Superior Foes of Spider-Man 10, Superior Spider-Man Annual 2

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 10
Asmus (w) and Carmenero, Pallot, Plati, Oum, Larraz, and Mossa (a)

The Sinister Six, now down to three members with the disappearance of both Boomerang and Shocker and already lacking a sixth member, lay low while they try to work out their next score. They drop by a nearly empty bar for drinks and end up tying up the barkeeper and any errant patrons while they're there, deciding to get an impromptu score on the bar's safe. While they wait for the safe's timer to allow them entry, they each talk about their biggest professional victories. Overdrive cites a time that he "defeated" Hercules by confusing him mid-job and simply throwing him off the right course (like so much disguised Bugs Bunny). Beetle talks about defeating Matt Murdock in court as a defense attorney. Speed Demon talks about arranging an STD-ridden "mask-chaser" to sleep with Hercules. No sooner does he finish his story than who but Hercules should walk in looking for a place to drink. Speed Demon books it out while Hercules presumably clobbers the other two.

Not a lot to write home about on this one. James Asmus does a fine job filling in for regular scribe Nick Spencer while a slew of artists, a different one for each story and another set to do the frame story, bring their own unique styles to the book in place of Steve Lieber. It's not a bad book to be sure and the tone isn't too far off from the sort of casual tone that Spencer has brought to the book but there's not a lot of meat. The main joke of the issue seems to be that they're not very good villains, a joke that has not so much run its course as it has been presented in better ways. There's a little bit of personality added to the characters in the course of their casual time together but I would have thought this a perfect opportunity to build on those personalities maybe a little more meaningfully. Spencer and Lieber return for issue twelve so we'll see if the next one adds anything different to spice things up a bit more.

Superior Spider-Man Annual 2
Ben Urich: Gage (w) and J. Rodriguez and A. Lopez (a) and J. Rodriguez (c)
Wraith: Gage (w) and Briones (a) and Gandini (c)

The second SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL is split into two parts with story one about Ben Urich, shaken by the recent revelation that his nephew was a goblin for so long. Ben, angry with himself that he didn't see it after all he's been through and all the reporting he's done in the superhero community, tries to find Peter Parker with an incomplete formula for the goblin serum, pieced together from various interviews and tests he's researched. He goes to Parker Industries and tries to give the notes to Sajani but she explains that they have their own source of a test subject with Carlie Cooper, AKA Monster. She has an experimental formula ready but she's not prepared to test it on Carlie without knowing what it might do to her first. Ben says that he'll be able to use it on his nephew and get them the results they want. He manages to track Phil down and attempts to talk him into the possible cure but Phil refuses, enjoying the person he is now. Ben calls out to the Spider-Bots surrounding the neighborhood for Spider-Man's assistance and he arrives before Phil can hurt Ben, though he's already severely hurt a nearby Robbie Robertson. Spider-Man forces Phil to flee and then rushes Robbie to the hospital, leaving Ben to admit that the nephew he thought he had is dead. It's a really interesting story of an extremely interesting character (I've always liked Ben Urich) in a position I don't know I ever would have considered. As Ben points out, he's the guy that figured out Daredevil's identity and he's gone up against Osborn and Kingpin and Elektra and so many others but here he was with a goblin under his nose and no idea about it. Pretty neat story and it very much captures the Ben Urich character.

The second story is about Wraith, waking up at Parker Industries under the watchful eye of the Living Brain. She beats up a not-resisting Living Brain before tracking down Sajani and accidentally instigating Monster into a fight. Carlie has been trying to hold the Monster personality down but Wraith's anger encourages Monster to take hold, leaving Sajani with no choice but to use the formula she's created without testing it properly first. The cure seems to at least work on the outside, knocking Carlie out but reverting her back to a human again. Wraith realizes for the first time that Monster is Carlie and that she's had her facts somewhat backwards in this whole case. She pops out her malfunctioning eyepieces and goes out to join the fight against the Goblins. It's another story that certainly needed telling and it's interesting to me that these two crucial stories (the Wraith one is a little less interesting to me but far more crucial to the events of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN) are tucked away in a book called SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL. I was a little on the fence about the release of this book if just because we very recently had SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL 1 and it certainly hadn't been another year since then; it felt like maybe a way to get in another Superior Spider-Man story before April finds AMAZING SPIDER-MAN out on the shelves once more. However, it's certainly a pair of stories worth telling and ones that don't have much to do with the Doc Ock Spidey, instead focusing on other characters in his life and on a story that matters a good deal right now. Certainly worth reading and I would call it unmissable for someone keeping up with the events of GOBLIN NATION.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 7, Marvel Knights Spider-Man 3

