trying too hard to link Goblin and Doc Ock in a really farfetched sort of way. Those problems persist here as they're the driving force of this book too. Still, the issue races through years of backstory to see where we are today and to wrap things up rather hurriedly as Peter Parker tags back in. Maybe the problem is it's hard to be invested in these characters or in this story with strange and previously entirely unreferenced connection to today. It leaves the story feeling boring and a bit of a slog to get through, particularly considering how wordy it is. 2/5

Character
Though the Mary Alice Anders stuff was there already, this retcon to have Goblin essentially kill her feels really forced, like it's just a way to raise stakes that already seemed high enough in the main story. The idea behind the retcon, though, is kind of interesting, the idea that we've now finished reading Otto's story over in SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN but that there was a little more to his character and to his history with Goblin than ever met the eye. I don't think it particularly works here but I think that it's an interesting concept in the way it was executed. Still, not much else to be gained from character that we haven't seen done better over in SUPERIOR. 3/5

Writing
Doctor Octopus is rather verbose as a character but the narrative here over-explains like crazy. On top of an extended segment where he's pounding on Goblin and each thought is bookended by Ock thinking "and strike" as he strikes Goblin, we get an entire summation of their relationship to Spider-Man and to each other as the years have gone on, all in narrative. It makes for a slow read of ideas that shouldn't really be new to readers and it certainly doesn't help make the story more interesting. 2/5

Art
Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema team up for the bulk of the art on this book, just about anything that took place in the past and they give the book a more simple feel, as does Rachelle Rosenberg, whose colors are very strong but have fewer gradients in the flashback stuff. Marco Checchetto picks up the reins late in the book as he draws current day Spider-Man and Peter Parker when they re-emerge and the art style shifts to reflect the change. Both art styles are great and work well in the time they're addressing and the shift between the two distinct styles works to let the audience know what's happening. Solid art here. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Not a whole ton more to add, I think I pretty much said what I wanted to say.

Total score: 3/5


What If? Age of Ultron 4
Keatinge (w) and Kowalski and Edwards (p) and Kowalski and Magyar (i) and Major (c) and Sabino (l)

It's Captain America's turn in the spotlight (or specifically out of it, I suppose) as the Age of Ultron shockwave kills a Cap in another universe and leads the world to lose faith in their heroes. When Cap suddenly died, the other heroes tried to cover it up to keep a world already upset from finding out but when they found out they turned even more on their heroes. The world fell into disarray and distrust. Iron Man's new plan is to find someone who could embody the spirit of this new America and lead the world into a new day. He picks Frank Castle and they pump him up with a new sort of super soldier serum developed by Reed Richards and put him in a costume and set him to work. Things work out far better than anyone could have guessed and it leads to an even better world than the 616, one where invasions are stopped more quickly, Civil War never happens, etc., all leading to a new initiative of having a Cap in every state and eventually a Cap in countries all over the globe.

Story
Okay, these WHAT IFs have been a little shaky in some of their logic (as is often the case with WHAT IFs) but this one is boggling start to finish. The idea that the world would lose some hope with the death of Captain America isn't too farfetched (though it's hard to say exactly when he died from the shockwave and the art makes it look a little like it's right as he came out of the ice so that's kinda weird that it would even have an effect) but the idea that heroes would try to cover it up is strange and that the world would turn on heroes for it is even weirder. Ultimately, though, the idea that Punisher becomes Captain America, an even better Captain America, is the least believable bit. Keatinge has enjoyed experimenting with these sort of scenarios through the run of this improbable series and has enjoyed turning things on their head a bit to see if they worked but this one seems like the premise is flawed. 2/5

Character
Castle is the character we see most here and he seems to be the same general Castle from the 616, making the shift from Punisher to Captain America exactly as weird as it seems. Still, there's not much character to look at here until the end, when a young girl has discovered the retired Castle and tries to get him to stop being surly and teach her to throw a trashcan lid, eventually prompting her to become another Captain America in the future. Just weird, this issue. 2/5

