The Superior Foes of Spider-Man remains one of the best series about Marvel’s most iconic webslinger, although the hero barely appears in the story.
As one of the most iconic characters in the Marvel Universe, it makes sense that there’d be a litany of Spider-Man stories and series over the years. But the world surrounding the character, particularly the colorful assortment of villains he faces, is interesting enough to stand on its own.
One of the best Spider-Man series of the last decade is the Superior Foes of Spider-Man (by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber), which is all the more impressive when one remembers that the wall-crawler is barely even in the villain-centric comic.
Superior Foes of Spider-Man, despite featuring the Wall-Crawler in the title, barely features him in the story at all. But his shadow hangs over the entire series, and a man implied to be Peter Parker appears at the end of the series as part of the comic’s overall framing device. The real focus of the comic is on the five minor villains who take on the mantle of the Sinister Six — leaving the final slot open to the imagination of their enemies. Led by Boomerang, the team consisted of Shocker, Speed Demon, Overdrive, and the new Beetle. Together, the five offered a grounded and goofy look at the life of a supervillain in the Marvel Universe. Beyond all the masks and chaos, there are still legal battles, parole officers, support groups, property damage, and shattered friendships.
Despite not actually featuring Spider-Man, the series approaches many elements of the character from a different perspective. When the group is dragged into a winding and complex scheme by Boomerang to earn a massive payday, they find themselves grappling with their self-interests versus their general lack of loyalty. Boomerang is always one step away from betraying his teammates, a trait that he shares with most of the group. But the comic also dives into his complicated history with responsibility and what it takes to have him live up to his commitments. The only person who seems to embrace the old ideals of loyalty among the thieves is the Shocker, who is repeatedly almost killed for his show of restraint. It’s a screwball comedy that features surprising insight about Boomerang’s attempts to juggle a happy personal life and a successful work-life, even though his work involves costumes and explosions.
It’s an exploration of trying to juggle an alter ego with personal life and highlights the even greater difficulty involved when that second identity is a supervillain. The art by Steve Lieber plays into the natural comedy of superpowered figures sharing a beer or accidentally breaking everything around them, finding a great deal of fun in the strangeness of the situation. It’s one of the core elements of Spider-Man, applied to the rest of his corner of the universe. While other heroes such as Luke Cage, Iron Fist, and The Punisher appear prominently, Spider-Man himself remains a specter over the entire enterprise, a symbol of the “authority” keeping the no-luck villains from achieving their dastardly ends.
It’s also hilarious. Nick Spencer’s scripts are a perfect example of an in-universe comedy within the Marvel Universe, poking fun at the conventions and characters of the world without making them the butt of the joke. The comedy comes from the absurd situations playing out and the bizarre but fitting character beats (such as an inebriated Doctor Doom demanding an artist to “paint Doom like one of your French girls” before disintegrating him the next morning). Even if the web-head doesn’t really appear in the title, Superior Foes of Spider-Man remains one of the best comics of the 21st century to carry his name.
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