Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #1 (Marvel)

Rating: 3.5/5 – Doc Ock looks to get the old team together

The idea behind Superior Spider-Man Team-Up comic came from the pages of the Superior Spider-Man title where Spider-Man was put on probation by the Avengers due to his actions while fighting crime.  This is laid out for readers on the summary page of Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #1 even though as a reader of the Avengers comics I am not sure where that has happened in those series yet.

Chris Yost is writing Superior Spider-Man Team-Up with David Lopez on pencils.  Inks and colors are being handled by Andy Owens and Rachelle Rosenberg respectively with VC’s Joe Caramagna doing the lettering.  I am not sure who the regular artist will be on the title as one is not listed on the Marvel site for issue 2 and Marco Checchetto is listed as the artist for the recently solicited third issue.

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #1is not your typical first issue as Yost does a solid job of keeping the reader in the dark as to the motives behind Spider-Man’s actions.  What we see from the opening page is Spider-Man travelling all over New York City battling heroes of the Marvel Universe from Cloak and Dagger (complete with Dagger catching a Spidey-punch to the face) to Daredevil to Doctor Strange.

Captain America finally says enough is enough and the Avengers intervene to put a stop to Spider-Man’s tirade across the city at which his motives are finally revealed.

Yost and company have built a fun story that certainly packs in the action but my main critique of the issue is the art that isn’t to my liking.  Lopez has drawn the book in a cartoonish style and I think he does the action panels well. Where it falls off for me is panels with multiple characters and ones where characters sit in the background.  The characters do not look as tight to me on those pages as his other panels.

My other issue with this book is the need for it or lack thereof.  In a time where comics are plentiful and most comic book reader’s budgets are not, what will this book do to further the Superior Spider-Man story that couldn’t have been done in the main book?  Will there be enough story and content to propel this book along or will it seem like a superfluous addition to the line of Spider-Man books on the shelves?

Those following the Superior Spider-Man book will probably want to check Superior Spider-Man Team-Up out to see what the character is up to but I question the appeal of the book for general fans of the Marvel Universe.

Reviewed by: Jeff Bouchard – jeff@comicspectrum.com
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