Writing
The story is the weirdest element and the writing then stays out of its way in a book that has almost no conflict, just a series of events that seem to be going everyone's way. Still, the writing starts to get a little grating as two children start talking about whether or not Old Man Castle really was the Captain America who kicked this all off. It suffers from that sort of "this is how kids talk!" style writing that makes it almost intolerable. Okay, so this is maybe a little bit of a nitpick as it only happens for like, a page, but it's the most notable writing in the book that isn't just explaining what's happening. 3/5

Art
The art, split up between Piotr Kowalski and Neil Edwards, does its work. Kowalski's stuff is pretty great when looking at setting or even at figures but looks a little cartoonish in faces, which comes at odds with the rest of his drawing. Edwards' stuff is a little more uniform but doesn't give the sort of sweeping looks at setting or the really stand-out figures that Kowalski did. Still, both do what they set out to do and certainly don't hurt the book. 4/5

Miscellaneous
How is this book still going?

Total score: 3/5

This week's picks

Sorry for the no-post yesterday everyone. Festivities kind of snuck up on me and i only realized halfway through an Italian feast that I had made no post. Guys. My bad. Anyway, let's talk about the best of the week.

Superior Spider-Man 31

SPIDER-MAN is always a tricky book to name top book of the week if just because I tend to think it over-explains and sometimes has choppy writing for it. I don't think this week's issue was the smoothest issue but there was a real sense of love to it, which shines through overall and carries the book. That's what you want from a SPIDER-MAN book; the characters are some of our favorite at Marvel, the stories endure, and Spider-Man continues to make the great power=great responsibility theme matter even after all of these years. So it may not have technically been the best book out there this week but Peter Parker is back and the creative team here is thrilled about it. It shines through and it makes this book absolutely worth reading.



Winter Soldier: Bitter March 3

This was a tough one to put on the list, barely beating out ULTIMATE FF and NOVA (which I had thought would be a sure thing this week when I was reading it because it was so fun and so sure of itself), but it largely made it here because of its art, which I think is fitting this book so well and deserves recognition. The story is pretty great, the characters are compelling to watch, and the writing is sharp, but it's really the art putting this one over the top, particularly the way the art works with the tone of the book and the story of the book. It also benefits from, for the second issue in a row, a somewhat weaker release week. Still, you could definitely do worse than checking this limited series out.


X-Force 3

Very little makes me happier than a book that I want/expect to be good being great. I've been burned in the past by books I've wanted nothing more than to love but then I just couldn't be excited about. It's nice to have things work out this way instead. X-FORCE is already proving itself to be a strong, character-driven title. The special thing about a character-driven book is that the plot can falter and we'll still be sucked in because we want to see what these characters are up to. Spurrier does some of the best character stuff out there right now, between his work on X-MEN LEGACY and his web/print comic CROSSED: WISH YOU WERE HERE and now on X-FORCE. Even this early on, it's hard not to recognize that Spurrier is weaving narratives together and building up some really interesting players for this book. We've had a look at three of our four characters from their own perspectives (though this week's Psylocke perspective was admittedly more guarded, though she laid out her thoughts to her teammates well) and it's building a definite tone for the series. The writing, the art, the tone, the story, it's all working right now.

Superior Spider-Man 31

Superior Spider-Man 31
Slott (s) and Gage (w) and Camuncoli (p) and Dell and Pallot (i) and Fabela (c) and Eliopolous (l)