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 7
Yost (w) and Checchetto and Diaz (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Spider-Man's control over the Sinister Six has been removed and now he's indeed improved the Sinister Six by filling them with rage and unifying them against an enemy: him. While Sandman holds Spider-Man, Electro decides to try to use his own powers to power the quantum particle engine, which Spider-Man warns will destroy the city. As he starts to power it up, Sun Girl, thought dead, emerges and rescues her father, who had been thrown off the roof of the Empire State Building by Vulture, before attacking the rest of the Six to free Spider-Man. One-by-one the Six fall but the QPE is still detonating and primed to take the city down with it. Spider-Man can't get close enough to stop it but he is able to tell Sun Girl to destroy the device in time to stop everything. She does and everything is barely saved, but everyone knows this was all Spider-Man's fault.

There's a lot of introspection here for Spider-Man, particularly as he faces a foe he cannot defeat himself. Pinned down by Sandman and suddenly realizing the damage of getting the Sinister Six to unite like this, Ock has the time to think about the way his hubris caused all of this and to evaluate what he's done. Of course, it's not necessarily likely that this will change things for Ock as a person, but it is likely to change the way the world views him even further, given that the next arc is advertised as "The Worst Person in the World." It's nice to see Ock a little deeper here than his normal egotistical and angry self over in SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. Now he can't help a new wash of emotions, from a mild shame to a mild surprise to a mild regret to what might be disappointment that NOW the Sinister Six are actually doing something with themselves. It's only categorized as "mild" in each point because Ock isn't exactly brimming with emotions at any point but mild means that he's capable of feeling some. Should be interesting going forward as we see the way the world turns on him now.

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 3
Kindt (w) and Rudy (a) and Staples (c)

The plot to pit Spider-Man against 99 of his enemies continues as Spidey falls through the water from the plane to a submarine, where he's brought in and taunted by the Spider-Queen, Ana Soria, which creeps Spidey out more than a little. He makes his way through the sub and passes a number of his villains, including a despondent Scarecrow and Tombstone, neither of whom seem thrilled to be there or particularly willing to fight, with which Spider-Man is satisfied. Of course, that's not the case with Venom and Carnage, who seem more feral than ever. As they tear into him, Spidey notices a subwoofer set in their presence emitting a constant low pulse which is setting them more on edge. He destroys it and they start to control themselves a little bit more, enough for Spidey to move forward to Scarecrow and Tombstone. Once past those two, he enters the last room of the sub, where he finds Nitro strapped up to a bomb. Nitro, like Scarecrow and Tombstone, regrets his involvement and is sadder and more discouraged than ever. He talks a little about his past and his motivations in the past, as well as his seeming inability to die despite his wishes, but also makes it clear that he's not able to stop what comes next, which appears to be Nitro exploding.

Each issue of MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN has brought something new to the forefront including, this time out, Spider-Man's discovery that his villains here aren't necessarily here because they want some sort of vengeance on Spider-Man but rather they're not sure why they're here. Maybe they want to die and maybe they knew this part of the plan could lead to that. Maybe they were crazy and kidnapped just like Spider-Man was tricked into coming. Still, while the plot has enough going on to keep it interesting, the draw continues to be the gorgeous art that really flows through the issue. This is definitely a series to check in on and to acknowledge the art on. There's definitely a chance, as with all art, that it won't appeal to you or that you think it's being too showy or something but it's certainly with going to your LCS and picking up a copy and at least leafing through it. If it's the kind of art that will draw you in, you'll probably know immediately and you'll want all of the issues available, no questions asked. If it's not your thing, the story probably isn't enough to trump the art. Personally, I think it's really interesting and very beautiful but I can see this being one that really divides people into "ehhhh, not for me" and "oh man, this is wonderful."

