written by Nick Spencer
penciled by Humberto Ramos
inked by Victor Olazaba
colored by Edgar Delgado
Superior Foes of Spider-Man sequence drawn by Steve Lieber and colored by Rachelle Rosenberg
Things turn ugly for Peter Parker following his triumph at Spider-Man trivia night at the Bar with No Name, as, for reasons not at all attributable to him (for once), every single supervillain in the bar turns on him and the man who brought him there, Fred Myers, aka Boomerang, as a result of Fred having seriously pissed off Wilson Fisk, the Mayor of New York City, and ever and always the Kingpin of Crime. Backed into a corner and unwilling to use his superpowers, lest he expose his secret, Peter is in for a really nasty fight alongside Fred against an entire bar full of supervillains, and it's not clear how they'll get out of this jam. Meanwhile, the mysterious foe who has been stalking Spider-Man since the very first issue of this series makes his move yet again, and while his motives (and identity) remain unclear, his quarry is not, and it seems he knows exactly who is under the mask.
I never had the fortune of following Nick Spencer's acclaimed, short-lived series Superior Foes of Spider-Man. It pretty much just flew under my radar, but it seems clear that it was his work on this title in particular that helped him nab the job of writing the main Spidey book. Following the events of the Secret Empire crossover it seems that the "Superior Foes" are no more, and Spencer gives readers a poignant, if slightly mischievous coda to that particular team's saga. This story also gives Peter, who never dons the red and blue tights in this issue, a chance to reflect on his own life, and to be the bigger man who a supervillain who may or may not be genuinely reformed, but who, he realizes, deserves a second chance anyway.
This story looks like it'll stretch out for a few issues more as Fisk has it in for Myers, whom he feels has double-crossed him, but this particular issue wrapped up quite neatly, with a pretty lively action sequence, some crisp, if slightly maudlin dialogue and the entertaining sight of Peter using something other than his superpowers to get himself out of a tight spot. Again, Spencer is joined by Humberto Ramos, with his Foes co-creator Steve Lieber contributing the cheeky three-page "Superior Foes" sequence, and again the art is quite decent. I especially like how Ramos illustrates Spidey's mysterious, giant-centipede-wielding foe, who may or may not be Mephisto or someone similar, given that he knows Pete's identity and has a thing for Faustian bargains. Whether or not this is Mephisto, he is a genuinely creepy character, and I have to say I'm interested to see how this particular saga will pay off, a lot more so than the eventual confrontation with Kraven the Hunter that Spencer is also trying to set up.
Things may or may not be looking up for Boomerang, whose "Superior Spider Foe" days appear to be behind him (for now), and I have to say, I hope Spencer has him stick around a bit longer as he's starting to grow on me a little.
8/10
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