Peter Parker is back and he's ready to start setting things right. Carlie explains a little of what's happened to him at Parker Labs and he sets off, gaining the trust of Spider-Man 2099 on the way and helping where he can as he moves towards the Green Goblin and Anna Maria. The two spiders fight their way to the Alchemax building and "rescue" Liz Allan and son Normie, as well as Tiberius Stone (all of whom are still, you know, pretty evil, but they pretend they're not). As 2099 leads them out, Peter heads for the roof where Goblin has Anna Maria strapped to a pumpkin bomb. Goblin quickly realizes it's Peter, not Doc Ock, and begins to flee. Peter follows and unmasks him, revealing that it is Norman Osborn but with a completely different face, one that will be less recognizable. Peter's mini-spiderbots flood Norman's face and inject him with the goblin cure just as Anna Maria frees herself from her bonds and flings herself from the roof. Spider-Man catches her and Goblin and brings them back down to the ground, where Goblin still manages to escape with the help of Liz Allan. Goblin is devoid of his strength and stamina but he's also cured of his madness; the next time he goes after Spider-Man, it'll be at full mind power. Spider-Man meets with Anna Maria and learns that she's totally in love with the Peter she knew and he realizes that not everyone gets to win.

Story
This is it, the big finale of the 31 issue SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. It's a strong issue, one that wraps up GOBLIN NATION nicely and one that ensures that the right people know Spider-Man is back to being Spider-Man. There are still plenty of hints at new possible stories and a bonus mini-issue at the end (written by Gage with art from Will Sliney and Edgar Delgado) shows where some of the people in his life might end up now (MJ is out of his life but still in the city, Carlie's leaving New York, Jonah Jameson has resigned). It's a story people knew was coming but no one anticipated a 30-issue run and it wraps up neatly here, setting Peter Parker up for a totally fresh start in just two weeks with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1. 5/5

Character
Peter Parker is back from the kind-of dead so that's really the big character change to look at. He's instantly back to quipping and helping out non-lethally, returning immediately to "no one dies" mentality. The idea that his personality is so pervasive, that it's so intimately known to everyone, plays a role here as people begin instantly to trust him again, even despite everything that's happened. It's a nice moment when he quips at Goblin and Goblin instantly realizes it's Peter and not Doc Ock and it's a testament to the strength of Peter Parker. There are some things that feel maybe like they're being set right a little too quickly if only because we're expecting him to have a hard road back to being a hero, but it all works here and it's nice to see. 5/5

Writing
Spider-Man books still have a bit of a tendency to over-explain and this issue is no different. Typically I'd have issues with that but somehow Spider-Man feels grandfathered in to over-explanation (I don't always feel this way with Spider-Man but I'm feeling good that Peter's back). Still, I'm not sure I needed shots of what seems like everyone he knows going "well geez, at least he seems to be back to normal!" You can leave some things for us to find out. Also there's a bit too much 2099 talk here and UGH do I hate 2099 talk. Nervous about when the new SPIDER-MAN 2099 series kicks off because I'll have to put that hatred aside. Anyway, certainly on par with SPIDER-MAN writing, maybe a hair better. 4/5

Art
I often confuse (on name alone) Giuseppe Camuncoli with Marco Checchetto, which is totally unfair and often hurts how much I like the art in a book. I tend to be lukewarm on Camuncoli's stuff and I really like Checchetto's. In this issue though, Camuncoli shines. The art is easy to follow, even considering how much ground Spider-Man is covering, how many fights he's entering into, and how many characters look similar to one another. With Peter Parker's return, he has to come face-to-face with a slew of people and Camuncoli does them all justice. Solid work. 5/5

Miscellaneous
What more is there to say? Peter Parker is back.

Total score: 5/5




Sorry guys, got a bit of a busy day today so I'll be back later to review the other books I have scheduled for today but for now, this is just a single-issue review. Figured if any book deserved to have a light shined on it this week, it'd be this one. The blog kicked off with a single-issue review of the death of Peter Parker, seems fitting to dedicate a single-issue review to his rebirth.

Comics this week!

Pretty short list of comics this week but some really important ones nonetheless. Also some I'm less excited about. You know what? I can probably stop saying that every week. I can. But I won't. ALSO, be on the lookout for a new review format this week. I've been thinking about changing it up for a while now and it seems this week, a relatively light week in terms of volume, is as good a time as any to see how it rolls out. More on this later, as I actually figure out what my plan is. For now, let's see what we've got for books this week.