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.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 5, Superior Carnage 4

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 5
Yost (w) and Checchetto (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Alchemax has hardly opened its doors and already its the site of a supervillain attack as the Wrecking Crew start busting their way in, in search of an experimental particle engine. Spider-Man 2099 is inside getting ready to fight them when the Superior Spider-Man shows up with his own team, his new Superior Six. Finally we learn Doc Ock's plan for his former Sinister Six teammates as the villains he's captured are now working for him, mind controlled to fight and move on his behalf. It is...sketchy, morally, but it's effective. Spidey admits to himself that maybe he brought them out a little too early and he requires a little help from a new Sun Girl (apparently a hero! Wikipedia has little to say of her as yet) to bring the Wrecking Crew down. They scamper back to their boss Lightmaster, who assures them that next time they will have a bigger team to fight off this new Superior Six. Meanwhile, Spidey settles things out at home with the imprisoned ex-villains and Sun Girl, who was knocked unconscious during the fight and brought back to Spider-Island while she recovered.

An interesting repurposing of the Sinister Six that fits with this new do-what-it-takes Spider-Man and which has just the right level of absolute sketchiness and kind-of brilliance. It also slots nicely into the current events of Superior Spider-Man as we catch a glimpse of Spider-Man 2099 (albeit being very ineffective) and the newly formed Alchemax. Clearly there are some big plans going forward in the Spider-Man universe that will involve everything going on right now on both sides of the ball. How the superhero community (and the civilian community) will react to the new Superior Six is still up for debate and won't be answered immediately but BOY, someone's going to have to start realizing that, as off as Spidey's been acting lately, he's branching out into all new levels of crazy. Right? Like, one person will have to be like "hey guys, I know we already scanned him with our non-scientifically inclined people, but maybe we should like, kick the tires again?" Right?

Superior Carnage 4
Shinick (w) and Segovia and Chrisostomo w/Mexia (a) and J.D. Ramos, Gandini, and Rosenberg (c)

Spider-Man was lying in wait for the Wizard, Klaw, and Carnage at City Hall but it turns out even Spidey might not be enough to stop them. They out-power him at every turn before he eventually grabs Wizard, the one clearly in control of the situation (sort of) and escapes with him. He holds him above an ally in an attempt to get him to call off Carnage but Wizard reads his mind briefly and realizes he's Octavius, which causes Spidey to drop the villain onto a car below. Wizard's hold on Carnage is released and Carnage goes to town, killing Spider-Man's minions and following Klaw out to where Spidey and Wizard are talking. Spider-Man admits to Wizard that he is Otto and promises to get him to his son if he controls Carnage and puts him down. Klaw, thinking Spider-Man's attacking Wizard, charges him before being run through himself by Carnage's secret vibranium weapon, taken from Wizard armory. Klaw explodes in a burst of sound, launching Carnage off of Dr. Malus and onto Wizard.

Solid penultimate issue as we get an impressive fight scene with the ever-threatening Carnage managing to put the fear into the typically collected Superior Spider-Man. Wizard continues to shift back and forth between dastardly genius and sad, old man trying to reconnect with and impress his son, adding some pathos for both the character and the crowd who overhears his hopes. Spider-Man, for his part, keeps trying to fight what keeps looking more and more like a losing battle and whose only serious misstep is allowing Wizard to fall after hearing his own secret identity revealed. As Carnage launches from Malus to Wizard, we're in for an exciting last issue that could certainly go any direction and might even keep Wizard, a longtime Marvel villain, from completely losing his mind. Or maybe it will accelerate that EVEN MORE. Who knows? Certainly not me. Absolutely fantastic cover too, one that would certainly makes me interested in picking up the book if I saw it in my LCS. Mission accomplished, you guys.

Superior Spider-Man 14, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 1, Scarlet Spider 19

Superior Spider-Man 14
Slott (w) and Ramos and Olazaba (a) and Delgado (c)

The Superior Spider-Man has officially established himself as a force in the new Marvel Universe and now, with the backing (or blackmailing, I suppose) of the mayor, he's waging a one-man war on the crime bosses of the city. He's been taking them down quietly throughout the series, in the background of other, more intricate stories, but now he's at full-on war. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Jameson granted him use of the Raft last issue as a base and he's already enhanced that by creating weapons and hiring a veritable army of henchmen. His first stop on this new power tour? Shadowland to remove the Kingpin. However, patiently waiting out Spider-Man's purge of the underworld is the Green Goblin, whose army is snapping up the underlings of every fallen organization to build a rather impressive force of his own. Will Spider-Man turn his attention to Goblin too late?

