Superior Spider-manTeam-Up #3

Superior Spider-man Team-Up #3

"Infinity"

Story: Robert Rodi

Art: Michael de Mundo

Letterer: Joe Caramagna
 

The Superior Spider-man battles the forces of Thanos alongside the Mighty Avengers in this "Infinity" tie-in.  Does this issue provide infinite thrills or is it all tied up?  Hit the jump to find out!

Summary:  Sylvia is a girl who longs for simpler times, before the world was dominated by computers and technology.  As she prepares to leave the library she is suddenly engulfed in a cloud of gas.  Meanwhile, Spider-man and the Mighty Avengers are battling the forces of Thanos in New York City.  As the battle rages on, Spider-man is contacted of a disturbance in Upper Manhattan by one of his Spider-bots.  Thinking the invasion has spread, Spider-man races off to the location of the disturbance.  When Spider-man arrives he finds Sylvia, who has transformed into some sort of electrical being.  Spider-man promises to help her and encourages her to travel back with him to fight against the invasion.  Calling herself Fulmina, Sylvia travels through the power lines to Times Square, where she realizes the power she has and promises to return the world to a time before technology.  The issue ends with Fulmina apparently blowing up Times Square.

The good: This issue has some pretty good character moments as Otto battles a major world-wide invasion for the first time as a hero.  Rodi inserts a real nice moment where Otto realizes that not too long ago he was planning a similar fate for the world himself.  This seems to give him even more motivation to not just be a hero, but to be the "greatest hero the city has ever known".  These moments in the Superior Spider-man books are always highlights when they are written well, as it shows the complexity the character has developed as Otto struggles with his past and villain like tendencies he still displays while trying to be a hero.  The end of the issue is also a strength, as Spider-man promises to help Sylvia and encourages her to be a hero.  It's a nice moment that shows Otto can really be a "good guy" and does try to do the right thing.  This helps to makes the moment where Fulmina begins destroying Times Square even more tragic, as Spider-man will now have to attempt to take Fulmina down.  Finally, Del Mundo does a solid job with the art in this issue.  The pale and yellowish tone to the art makes the invasion cast a feeling of gloom over the city, and also
highlights Fulmina and her powers.

The not so good:  Basically, not much happens in this issue until the end.  Most of the issue is just Spider-man bantering and fighting, all things that were already seen in Mighty Avengers.  This issue should have focused more on Fulmina and Spider-man and less on the invasion.  This is probably less on Rodi and more on Marvel, who almost certainly insisted the issue be a tie-in to Infinity.  As with other issues, Spider-man seems a bit off in this issue.  Dan Slott really has a great handle on Otto/Superior Spider-man, and other writers just don't seem to write him as consistently as Slott.  The transitions between Otto's villainous tendencies and him being heroic tend to be less smooth and make the character seem more schizophrenic than conflicted.  That's not to say Rodi does a bad job writing the character, but there is a noticeable difference than how Slott writes him in Superior Spider-man.  Basically, this is a very average issue that is brought down by being a tie-in to Infinity.

Overall rating: C (7.3/10)

Ads:

These particular ads display some of the exciting things going on with Marvel on TV right now.  The first features and ad for the new show "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D" while the second features and add for two animated series; "Ultimate Spider-man" and "Avengers Assemble".