Superior Spider-Man 31

It works out that possibly the biggest new release, the finale of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN, is also the first alphabetically on this list (rare that we start with "S"). Okay, so maybe that only matters to me but it does. Anyway, kind of easy to see why this one is here; the journey with Otto Octavius as Spider-Man, which everyone expected to last a couple months, ends after a full year, nearly a year and a half, and we'll get our first taste of the aftermath this very week.

Ultimate FF 1

Narrowly beating out HULK 1 as most anticipated reboot of the week, ULTIMATE FF promises to give us a look at the new science superhero team of the Ultimate Universe. Recent Ultimate architect Joshua Fialkov takes over this new group, starring Sue Storm, Tony Stark, Sam Wilson, and the new Machine Man (Danny Ketch), which gives me some confidence for the series. Should be fun. And really, really awful for these guys, if Fialkov's record holds true.

Winter Soldier - Bitter March 3

Rick Remender's very cool noir-like story of Ran Shen's attempt to outwit and survive the Winter Soldier gets more complicated as Hydra gets involved in the extraction of the former Nazi scientists. This is the first issue of the limited series since the release of the fantastic Captain America: Winter Soldier, which will likely have no effect on things in this book but felt worth noting. It's still a good book, you guys. 

X-Force 3

Si Spurrier continues his exciting new run on X-FORCE this week as the narrative reigns switch over to Psylocke. Each issue thus far has featured a different member of the team narrating and Spurrier revealed on Tumblr this week (in a post I would link if I weren't writing this on my iPad) that this issue's narrator will be everyone's favorite British ninja. Really interested to see his take on Betsy Braddock, which we saw a little of in Spurrier's X-MEN LEGACY. X-FORCE has been stupendous so far and I'm excited to see it continue this week.

X-Men 13

With Arkea defeated, the X-Men will have to find a new mission and new conflict to go up against. I've liked this book so far but I'm really interested to see where Brian Wood takes the series next. I had the same feeling after its crossover in BATTLE OF THE ATOM ended, hoping to see where Wood would go next, but it just reverted back to Arkea. This new arc will represent the first true new arc since the start and I'm curious to see where it will go.

Nightcrawler 1, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 11, All-New Doop 1

Nightcrawler 1
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a and c)

Nightcrawler is back in the Marvel Universe and he's making the rounds meeting up with all his old friends at the Jean Grey School and elsewhere. After checking in with all of the X-Men around, he decides to head to Manhattan to meet up with foster sister turned girlfriend Amanda Sefton. She's excited to see him (though, frankly, not excited enough considering where he's been) and they rekindle their old relationship immediately until a robot sort of villain attacks, looking for Amanda (not sure what we're calling her; far as I know, her last name was Magik and that's kind of re-taken and I really don't want to get that all backwards. Daytripper maybe? Ugh). After a bit of a fight, Nightcrawler dispatches the would-be kidnapper and he and Amanda agree to go make sure other people in her family and in her life are safe.

It's really hard to judge any book (unless it totally blows you away) on the first issue. They have to establish their character, establish their world, establish their stories, establish their villains, establish their tone, etc. I find it doubly hard to judge this one on the first issue. If you've never read an X-MEN comic or, you know, a comic before, this one might not be so bad for you? What I'm trying to say is that Claremont, in his big return to the Marvel Universe, is really ready to explain who everyone is (though, weirdly, doesn't really explain Amanda Sefton, easily the least recognizable character in the pages of this book). Hopefully, as all the key players have been explained or are explained, this will die down a bit and let the story do the talking. I admit to being skeptical about this series. Claremont changed the Marvel Universe for the better in the '70s and '80s but the style of writing is very different these days and there's less of a need for over explanation to say what's happening in the panels. We'll see if that starts to tone down a bit as well. Nauck's art is strong and absolutely fits the more lighthearted tone of the issue. We'll see how this one presses forward.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 11
A Grizzly Situation: Peyer (w) and Carnero and Pallot (a) and Sotomayor (c)
The Superior Looter: Kalan (w) and Plati (a) and Rauch (c)

SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN 11 is split into two different stories, both told by villains at a Super Villains Anonymous meeting. The first, by Tom Peyer and Carmen Carnero, features Grizzly, Maxwell Markham, telling a story about how depressing and sad he is. He gives a little bit of his history (he's a former wrestler who's also not a very good super villain) and talks about a recent mugging he perpetrated, wherein he took some money from a guy's wallet and then returned the wallet to him with the cards and everything else in it. He goes and buys a pizza and brings it back to share with the guy he mugged, still tied up, and the two talk because Grizzly is just lonely and depressed. A lot of the depression, it seems, is caused by the fact that Spider-Man is so scary now. Gone are the days of a simple fight and some traded quips, replaced by a horrifying potential encounter with a man who would sooner leave you paralyzed than webbed up for the police to find. After the mugging, Grizzly did run into Spider-Man and did get brutalized for it. Now he's at the meeting, sympathizing with other Spidey villains about how terrible life is now.

Elliott Kalan and Nuno Plati bring us the second story, focusing on Norman Fester, AKA the Looter. Tired of continually losing to Spider-Man and not taking a criminal empire like he wanted, Looter left New York for a while on something of a spiritual journey. Also a journey to beat up the lesser heroes spread out around the US and to improve himself on every level. When he finally decides to return to New York, he's stronger, faster, better in every way. Other criminals warn him that Spider-Man is different now but he's sure he's a match for the Spider. He, of course, is not and the two quickly meet only to find that people were not lying and is quickly put in a wheelchair with all manner of broken bones. Despite this, the scary thing Looter has taken away is that he still wants to rob and assault and do all these vicious things, that there's something darker in him than just committing crimes as means to an end, that everyone has a Superior Spider-Man in them. It's a fairly strong piece by Kalan of The Daily Show and the Flop House podcast fame and one that finds Kalan writing a pretty good Spider-Man. Bit of a different issue in general as we take a step back from our usual protagonists of this series (I mean, if you can call them protagonists). Nice little one-shot, good for a change of pace. The regular creators return to the series and presumably to the regular story next issue.

All-New Doop 1
Milligan (w) and Lafuente (a) and L. Allred (c)

Doop lives on the margins of the pages, navigating the Doopspace as he sees fit. Today, he sees fit to follow Kitty Pryde around at key moments over the last year. He writes and gives her a letter during a fight she and the ANXM and Scott's X-Men are having with some sentinels (back from some time ago). Later, during BATTLE OF THE ATOM, he encourages her to read the letter that she had since pocketed. The letter is a love letter, ultimately asking Kitty to marry him. She's very surprised, though touched, but she explains that it could never work between them. Citing a reason, she says that they can't even communicate. In response, Doop peels off his skin, revealing another version of himself (the same physically) who is able to sort of speak English.

Doop finally gets the limited series I'm not sure anyone was asking for. Regardless, there are some neat things happening here. Doop, not unlike the character Forget-Me-Not introduced in X-MEN LEGACY 300, is not only able to live on the outskirts of any situation, he often has some level of interference that helps the people though goes unnoticed. The way Lafuente presents this "living on the margins" and the way he makes his way through the world is very interesting, sometimes literally diving down across a page and over the panels. It's interesting to see, even if the book maybe goes a little too far out of the way to show it happening as Doop drops in on various moments over the last year (that might be entirely personal bias as I've been rather against most things happening in the X-world over the last year). Interesting book to see, I'm curious as to where it will go moving forward.

This week's picks

Another long and exciting week of Marvel comics down so it's another attempt to choose the three most worthy of recognition this week. Tricky in a week full of ambitious number ones, game-changing ultimate or penultimate issues, and fifth issues of varying degrees of interest. Look, lots of books out this week, is what I'm saying. Let's pick some.