This is certainly a very interesting story and anyone nervous that Doc Ock might too quickly discover his humanity and turn into just a jerkier version of Spider-Man is probably feeling pretty assuaged of that fear right now. This is clearly not the same Spider-Man Peter Parker was. He's not the ever-innocent young man who finds himself caught up in desperate problems and may regret the innocent way out later. This is a guy who solves the problem the most permanent way he can, someone who sees black and white in terms of what's right and wrong and who acts on it, even if it's not particularly popular. It's kind of Punisher like, but if Punisher was very slightly more concerned with who he kills (Spider-Man often doesn't deal with lower criminals, hence why so many henchmen are escaping to join up with Goblin) and if Punisher was an awful lot smarter. When this series was announced, I saw it going a lot of different ways. I'm happy to say that this isn't one of them. I don't know who would have predicted that Doc Ock actually becoming a superior Spider-Man in maybe not-so-savory ways was coming to us with the death of Peter Parker, but I'm certainly not disappointed by it. It's a nice change of pace for the book in general and it's an even nicer change from what I expected to get (which mostly ended up going back to "Peter will be back within six months." We've officially passed that deadline and, while it's certainly not unlikely that Peter will return sooner or later, the book is moving really well.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 1
Yost (w) and D. Lopez and A. Owens (a) and Rosenberg (c)

The days of the Avenging Spider-Man are over. Spider-Man doesn't really avenge any more, preferring instead to strike first, and the Avengers have him on probation anyway (my girlfriend pointed out to me that he's still appearing regularly in Avengers, though. My theory is essentially that if you have a world threatening problem on your hands, are you really going to not call Spider-Man? Seems awfully petty. Really, not sure what "probation" means for the Avengers. You don't have access to Jarvis?). However, he's still out heroing which means he's still going to interact with other heroes pretty often, and maybe some other villains, especially considering the way he was gathering them up at the end of Avenging Spider-Man. At the start of this series, though, he appears to have gone crazy, attacking and beating up many of the city's superheroes in what looks, from the outside, like something of a power play to show who is who in this Universe. But not everything is as it seems and, while it's a step above the old comics that had a cover showing the Avengers fighting only to reveal on the first page that they were fighting in the training room, comic readers will probably take to the explanation pretty quickly. That said, the book has kicked off pretty successfully with Christopher Yost again proving why he's one of my favorite people on this Earth with his delightful comics and the long-standing appreciation I have for him after the amazing Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes (my appreciation for him and that show has only gone up after watching as much as I could bear of the truly awful Avengers Assemble cartoon that took its place).

Despite what I said above about the reason Spidey's attacking heroes being somewhat predictable, it's delivered in such a manner that it keeps the audience guessing until the reveal, wherein the reader goes "oh, of course it's just that." It doesn't hurt that no one is quite sure what to make of Superior Spider-Man right now and we're all waiting for the penny to drop with Doc Ock at the helm, so it's not unbelievable to the audience particularly (but even to the Avengers) that he would go around showing his strength by putting down the other heroes. Yost is also careful not to explain until he has to, not even giving Spider-Man any significant lines until he has to exposition a bit. Issue one is certainly a fun ride and the art helps the book stand apart. Running afoul of the Avengers again does make Spidey recognize the usefulness in having a team but he refuses to be a part of a team like that. Doc Ock doesn't play particularly well with others; he plays fairly well above others. Don't be surprised to see him using his own team in less of a "team" fashion and more of a "I will make you do what I tell you to do" sort of fashion. No guarantees, but it certainly fits more. Still, good first issue, solid writing and nice character ideas to boot.

