Nick Spencer is known for his penchant for espionage, political intrigue, and topsy-turvy plot twists. But now he’s really flexing a brand new muscle – “The Superior Foes of Spider-Man” is flat out the funniest comic you’ll read this week.
Written by Nick Spencer
Illustrated by Steve LieberBoomerang and some of Spidey’s deadliest baddies prove that with terrible powers come terrible responsibilities! Rising Star Nick Spencer teams with Eisner Award winning sensation Steve Lieber for a walk on the Spider-Verse’s evil side!
Spider-Man is known for having one of the best and most numerous rogues galleries in all of comic books. After all, how many other heroes can say that their villains are so good that people clamor to see them team together in big Spidey events, six members at a time? But while Spidey’s got your Green Goblins and your Doctor Octopi, he’s also got his fair share of admittedly lame villains. The aim of Spencer’s new Spidey book appears to be highlighting that fact and playing around with it in a really tongue-in-cheek way. The most well-known member of this version of the Sinister Six is The Shocker and even he is played up as a wimp and a dullard.
Though I am usually loathe to make comparisons like this, there is a real Matt Fraction “Hawkeye” vibe to this book. “What do a bunch of Spider-Man’s least celebrated villains do when they’re not stirring up crime?” The book isn’t as refined or self-assured as “Hawkeye” is from beginning to end, but the intentions are good. The relationship of the six (which actually only ends up being 5 – another solid joke) is played for laughs as they give one another hell, screw things up, and yet somehow stick together and depend on each other. Boomerang, a character with whom Spencer uses to uncover a lot of funny comic book stereotypes here, takes center stage. He’s got high hopes and despite failure at every turn continues to believe that someday he will be on par with Spidey’s greatest villains. Spencer paints this as a pie-in-the-sky hope that gets dashed every once in a while by the company he keeps. That in and of itself makes “Superior Foes” an endearing title. It’s completely about the villains, but while there is a fair amount of blue humor for a Marvel comic book, it’s just so darn good-natured and humorous.
Steve Lieber, known for his moody approach to Greg Rucka’s “Whiteout”, shows that he’s got a lot of other tricks up his sleeve. There are definitely other comparisons to “Hawkeye” to be made through the artistic approach. There are little pacing flourishes that remind one of the visual comedy that Clint Barton subjects himself to in Fraction’s title. There are also moments where thought bubbles with symbols and iconography are used in place of words or fully-formed ideas that one cannot help but compare to what David Aja does over on that title. Of course, “Hawkeye” wasn’t the first comic to do that sort of stuff – not by a long shot – and it won’t be the last. Still, the comparison is a modern and apt one, given the slice-of-life approach taken to this comic and the fact that it’s being done at Marvel Comics – a place that has become known for taking these sorts of chances with their lesser-known characters.
Lieber’s comedic sensibilities seem to inform Nick Spencer’s storytelling choices as much as Spencer drives the script. Timing is everything in comedy and pacing is everything in visual storytelling. Lieber pulls off both with aplomb. The issue has literally dozens of funny little jokes throughout, but it’s at its best when Lieber contrasts their colorful costumes with the mundane things that they do on their time off. A lot of joy is derived from reading these characters pull off Seinfeldian levels of sociopathy around their fellow man while wearing fully rendered capes and tights.
The cover and the title may deceive you. These men and women are in no sense of the word “superior” to anything. They’re not meant to be. The irony isn’t immediately present, so just go in expecting comedy to trump any sort of dramatic plot or heavy character work – at least in this first issue. The comedy is so satisfying that it doesn’t matter that the book doesn’t really tie in to what’s going on in “Superior.” In fact, it’s better off for that fact. This title can be enjoyed by anyone who isn’t reading what Dan Slott is doing with the Spider-Man character. And if you go in with the right mindset and a keen sense of humor, you will enjoy it.
Final Verdict: 8.1 – Buy. It’s the poor man’s “Hawkeye”, which is fitting for poor man’s Spidey villains.