All-New Ghost Rider 1

I don't know that this is truly one of the top three books of the week (it edges out books like UNCANNY AVENGERS, NEW AVENGERS, AVENGERS ASSEMBLE, SILVER SURFER, etc.) but it is the most ambitious of the new books out this week and probably of all the other books out this week. The unique art style and coloring, on top of the creation of a new character who tries to shield his younger brother from the darkness of the world suddenly becoming one of the darkest anti-heroes out there, made for a book that feels like it's got places it can go. For a number one, not being locked in to some specific trajectory so early on feels like such a big first step. Robbie Reyes has a whole world out in front of him and we'll see that world with art that isn't really any where else on the shelves right now.

Hawkeye 18

Don't get me wrong, I adore this series. But as a reviewer, it was almost a relief when HAWKEYE stumbled a bit in production and took a little longer to come out than it normally would have because then there were wild cards in the weekly pull list post. With HAWKEYE rocketing out several times in the last month+, it's almost a given that it's going to wind up on this list every single time. Annie Wu's art is tremendous and matches the tone and style of Fraction's writing for Kate, the story is compelling and engaging, the characters in Kate's new life are well-developed, and the stakes of the story rise at what seems like the perfect speed. It's a phenomenal series. Don't let the fact that it's regularly up on this list make you feel like it's going to stagnate at a certain point, albeit a rather high point. Each one makes it on to this list for all of the same reasons but also entirely new reasons. It's clearly Fraction, Aja, Wu, and Hollingsworth aren't really up for doing the same thing twice at any point with this book. Check it out if, for some ridiculous reason, you haven't already.

Superior Spider-Man 30

I'll be honest, this one, like so many issues of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN or even AMAZING SPIDER-MAN before it isn't necessarily as clean as the books I tend to pick and put up here (which is why these books tend to go through waves of making the list and not making the list); it often has a little more over-explanation than I'm looking for in a book, maybe a few too many mentions that Spider-Man 2099 is from the future, maybe it gets a little more heavy-handed and leaves a little less to the audience. HOWEVER, Slott and Gage both clearly understand the reasons we're involved in a Spider-Man story and even though we all pretty firmly knew that Peter Parker was on his way back (particularly as solicit news broke it a couple months ago) seeing him get back into action is fulfilling in every way as a Spider-Man fan. So as the trials and tribulations of the Superior Spider-Man come to a close, Gage and Slott do a fantastic job to get us back into the swing of things (PUN) with Peter Parker's triumphant return. Boy, he's got a lot of cleaning up to do. Nothing's ever easy for that guy.




REAL BEST BOOK OF THE WEEK:
Captain America 117

I mean obviously this was the best book of this week and any other week it "debuted." WATCH, AS RED SKULL ENACTS HIS MOST DASTARDLY PLAN: NOT PAYING FOR A CAB RIDE ACROSS TOWN.

Superior Spider-Man 30, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 11

Superior Spider-Man 30
Slott and Gage (w) and Camuncoli, Dell, and Pallot (a) and Fabela (c)

Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 are locked in combat with the new wave of Spider-Slayers when Goblin reveals to Spidey that he has Anna Maria and that he'll have to leave 2099 to fight a battle he can't possibly win by himself if he wants to save-oh, he left? Okay, cool, he's going after Anna Maria, leaving 2099 by himself. Spidey doesn't know where to go but he's intercepted by Menace as she flies by, taunting about their new captive. He follows her underground while, inside of Doc Ock's mind, Peter Parker continues to see Doc's memories. He gets to the point of Ock's memories where he manages to swap consciousnesses with Peter and, just as Peter's whole life flashed before his eyes then, it flashes before the ethereal Peter's eyes now. Suddenly, instead of losing himself to Ock's personality, he's regained all of his memories, all of the Spider-Man times and the Peter Parker times and all of his entire history. Fully charged by this, Peter jumps into Otto's mind again just in time to find that he's wavering about saving Amy Chen, the girl Otto saved alongside Cardiac and another captive the Goblins have taken, worrying that he'll injure himself and there will be no one left to save Anna Maria. Peter leaps into action, taking over the body and forcing Otto to swing in and save the girl. Peter, his presence again known to Otto, yells at his enemy and tells him that now isn't the time for plotting and planning, it's the time to act. Otto admits his weakness and the two leave, discussing what's happening. Otto reveals that he has overcompensated and has deemed himself superior only because he didn't really believes himself to be, whereas Peter always played down his intelligence and abilities because he was never so arrogant. Otto concedes that Peter truly is the superior one and rushes back to Parker Industries. He goes into his lab and enters the mindscape, deleting all traces of Otto's villainous history and even of his recent history, making sure to wipe the slate clean and leaving only the consciousness of Peter behind. Back in control at last, Peter dons his original costume and prepares to once more face off against Green Goblin.

