This is what happens when a character becomes popular - you spin-off them off as many times as you can, which is why Wolverine’s in a million titles! So when the gamble of Superior Spider-Man paid off, we got titles like Superior Foes of Spider-Man (surprisingly good), Superior Carnage (unsurprisingly crap), and this one, Superior Spider-Man Team-Up, which is the most boring and worthless of the bunch.
I think any Spider-Man book that thinks working in references to the Clone Saga is acceptable should be taken outside, attached to a piece of webbing (or rope, or string, or malleable poop, whichever you have to hand) and be sent thwipping its way into the night!
Gun to your head - who does Spider-Man team up with? THE AVENGERS?!?! Ding ding ding! That’s the first issue. The second team-up? Kaine, with the two going up against the Jackal - awful! The third and final team-up? Electro-lite (love that REM song) who’s really a medieval student turned into an Electro-ish character thanks to the Terrigen mist and who the hell cares. Hey, this is a Marvel comic from the last year, it’s gonna be tied into Infinity whether you want it to or not!
The stories are all uninteresting with generic superhero action slopped onto the page that has none of the brilliance or imagination of the main Superior Spider-Man title, nor does it add anything to it. The art ranges from ok to bleurgh. And for most of the book, if you decide to read it, you’ll be wondering why the hell you’re bothering - and I was a huge Superior Spider-Man fan!
It’s also a series without much of an identity. This volume collects Scarlet Spider #20 in addition to Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #1-4 though Infinity takes up two of those issues. It feels very patchwork and uneven, almost as if it was thrown out in a hurry to exploit the popularity of Superior Spider-Man! It’s not even much of a team-up book - Otto just ends up fighting with nearly everyone for the most part. I guess that’s why it’s subtitled Versus but then why call the book Team-Up in the first place?
There isn’t much else to say about this comic besides I hated it. It’s boring. I’m amazed there’s more than one volume of it though I certainly won’t be reading the next one. That’s enough, Marvel!
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up, Volume 1: Versus
Pity to hear that this one wasn't so good. I've read the Kaine crossover as part of Yost's Scarlet Spider (A really good series, despite its Clone Saga attachments, and a series that I've reviewed in total, if you care to have a look), and that story arc is definitely not the proudest moment for Yost.
ReplyDeleteI think the problem lies in the fact that Superior Spider-Man and Scarlet Spider are too similar characters. They're both dark and gritty versions of Spider-Man, and that doesn't make for interesting interaction.
All the same, love the review- will be avoiding this one.
Thanks man! Yeah I think you're onto something with the two dark characters thing, but also I've never been a fan of Kaine's so this was always going to be a difficult sell. Still, I was disappointed with how badly this Superior title was compared to the excellence of Superior Foes.
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