Superior Spider-Man #1: The Best of Both Worlds

Superior Spider-Man #1 is the beginning of a multitude of things: a new series for the Superior Spider-Man, a follow up to Slott and Bagley’s Spider-Man series, the next stage in the relationship between Spider-Man and Spider-Boy, and a follow up to last month’s The Return of The Superior Spider-Man. Clearly, this series has a lot of build up, momentum, and conception behind it, making it a bit questionable to new readers as to if it is actually a good jumping on point. Thankfully, Superior Spider-Man #1 excels in almost every avenue it sets out to, while also using contextual clues and nods to make sure that readers, new and old, can jump on without any issues.

Dan Slott’s return to Spider-Man has come with new characters, the reintroduction of old ideas, and a unique outlet for fans who want an alternative to the Amazing Spider-Man series. Superior Spider-Man #1 serves as a continuation of all of that more so than a sequel to the initial Superior Spider-Man series from a decade ago. In fact, The Superior Spider-Man himself doesn’t even appear until a flashback story towards the end of the issue. Nonetheless, this issue is able to capture the spirit, tone, and atmosphere of The Superior Spider-Man by creating a focal point around him. Superior Spider-Man #1 deals more so with the lasting ramifications of the character, the side characters, as well as Doc Ock’s recollection of the events rather than showing new adventures (with the exception of the back-up story at the end). This all may sound a bit disappointing to those who are looking for something else, but it actually really works. Slott has somehow managed to jam all of these concepts into this book in a way that services fans from all avenues.

The other focal point here is Spider-Boy, whose prominence here works well when accompanied with his own ongoing series that is also being written by Slott. The focus shifts over to Spider-Boy in a large way in the back-up drawn by Nathan Stockman, where we get to see that Spider-Boy was around when Doc Ock had initially taken over Peter’s body. This back-up did an amazing job of establishing some of the lost time that Spider-Boy hasn’t discussed too much about, while also including fun cameos which reinforce the time period in a very fun way. Ironically, Superior Spider-Man #1 does a better job integrating Spider-Boy into the Marvel universe than his own book; however, since these are both from the same creator, it’s hard to put importance on one over the other.

Mark Bagley never ceases to impress when it comes to his work on Spider-Man, delivering yet another great issue in Superior Spider-Man #1 with inker John Dell. Much like the Spider-Man series preceding this, Bagley gives this book a nostalgic feel, while also making it feel right at home. This may only be an opinion shared by fans of a specific generation, but most fans can agree on a general time or story that brought out the best of Spider-Man, and Bagley was likely involved in some way, shape, or form.

From a story standpoint, there are bound to be fans who are bound to be upset that Superior Spider-Man himself is not swinging around New York throughout the entire issue. Superior Spider-Man #1 really goes out of its way to justify this, truly creating a story that is the best of everything that has built it up to this point. It may be a bit of mis-advertisement to call the series Superior Spider-Man and have him solely on the cover, but the story itself is firmly about The Superior Spider-Man, and is very well told and illustrated.