This is the major turning point for the series, no question. Finally the moment we've all waited over a year for has come and we're rewarded by Peter taking control in his ever impressive way. The planner is replaced by the man of action in a time where action is most necessary and Otto's seemingly final act in the body he took such measures to steal is to learn a real lesson about heroism FINALLY. It's a huge moment and, while this is clearly the A-story, it's not the only thing happening. The Avengers continue to fight their fights (all the while reminding us their current feelings on Spider-Man and so on), Spider-Man 2099 continues his fight against the Slayers and Alchemax (all the while reminding us he's from the future), and the city is turning on J. Jonah Jameson thanks, in part, to Alchemax revealing that he commissioned and signed off on the Slayers despite Liz Allan's warnings that he shouldn't. On top of that, Liz is hiding something to do with this whole goblin mess and that will likely come to a head as we reach the conclusion of this storyline. Lots still to come here. Worth picking this book up for the reappearance of the triumphant Peter Parker and the special reprint of BLACK WIDOW 1 that comes tied to the book.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 11
Shinick (w) and Checchetto, Frenz, and Buscema (a) and Rosenberg (c)

In the middle of Goblin Nation, we take a quick look at a former relationship between Otto and Norman Osborn as Otto reminisces on a time when the two teamed up after (one of) the death(s) of Norman Osborn. They managed to put aside their differences and got along amicably enough as they built up plans to destroy Spider-Man, building up a friendship in the process. Of course, Norman's a bit crazy for Otto's liking and the craziness rears its head on more than one occasion, finally coming to a head when, after a heartfelt talk about their friendships in the past, Norman tracks down and hospitalizes a woman to whom Otto was once engaged, hoping that the pain in Otto's soul makes him realize what Norman is trying to accomplish with Spider-Man.

I'm not a big fan of this issue simply because I don't really buy it. Sure I can see a tentative team-up between Goblin and Doc Ock happening but I don't believe that either truly would form any sort of bond. Also, there's a sense between both this and SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN right now that they want Goblin built into the Joker of this universe (there were even chases in SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN this week that reminded me a little of the famous Batman story THE KILLING JOKE) and I have some amount of trouble believing this if only because we've seen enough of Osborn's backstory that it's hard to draw those comparisons. We've seen him be human and simply cold without any sort of craziness to him and then, on occasion, we've seen that craziness come back up. This one feels very all or nothing and, in truth, is more all than nothing. I have some trouble buying the conceit of this book and, on top of it, I don't love the writing as a whole. Maybe I just don't care and there's more to be talking about in the middle of Goblin Nation.