Scarlet Spider 19
Yost and Burnham (w) and Barberi, Wong, Pallot, and Bit (a) and Lokus, Soto, and Fabela (c)

Kaine and Wolverine are still in the heat of battle against the Assassin's Guild and the matter is complicated more by the appearance of the mysterious Red Death, someone who had been killed by the X-Men at some point in the past, according to a little bit of a flashback for Wolverine. The Assassin's Guild is caught totally off-guard by her and isn't quite sure how to proceed. Belladonna wants to stay in her good graces and work alongside her, fearing her retribution, while many in the Guild seem to think Wolverine and Kaine have a good shot at killing her, keeping them potentially alive. Kaine and Wolverine continue to interact pretty flawlessly with one another and the writing is quick and fun. The threat itself is pretty intimidating as well, which helps the book. Kaine uses a bit of wily thinking and he and Wolverine work well together (making it honestly a little sad that they've sworn never to work together again, a promise that I can't imagine will be broken given the ending of this issue). Still, there seems almost no respite as they have to battle the Red Death herself and, if they should happen to survive that fight, they'll still be facing the Assassin's Guild. Read the issue to find out if and how they manage it.

The thing that impresses me most about Christopher Yost is the ease that he seems to have slipping into characters. Everyone he writes has their moments of humor, like everyone in real life, all while sticking to their basic character. Obviously Kaine and Spider-Man are both characters he writes regularly, so there aren't many surprises there, but even when he throws guests into any of the books (which he's had to do with regularity, particularly since the Spider-Man book he writes is entirely made up of guest appearances), he manages to write them within their own character but in a manner that slides so well into the tone of the book and alongside the tone of his main character. It was certainly what drove Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, the dialogue between characters and the way that they fit alongside one another, and it continues to work perfectly in the books he gets involved in. Scarlet Spider is reaching its 20th issue and is really roaring along. Each issue is interesting in some way or another and the characters have developed nicely, particularly Kaine and Aracely. This book is always entertaining and always worth reading. Just a fun book.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 1, Thunderbolts 12, Venom 37

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 1

Spencer (w) and Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Boomerang is sick and tired of being a C-list hero and of being constantly shown up by Spider-Man. His new plan is to reform the Sinister Six (though, at current, there are only five members) and work together to propel each other to the top before inevitably betraying one another in the hopes of claiming a stake in the city for him or herself. The team he's assembled also includes Spider-Man villains Overdrive, Speed Demon, Shocker, and Beetle, all of whom fit nicely into their own little niche. Overdrive is the pretty boy driver, Speed Demon is the wisecracking scamp, Beetle is the pretty girl thief, and Shocker is the coward. It's not the best team but he's Boomerang so this is the best he could get. It still doesn't save him from being arrested after some other crime of theirs Spider-Man stopped. He convinces Speed Demon and Shocker to go to his apartment to drop off birdseed so his neighbor can feed his bird but, when they arrive with the bag, they're welcomed by Hammerhead, who reveals that the bag they thought they got (after robbing the pet store) is filled with diamonds (making them feel bad for robbing the store). Hammerhead thinks some of the diamonds are missing and takes it out on Shocker. Shocker and Speed Demon, angry that Boomerang set them up, accuse him of leaving them out to dry. Boomerang explains that Hammerhead is an in-road for bigger and better crimes, leading to better payoffs but they'll need to bail him out first. Shocker and Speed Demon, intrigued, gather Overdrive and Beetle to bail Boomerang out. Boomerang, meanwhile, meets in the jail with Chameleon, who has arranged his way into the jail and, we find, was the one who posed as Hammerhead in the first place. So, we learn after he's bailed out, that he's indebted to Chameleon and that there's no actual heist for his team to pull despite the promise of one, leaving Boomerang in a potential bit of trouble in the near future.

This is a weird decision for a series. I'm not going to complain about it because it's kind of interesting to see the lives of the C-list villains and the idea that they might be bounced around between various factions of B- or A-list villains is a nifty one. Adding to that is pretty fun writing, particularly between Speed Demon and Shocker as they head for Boomerang's apartment. There is a nagging feeling of "this book is trying to be Hawkeye" that's a little hard to shake but it's not executed nearly as well. There are a couple of callbacks, like Hawkeye, and a couple of winks to say to the reader that this is a comic book (like in Hawkeye when a naked Clint's privates are covered by an old-school Hawkeye costumed head, Boomerang flipping someone off is censored by an "approved by the comics code authority" patch). Hawkeye is a great book so making something feel that way isn't necessarily the wrong way to do it, but this book will have to establish itself as its own thing before the reader can be comfortable with those kinds of things. Still, a more entertaining read than this had any right to be for a first issue. We'll see where it goes.

