I like when I have no idea what’s going to happen next. Most comics, even the ones that try to think outside the box, are often easy to predict. Then we have Superior Spider-Man, where writer Dan Slott has pretty much bucked every prediction out there. Peter Parker will be back soon? Nope. Hobgoblin will be a major villain. Wrong, it’ll be a mysterious new Green Goblin. We’ll all hate a Spider-Man without Peter Parker? No, not really.
Don’t get me wrong, I want Parker back, but Superior Spider-Man is a defining era of the character. Issue #18 could be read as Slott setting up the return of Peter Parker into much less of a life then he left behind. Then again, this is Dan Slott, so who knows? One thing that’s clear – issue #18 is packed from front to back with information. So much so, it’s hard to figure out where Slott is going, bringing me back to my original point.
Spider-Man 2099 has jumped through the time hallway to try and stop the time storm that is killing his biggest enemy by saving his own grandfather. Fellow Spider-Fans will recall that Peter Parker-era Spidey had an adventure with Spider-Man 2099. Sadly, Doc Ock doesn’t remember that, making their first meeting awkward. Meanwhile, Tiberius Stone, who is Spider-Man 2099’s grandfather and, right now, Superior Spider-Man’s arch nemesis, is trying to kill Spider-Man and shut down Horizon Labs. Did I mention that some of the Horizon Lab workers are trying use the time tunnel to go back and snap a photo of Tiberius screwing things up?
Tired yet?
After a run in that nearly kills a child, the two Spider-Men head in different directions. SM2099 takes Tiberius Stone away to figure out why he just sabotaged Superior Spider-Man’s spider sense. Meanwhile, Superior is headed off to try to face down the Hobgoblin, who was spotted by his spider minions. The phone rings, and it’s Ock’s new lady friend who wants to help him with his doctorate thesis. Mary Jane also calls, and did I mention Tiberius figures out the whole future connection and there is a temporal event that doesn’t hit until issue #19? I also might have forgot to mention that it looks like Ock lost his job at Horizon.
Like I said, there’s a lot going on here.
Slott’s in top form as usual. Perhaps his greatest bit of back and forth is when Spider-Man 2099 calls Superior Spider-Man “low tech.” Ock flips out, simply because his ego has been slighted on the one level that means the most to him. It’s a laugh out loud moment. Slott also has masterful control of the pacing and all the elements going on in issue #18. Few writers can hold this much info together without it feeling convoluted. Slott manages it in spades.
The always-good Ryan Stegman nails the artwork. Superior #18 is a big issue; a slam-bang action issue that’s also brimming with plot movements. Stegman controls the art with the same mastery that Slott does the text. No wasted lines, no filler panels. Stegman also keeps a bigger perspective on the action through panel placement. His usual solid lines and gift of communicating movement are in tow as well. I am a hardcore Humberto Ramos fan, but Stegman is awesome, too.
(4.5 Story, 4 Art)