Superior Spider-Man 29, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 9

Superior Spider-Man 29
Slott and Gage (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Fabela (c)

The Goblins are out in full force and it's up to Spider-Man to try to solve the crisis while simultaneously finding a cure for the goblin serum and protecting the city and his loved ones (or, as the case may be, the loved ones of Peter Parker). He's called away from Parker Industries, where he and Sajani are trying to cure Carlie, when Goblin contacts him and says he's captured someone very important and that they should meet at Empire State University. Believing it to be Anna Maria, Spider-man leaves Sajani in control, which she's not happy about, and takes off for ESU where he finds Goblin holding Professor Lamaze captive. Goblin had seen Spider-Man save both Anna Maria and Lamaze earlier in the series and knew Lamaze to have some connection to Doc Ock and so had guessed wrong about their relationship but still gains the upper hand in the fight as Spider-Man pops the metal arms, which have been hacked by Goblin and immediately begin attacking their owner. As Goblin escapes, Lamaze dives in the way of one of the arms to prevent it from stabbing Spider-Man. A dying Lamaze reveals that he's felt like a worthless coward ever since Spider-Man saved them and he wanted a way for his life to mean something. As Spidey leaves, he's attacked by Jameson's newly launched Spider-Slayers, which prove more of a challenge than he assumed. Before it gets too far, they're disabled by Spider-Man 2099, who of course has been working at Alchemax while living in his past. They quickly reboot though to reveal that they've also been hacked by Green Goblin.

Plenty going on in this one. Just like any good Spider-Man massive event, particularly one with, say, Green Goblin, the story spreads across many civilians, many locations, and many adversaries. Slott made the interesting decision here to place Doc Ock against someone who is, potentially, smarter than him, at least in the way he's planned the attack, and forces Ock onto his heels while he reacts to a foe he didn't even see coming, let alone prepare for. This goes in stark contrast to the differences we saw earlier in this new series; where Peter Parker's Spider-Man tended to be a more reactionary, status quo kind of superhero, fighting against threats when they appeared, the Superior Spider-Man made sure that he and his city were prepared for any sort of foe, keeping situations in check before they even appeared. Now, thanks to Goblin's evasion of the Spider-Bots, Doc Ock is forced into a situation where he has to come when he's called and has to work on the fly, something Peter was far more used to than Doc Ock. Very interesting and subtle flip here and I think so far it's working. The stakes are still high, the problems still often seem insurmountable, and Doc Ock is getting more and more frustrated and irrational. This is just part three of Goblin Nation so expect things to get worse before they get better.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 9
Spencer (w) and Lieber w/ R. Ellis (a) and Rosenberg w/ Redmond and Ellis (c)

Boomerang successfully deflects Bullseye's shots and he and his sort-of girlfriend start to flee but are followed closely by Bullseye while Boomerang's inner monologue talks about how much he hates competing for jobs against someone like Bullseye, someone seen as more of an A-list villain than a C-list villain. Being a C-list villain, though, has its advantages as no one expects much out of Boomerang. When eventually Bullseye corners the two of them and brings them to his boss Owl, Fred pulls out one of those "no one expects much of me" moments as he manages to talk Owl into the idea that it's possible Chameleon stole the painting disguised as Boomerang. Owl doesn't really believe him but Boomerang convinces him to give him a chance, sending him into Chameleon's home with a camera to see if there's something to see. When Boomerang goes into Chameleon's home, he promptly finds and turns the camera, sound off, on the painting, then convinces Chameleon, egotistical as he is, to change into Boomerang as icing on the cake for Owl to see. He's tossed out of Chameleon's house and given the nod from Bullseye, who turns out to be a robot programmed with Bullseye's skills by the Tinkerer, that he's free to go. Everything's coming up Boomerang except that his old team has finally tracked him down.

One of the things that has certainly been hard for Spencer and Lieber in developing this series is the need to create a character who is simultaneously very clearly not a good guy but is also someone who, when all is said and done, the audience can still, for one reason or another, get behind. It's hard to say, then, that we're particularly rooting for him in this situation; I'm not sure how fazed I'd've been if Owl or Bullseye chose to kill him, but you do still somewhat feel his triumph as he succeeds in convincing the higher ranking criminals of what he wanted to convince them. It's a fun book to read, one that moves pretty quickly even with Boomerang's inner monologue constantly going, and with a very-nearly compelling B-story about Hydro-Man discovering that Shocker has the head of Silvermane. Very-nearly. Still a fun book overall.