Thunderbolts 12
Soule (w) and Dillon (a) and Guru eFX (c)

Daniel Way takes a day off with this issue, which focuses on Punisher and his suspicion that Elektra didn't actually kill her brother when she said she had. He asks her what she did with the body and she hesitates before saying she buried it. That was enough for Punisher who goes on a Punisher-kill-spree to hunt Orestez. He's followed him pretty successfully, usually running into him whenever he plans to but often unable to kill him for one reason or another. Punisher is patient, though; he's been at this a long time and he knows that he only needs to be successful once. Eventually Orestez has run out of allies to hide him and places to go and Punisher tracks him to a panic room Orestez has sealed himself in. They argue through the door about whether or not Punisher would kill Elektra in place of Orestez but eventually Orestez comes out. Punisher, of course, kills him, before returning to the team. He is tormented by the fact that Elektra let her brother go and does consider killing her for her choice but decides instead to simply slow their relationship. Bold move, Castle.

One of the slower issues of Thunderbolts for sure. It really does focus itself on Punisher and takes up an entire issue doing what probably could have been done in a B-storyline of an issue. I'm also admittedly not too versed in Punisher history (I've read most of his newest stuff but not a ton past that) but he seems particularly kill crazed here. Killing Orestez fits, just like wanting to kill the Leader the first time he laid eyes on him in this series, but there are times where he sees people doing drugs at a party and gets the bloodlust. He doesn't act on it but he makes a mental note. I'm not saying drugs are an acceptable thing or not a crime or whatever but it seems a little beyond what Punisher punishes for. Maybe he can't make those differences though; that's why he's the Punisher. Still, pretty slow issue with not much gained except that Orestez is apparently dead and Punisher and Elektra maybe will break up. Worth a miss.

Venom 37
Bunn (w) and Jacinto (a) and Loughridge (c)

Reporter Katy Kiernan has tracked Venom to Philadelphia and is asking questions of people in the school after Venom's latest ventures happened during a school day at Flash's work. She asks Flash if he knows anything but he denies, getting a little antsy in the midst of all the questioning. After Katy leaves, Flash gets upset that she's coming to try to smoke him out. His neighbor Andi, who probably saw him using the symbiote in a gym class, questions why Katy's asking him things. Meanwhile, Venom has been trying to track Lord Ogre and keeps finding himself a step or two behind. He's been able to free some of Ogre's workers but hasn't seen the man himself since their first encounter and it's driving him crazy. Suddenly he's attacked by a few super-powered mercenaries including a couple of Avenger knock-offs, Constrictor, and Lord Deathstrike. In the confusion of who actually bagged Venom (he falls at one point) he escapes, now knowing that Lord Ogre is willing to hire out to stop him. Venom realizes that he needs help dealing with this and contacts Katy to ask why she's on his trail and to try to see if she has anything on Ogre and his organization. She's optimistic that she can help but the last scene of the issue shows that Ogre is aggressively recruiting mercs to stop Venom, planning to make an example of him for anyone who might be watching. Among those mercenaries is Venom's long-lost arch-enemy Jack O'Lantern.

Venom seems to follow a pattern insofar as the setup of arcs goes. I'm not saying it's a bad pattern but there's often a break issue followed by a new set-up followed by a slow build followed by a big fight followed by a break and so on. Again, it's not bad and it seems like an easy way to get a story across and I'm sure plenty of other books use this set up but I don't know how many others use it this blatantly. It's a good book and this story is setting up nicely, as plenty of others have to this point, but it is a little weird to immediately have a tone set for the issue simply because that issue falls into a certain point in the rotation. Anyway, lots of action guaranteed for this arc. Jacinto's art was pretty phenomenal, giving a different feel than Shalvey's great art that we'd seen recently. I also want to recognize the amazing covers that Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire keep churning out. Every one of them impresses me every time, just as their team-up yielded at the end of Winter Soldier. Solid art coming from this book at all angles.

