Marvel’s Better Comic – Review of the comic book “Spider-Man’s Better Enemies”

Without further ado, I announce that I have found a strong contender for the best comic book entertainment of the year. Really, really. This Nick Spencer comic is really that good.

It is difficult to create stories in which idiots play the lead, especially if they are additionally villainous. Because how is the recipient to get involved and sympathize with the characters when they are antipathetic? When their decisions lead to failure, and all of this is due to their own stupidity? Fortunately, there are writers who can overcome these hurdles and create storylines that follow characters with bated breath, even if you don’t cheer them on. The best example of this is the series Sukcesja, where all the characters are mean, and you love them anyway.

The hateful five

Since I am mentioning the Succession here, does that mean that Spider-Man’s better enemies are on the same level? Where there! An absolute like the HBO series occurs once in a million times. Nevertheless, Spencer’s comic book also makes the recipient sympathize with the characters, even if they are just a bunch of not very volatile assholes. Yes, the badass teams have already received whole series in top publishing houses; One can mention here, for example, the Thunderbolts from Marvel or the Suicide Legion from DC. But Better Enemiesthey are distinguished by the fact that they focus, contrary to the title, on … life failures. In Spencer’s comic book there are five opponents of Spider-Man, whose goal is not so much to do evil as to prove their worth. The problem is, they’re all at the bottom of the supervillain hierarchy. And it is quite rightly so.

 

Sinister Five, Six, Sixteen

Congratulations to Spencer for reaching for characters that are relatively unknown, because how many titles can be read where the fight takes place with Venom, Doctor Octopus or other Hob / Demo / Green / Red / (insert_everything) -Goblin. In Better Enemiesthe most famous character is Herman Schultz, aka Shocker, but despite the fact that he has the greatest experience here, he appears in the comics as a withdrawn and easily manipulated character. Another character, Speed ​​Demon, like Shocker, is over 50 years old. The villain, despite his experience, uses super speed mainly to evaporate and leave the rest to fate. The next member is Overdrive, which was invented by Spencer a few years earlier. Its power is to transform various types of vehicles with nanomachines into their more fancy versions, i.e. Pimp my Rideperformed by Marvel. For example, Overdrive can take a toy helicopter and turn it into a real combat machine (a dream of many lawmakers?). The Beetle, on the other hand, is completely new, although many had this title before. The character is interesting because he works as a lawyer during the day, but only to know how to break this law. Finally, the group leader, Bumerang. Unlike Captain Bumerang from DC, this one from Marvel doesn’t have a military rank in his nickname. Besides, it has practically the same powers, i.e. throwing accuracy, here’s a surprise – boomerangs. The villain plays the role of the main storyteller here. However, his words should not be trusted because he is so-called an unbelievable narrator who leads the reader by the nose. And he does it often and densely, because he is a notorious liar. And an amazing egoist for that.

The cute thing is that the new Sinister Six in the comic actually only has five members. But at one point even the Sinister Sixteen shows up, with a lot of bad guys like Kangaroo. Where’s Spider-Man in all of this? Well, it’s almost gone. And hats off to Spencer, because the story is so well led that there is no shortage of Spider in it.

 

Better graphics

Graphically, the comic is more than decent. Admittedly, Steve Lieber’s line does not stand out with anything special, but the cartoonist feels the comedy mood perfectly. The cadres are sparkling with humor and hidden flavors. An example is the portrait of Doctor Doom, which is very important for the plot, in which you can see his face. However, each time this one is obscured by a different element, which makes it impossible for the reader to see it. A classic, but very efficiently run. In addition, Lieber allows himself a little experimentation and, for example, some pages look like they were taken from a platform game. I also like the use of speech bubbles with drawings / pictograms symbolizing the thoughts of the characters at a given moment.

Sinister 6/6

It would seem that the spin-off to the once flagship title with the Spider-Man could only be washings. Oh, a bumblebee written and drawn half a whistle. And yet the work of Spencer and Lieber is a great title, which, due to its subversive and comedic character, is even more interesting than the main series. While Spencer focuses on weirdos and losers, he has a lot of love for them. This is the equivalent of the movie Suicide Legion, but the latter (from James Gunn), and not the abomination of David Ayer. It’s a pity that the Better Enemies have never been continued.