Anghus Houvouras reviews The Superior Spider-Man #6….
“The new super villain duo, Jester & Screwball, are punking heroes across the internet. And now they’ve set their site on the Superior Spider-Man (who is SO not good with that).“
Superior Spider-Man has been slowly building towards the inevitable confrontation between the more violent, aggressive wall crawler and his peers in the superhero community. Ever since Doctor Octopus took over the driver’s seat, there have been a few encounters with his fellow heroes, many of whom have picked up on the not too subtle differences between the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the “Superior” version.
Last issue dealt with the painful realities every hero faces when confronting a murderous villain: is there such a thing as justifiable homicide? Octavius thought so, murdering the insane Massacre after realizing that he was beyond rehabilitation and could not be allowed to pass through the system only to kill again. This massive shift in character has not gone unnoticed. Captain America and the Avengers are taking a closer look at Spider-Man’s recent activities and wondering if it’s time for an intervention. Wolverine comes to his defense in an intriguing scene where he plainly tells his fellow heroes that every Avenger there has spilled blood and that none of them are fit to judge.
This issues has Spider-Man facing a far less menacing threat in two would be villains, Jester and Screwball, who are more interested in media attention than mayhem, live streaming their antics on the internet. When their latest stunt embarrasses Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, he asks Spider-Man to help bring them down. Reluctantly, he agrees, and takes off after them. When confronted, they pull a few dirty tricks and quickly get under Octavius’ nerves which elicits a response: he beats them down to within an inch of their life.
Peter is still dumpster diving through Octavius’ memories trying to find a way out. He stumbles into some troubling past events. It seems Octavius was bullied as a child. With all this power, and little of the responsibility, he puts a beatdown on Jester and Screwball redirecting years of anger, rage, and inadequacies. This very public bludgeoning makes it clear that the Avengers need to step in. We’ll have to wait until the next issue to see how that goes. I’m guessing “not well”.
Another solid issue from Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos. Everybody saw this coming. It was only a matter of time before Octavius tipped his hand and revealed his sociopathic side to the world. Even the guise of Spider-Man isn’t enough to hide that. There are cracks in the armor. People are starting to consider this might not be the Spider-Man they have come to know and trust.
There was some wonderfully fun hypocrisy at play. Watching the Avengers discuss Spider-Man and pass judgement on his decisions seemed almost amusing, seeing how many times they’ve left poor Peter on his own when dealing with life and death situations. Spider-Man has always been the lovable loser of the bunch, left on his own to deal with the death of friends and loved ones. While the other heroes were off saving the world, Spider-Man was dealing with his own tragedies and a relentless rogues gallery. Seeing this sanctimonious group (minus Wolverine, who came across as the only voice of reason) talking about Spider-Man like a bastard red-headed stepchild felt incredulous. I’m fairly certain that was the goal.
What’s good about this book is I find myself rooting for Octavius. Sure, he’s crazy and prone to fits of rage. But as the noose begins to tighten around his neck, I’m hoping he finds a way to wiggle out.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the graphic novel EXE: Executable File, is available from Lulu.com.
Originally published March 22, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
