While the new Superior Spider-Man Annual is enjoyable, I don’t really see the point of the story. This isn’t a Dan Slott story, nor does it feature art from Ryan Stegman, or even Humberto Ramos. Instead, writer Christos Gage and artist Javier Rodriguez have been handed the task of showing just how ruthless Doc Ock’s Spider-Man is, a fact we really didn’t need proven again.
Gage opens the new annual at Aunt May’s house. A dinner party, consisting of May, her new husband Jay Jameson (father of J. Jonah Jameson), and Peter is fully under way. In recent issues, Ock’s Parker has ignored the social demands of his alter ego, preferring to focus on creating things for Horizon Labs and elevate Spider-Man’s ability to fight crime. During the party, Jay addresses Peter’s working for Spider-Man, who has recently become so ruthless and brutal. It’s a bit of foreshadowing, as Peter’s involvement with Spider-Man quickly descends into Jay’s worst nightmare.
Cue Blackout, a vampire-toothed demon with a western theme going on. He’s looking to re-establish himself as a badass, and figures slaughtering Spider-Man is a good way to do it. Problem is, Blackout is not nearly good enough to beat Spidey, so he’s going to sabotage him. In the Spider-Man Universe, the connection of Peter Parker being the brain who engineers all the Spider-Gadgets is a famous one. Blackout kidnaps Aunt May, threatening that if Parker doesn’t sabotage Spider-Man’s hardware, May will meet a gruesome death.
From there, Superior Spider-Man Annual #1 becomes a chase. Ock’s Parker has begun to care deeply for Aunt May, which fuels his manic resolve to stop Blackout. The final confrontation finds Ock torturing Blackout so badly that he begs for his life. Ock trades him his existence in exchange for Blackout spreading the word amongst the underworld that Peter Parker is off limits. In one of the few bits of humor, a would-be pickpocket nearly has an aneurysm upon realizing he nearly picked the pocket of Peter Parker. Outside of that one moment, little else of necessity really happens.
It’s hard to rival Dan Slott’s run with Spider-Man. His writing is so spectacular (see what I did there) that any deviation feels beneath it. Gage is a fine writer, but this story lacks Slott’s humor, pacing and feeling. It doesn’t help that the story is lackluster, outside of making Peter Parker untouchable. Watching Ock’s Spider-Man torture Blackout isn’t a shocking revelation, nor is the end with the Green Goblin. For a first annual, I would expect something ballistic and gangbusters. This was not it.
Javier Rodriguez’s art is satisfactory. It’s nothing to rage about, but it tells the story. Rodriguez is coming with the same nod-towards-the-silver-age vibe of Chris Samnee, but somehow doesn’t elevate the work past mere cartoons. It’s hard to take Blackout seriously when he looks like Morbius dressed up for a western themed wedding. I’m sure in another setting Rodriguez’s art would work, here it just feels too goofy.
(3 Story, 2 Art)
