The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1

Boomerang and some of Spidey’s deadliest baddies prove that with terrible powers come terrible responsibilities! Rising star, writer Nick Spencer teams with Eisner Award winning artist Steve Lieber for a walk on the Spider-Verse’s evil side!

Some of the “B” team including Boomerang, Shocker, the Beetle, Speed Demon and Overdrive are the new Sinister Six, except they’re no where near as good… or sinister. Told from Boomerang’s perspective the first issue goes over the helpless team and gives us an insight into their lives.

I expected some sort of action comic, though what exactly, I wasn’t sure. Instead I got one of the freshest comics and best debuts of the year. The comic is more of a noir/crime comic filled with humor from a perspective we often don’t see, the villains. The comic reminds me a lot of the recent Heroes for Hire and Villains for Hire, both great comics that were cancelled too soon.

The writing in this comic nails it with a great voice, tone and pacing and gives us sympathetic and entertaining characters, showing there’s more to them than being beaten up by Spider-Man.

The art by Lieber is solid, fitting the tone perfectly for the story Spencer has set up.

The first issue blew me away and is a contender for best new series of 2013. I have no idea where the series will go from here, but this is a comic I want and want more of.

Story: Nick Spencer Art: Steve Lieber
Story: 10 Art: 8.5 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy

Avengers A.I. #1

HARDER. BETTER. FASTER. STRANGER. The triumph of Hank Pym turns to tragedy for the human race?an unfathomable Pandora’s Box of destruction! When a brave new villain is unleashed, only one team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes can save us from the future ! Avengers A.I.!

Spinning out of Age of Ultron, Hank Pym has assembled a team to handle a new threat, actually another threat he created. In dealing with Ultron, Pym has possibly unleashed something worse. You see, after all he learned from the timeline shattering Age of Ultron… he really didn’t learn. There were no lessons, only more shit caused by Pym’s tinkering.

The first issue is an pseudo explanation of the threat and then Pym’s gathering of his new team made up of the Vision, Victor Mancha, Doombot and Monica Chang. We’re also introduced to the mysterious Alexis at the end.

There’s some great stuff here. I really liked Doombot and his personality. That should bring some great comedic relief and interaction throughout the series. The story though was only so-so. There’s nothing bad with it, there’s just nothing that got me really excited. The fact that Pym hasn’t learned from his mistakes only makes the first issue a bit more frustrating to me and Pym a less likeable character.

I’m going to give this new series a chance and read the first arc, but so far, it’s just ok.

Story: Sam Humphries Art: André Lima Arújo
Story: 7 Art: 7 Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read