Superior Spider-Man #23 – Review

by Dan Slott, Christos Gage (Writers), Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba (Artists), Edgar Delgado (Colorist)

The Story: Flash Thompson goes to hide at Peter Parker’s home after fleeing from Spider-Man. I suppose he didn’t get the memo…

The Review: Every long term story reaches a certain point where it needs to carefully move its pieces on the boards in order to reach the next stage of the plot. After all, every elements needs to be on board with the themes and how the story flow, which means that either the actions, conflicts and general behaviour of the characters need to converge in order for the story to be focused enough for the story to actually progress forward. Not all writers are able to do so in a way that manages to still be exciting or entertaining enough, leaving disappointing middle chapters in many sagas and arcs. However, does Dan Slott and Christos Gage manages to make this chapter work?

Despite their best efforts, there is unfortunately a lot of setup in place in this issue, which breaks the progression of the story a bit. It’s not something that ends up being non-enjoyable, yet there are various problems in the issue that limit its entertainment value and the progression of the story in itself.

One of the main problem is that both Slott and Gage stray a bit too far from the main plot in order to give some pages to other subplots, with M.J, J. Jonah Jameson, Carlie Cooper and Aunt May getting some time in the spotlight. While some of their scenes do end up serving the overarching story, it does not really do much for the main one following Flash Thompson and Otto Octavius.

Where it goes a bit wrong is how some of these subplots gets in the actual way of the main plot in some scenes, like the scene where Aunt May, Anna Maria, Flash and others are all eating together. It works at bringing some of the characters together, but it becomes a bit messy and it fails to deliver a bit on some of these smaller threads as well.

Where the issue delivers is in the characterization, with most characters being written very well. Flash Thompson is still his introspective and damaged self, Anna Maria is still the smart and confident person she is, Aunt May is still sweet and caring and Otto is still his arrogant self. The way these characters interacts or are portrayed makes for some rather entertaining moments in this issue, which is to be expected considering Christos Gage is involved.

The dialogue is also rather entertaining at times, with a plethora of different voices that rings true, but with some gems in the issue. It’s nowhere near perfect, but it never gets in the way of the actual story and it mostly delivers the intents and characterization aptly. There are moments when it gets a bit awkward, yet it fits the context of the story quite well, which is commendable of both writers.

Where the issue shines a bit more is with Humberto Ramos and his portrayal of several scenes. How he depicts some elements like the Venom symbiote, the action at the start of the issue and some of the technological details is really good, with a certain precision that is surprising considering his rather cartoony style. The expressions for his characters are also well done, despite the overall hyperbole in their appearances. The emotions that Ramos is trying to convey are all clear, with a surprising range at times, which works in an issue with a lot of character interactions. His sceneries and backgrounds are also commendable, with just enough details to give a proper diversity to the environments without pushing the focus away from the characters. Where he falters a bit is in his panelling, which isn’t always optimal to some scenes. While it is generally solid, there are pages where it becomes a bit too chaotic for its own good, putting the narrative flow in a bit of a jam as a result and making it appear a bit more confusing.

The colorization of Edgar Delgado is pretty sound throughout, though, with a vast range of colors and toe being used without hurting the cohesion of the story. The scenes with Venom are suitably darker, with a heavy use of shadows an some colder colors in order to bring out the few elements that don’t concord in the light. In contrast, the scenes with Otto are a bit brighter, though not by much. This creates an actually interesting comparison with Flash Thompson, the nobler of the two who receives the darker treatment, which is a nice touch of irony. The heavy use of lighting effects in some scenes do distract a bit, with the scenes in the medical bay being a bit too cold and bright to be as impressive as other scenes. The use of lighting works for the most parts, yet it is perhaps a bit too present at times.

The Conclusion: The art, colorization and characterization works very well here, yet they are a bit slowed down by the fact that the plot jumps a bit everywhere and that it takes a good while until it finally moves to where the story must go. It’s fine, but it certainly isn’t the best chapter in the Superior Spider-Man saga.

Grade: B-

Hugo Robberts Larivière