Alpha Big Time 3, Avenging Spider-Man 19

Alpha Big Time 3
Fialkov (w) and Plati (a and c)

The Alpha Big Time mini-series continues to be better than expected as Alpha finds himself getting embroiled in the suddenly weird city of Pittsburgh. He comes to love interest Soupcan's (that's the name Susan insists on going by because she's a tortured poet/hipster type, saying that Susan is her slave name) aid as a fire in the building over from her work starts to spill into her building. He rescues and hits on her (the rescuing is pretty successful, the hitting on is less so) before returning to Peter Parker (he talked to Spider-Man at the beginning about how much he hates his powers) for tests, citing a new power as his reason to come talk. Peter examines him and deduces that one of his growing powers is sense-related, as Alpha had come to Soupcan's aid after hearing her yelling for help from his house miles away. Peter (still Doc Ock over there) tells him to tough it out and that he doesn't need to come see him for every little problem. Back in Pittsburgh and angsting on top of a building, Alpha tries out his new power, testing its limits. He suddenly can see and hear far too much around him and he freaks out again, worrying that he has too much responsibility, that he can't save everyone who he's hearing in trouble. However, he manages to isolate out Soupcan on the phone, telling someone that Andy would have a chance with her if he just toned down the superhero thing. This sends Alpha into a joy. He visits the patient he put in the hospital (who he seems to have a weird therapeutic relationship with) to tell him all about Soupcan and everything else (terrible plan for a hero to a possible villain) and leaves just before the weird, now blue-sludgeballish patient rises from his bed and kills a nurse, screaming for Alpha. Alpha heads home and puts out another fire on the way, saying "there is an inordinate number of fires in this city" (which, for my money, is the best moment in this issue) and flying away. We're shown someone who's apparently pulling the strings behind the recent weirdness (factory monster and all the fires) in Pittsburgh and who is now gunning for Alpha and his loved ones. Seems pretty brutal to push Alpha off.
Still, the series continues to impress by making Alpha more likable and yet still somewhat obnoxious (as he had been in Amazing Spider-Man). He's still pretty inexperienced so he doesn't connect the dots between this inordinate amount of fires and the factory monster and his own level of notoriety and so on. Next issue promises a team-up with Thor, so we're going to put two almost impossibly strong heroes with brash personalities together to fight some bad guys. Could be a lot of fun or could end in Alpha dead at Thor's hands. Either way, I suppose.

Avenging Spider-Man 19
Yost (w) and Checchetto (a) and Rosenberg (c)

Interesting issue as Avenging Spider-Man again introduces me to a character I'm unfamiliar with but curious about. This time, Doc Spidey has to pair up alongside the mysterious Sleepwalker, a regular guy who enters the Mindscape when he sleeps, leaving behind a mysterious hero who fights off threats that escape the Mindscape. Doc Spidey ends up in the Mindscape, attacked by a fearworm (who Sleepwalker thought had died off long before) which causes him to relive horrible moments and fears of his past. They mostly, for Doc Ock, revolve around his abusive father hitting him when he was a young and defenseless and small but chubby child. It's more emotional stuff to root Doc Ock's villainy in realness and create sympathy for his character and it's pretty well done,w ith pretty great art and colors from the creative team. The most interesting part, though, is that he's also attacked by the ghost Peter who has been popping up in Superior Spider-Man, who the audience knows to be the real Peter stuck as an observer in his own body. Everything is a little surreal for Doc in this place, though it feels real enough for him. While the audience can quickly figure out that everything in here is just in Doc's mind, we also know it's pretty likely that the ghost Peter who jumps on Doc and starts fighting him is the real Peter we've been seeing in Superior Spider-Man. Doc himself lets on to having his own suspicions at the end of the issue, which is true over in Superior Spider-Man too (more on that in a second). Just when Doc Spidey is at his lowest point against the fearworm, he manages to channel enough anger and power (possibly from Peter within him) to push through and throw the worm off him long enough for Sleepwalker to destroy the worm.
One of the things that I've found most intriguing and rewarding about this series is the way that it's almost effortlessly tied to Superior Spider-Man while that series is going on. There's a very interesting subplot going on wherein Doc Spidey is collecting his former Sinister Six cohorts (taking the grain of sand that contains Sandman, capturing and hanging on to Electro). On top of that, now Doc Spidey is starting to suspect that Peter is trapped somewhere inside and will likely be forced to take some action in that. That parallels nicely with the same revelation that Doc has come to in Superior Spider-Man about Peter without really trying to drill it home. It's a smart book and it's developing a real point of its own, whereas it had started as a kind of fun companion book but definitely missable. Yost is showing his chops at weaving stories and planting seeds again and it just makes me miss Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes even more.