Superior Spider-man Team-Up #2

Superior Spider-man Team-Up #2

"Sibling Rivalry: Part 1"

Story: Chris Yost
Penciler: Marco Checchetto
Colourist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover: Paolo Rivera and Joe Rivera

The highly anticipated meeting between Superior Spider-man and Scarlet Spider!!  Does this issue live up to the hype or is it more reminiscent of the dreaded "Clone Saga"?  Hit the jump to find out!


Summary:  The issue opens with the Jackal in his lab, preparing to go to battle with Spider-man and Scarlet Spider.  Meanwhile, Spider-man is swinging through the city thinking to himself how he is the greatest hero there is, and that he certainly is a better Spider-man and Peter Parker than the original ever was.  Otto arrives home, only to find Kaine (aka Scarlet Spider), Peter Parker's clone, waiting to talk to him.  Otto becomes enraged and attacks Kaine, with memories of the time Kaine killed Doctor Octopus fueling his fury.  A confused Scarlet Spider fights back, and the two heroes begin brawling on the rooftops before being interrupted by the Jackal, Carrion, and a host of genetically mutated half-man-half-spiders.  Spider-man and Scarlet Spider put aside their differences to team up against the Jackal and his minions.  The battle results in Carrion taking out Scarlet Spider and a Gwen Stacy clone blasting Spider-man with some sort of weapon.  Things look bleak for the heroes as the issue ends (story is continued in Scarlet Spider #20).

The good:  Perhaps the best thing about this issue is that Marvel gave the fans something they wanted; the confrontation between the Superior Spider-man and the Scarlet Spider!  Ever since Otto
took over Peter's body fans have wondered how a meet up between Otto and Kaine would play out, as once upon a time Kaine killed Otto when he was Doctor Octopus.  This meeting plays out about how one would expect, with an enraged Otto attacking Kaine.  Yost really does a great job in this issue developing the conflict and eventual team-up of the two heroes.  Yost spends most of the first part of the issue having Otto reminisce about how he came to completely take over Peter's body and how much better of a hero is is than Parker ever was.  This is highly effective both in reminding readers how Otto came to where he is now and in setting up the contradiction that is the Superior Spider-man, as he quickly abandons his heroic qualities to seek a personal revenge against Kaine.  The fight between Spider-man and Scarlet Spider is well done, with Kaine being confused as to why they are fighting and Spider-man being fueled by revenge.  Yost includes some great internal monologue with Otto wondering why Kaine is not as strong as he used to be, only for him to realize that Kaine was holding back at first.  Yost goes on to show how powerful Kaine is and captures the character's confusion and anger very well.  The use of the Jackal to end the conflict and cause the two to team up may be an obvious choice, but it also makes  a lot of sense as he is a common enemy with strong emotional ties to both characters.  Yost handles the team up well, as Otto is reluctant the entire time and finds himself having to save Scarlet Spider from Carrion.  Otto tells himself he does this so that he can later kill Kaine himself, but Yost drops some hints in there that maybe Otto's actions are more noble.  the issue ends with a nice cliff hanger, with Kaine taken out by Carrion and Spider-man by the clone of his ex-girlfriend.  Finally, the art team does a stellar job in this issue.  Chechetto incorporates some really big and gorgeous looking panels as well as some stellar fight scenes, while Rosenberg's
colors fit perfectly with his pencils. 

The not so good:  There really are not many faults with this issue.  One thing that would have been nice would have been to see just a little more of the conflict between Spider-man and Scarlet Spider, and to have maybe seen Kaine's thoughts as well as Otto's during the conflict.  As the story crossed over both character's books I think this could have been possible, but that is probably being saved for the second part of the story.

Overall rating: A- (9.0/10)

Ads:

The first ad is for what looks to be a super cool interactive movie with the Marvel heroes.  Unfortunately it's in London, which means I won't get to go.  The second ad is for a video game called Payday 2.  I don't know much about the game but the ad is cool.