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Posted November 3, 2013 by Mikael Angelo Francisco in Comics
 
 

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Superior Spider-Man Team-Up Special #1

Story: Mike Costa
Art: Michael Dialynas, Rachelle Rosenberg
Cover: Alexander Lozano 

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up Special #1 is the final chapter in the three-part crossover story with All-New X-Men and Indestructible Hulk. Because this is Superior Spider-Man’s book, he takes center stage here, giving us a good look at what’s going on in his mind during this whole thing. For people who weren’t able to read the first two parts of this story, here’s a quick recap: the time-displaced original five X-Men – well, four, because O5 Angel is currently too busy making “Cyclops was Right” t-shirts and practicing the cross-arm gesture over in Uncanny X-Men – face off against a seemingly plucked-from-the-past and absolutely-not-Spider-Man-yet Otto Octavius. Naturally, this boggles and pisses off the Superior Spider-Man (Octavius’s mind in Peter Parker’s body, with no one the wiser). “Past” Ock gets dealt with, Bruce Banner gets summoned, Abomination shows up, a big fight happens, things explode and surprise, Octavius and Abomination were just robots made by O5 Beast’s professor for reasons revealed in this issue.

Yeah.

The story’s pretty straightforward, and quite frankly, it’s a bit of a letdown. I know the Marvel Universe is kind of overdoing it with time travel now, but robots? Seriously? I would have been happier with this story’s Doc Ock being the real deal from the past. That would have created some interesting drama (and decisions) for the self-proclaimed Superior Spider-Man to deal with.

I guess my biggest issue with this issue (this whole story, actually) is that, in the greater scheme of things, it’s inconsequential. It IS entertaining, especially for people who are looking for a nice throwback to the comic book tales of old where “so and so team up, solve a mystery, and part with a handshake.”

There’s a lot of talking (mostly Superior Spider-Man’s internal monologue), which kind of bogs down the issue a bit. The art’s okay – a bit messy in some scenes, a bit too plain and boring in sequences that should be dynamic and full of energy, but not terrible. The story also seems to go out of its way to make Octavius more likeable, which is pretty hard to swallow, and a bit out of character for the normally arrogant Superior Spidey.

VERDICT6/10

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This review was sponsored by Druid’s Keep, located in The Fort. Join the group on Facebook (here).


Mikael Angelo Francisco