Marvel Pick Of The Week – October 15, 2014

Pick of the Week:

The Superior Foes Of Spider-Man 16, by Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber

Yes, I know this title was my pick of the week a couple issues ago. It was amazing then, and it’s amazing now. And it’s ending next issue, because that’s the way great books tend to go. I wanted to avoid making this my pick for a few reasons. For one, if you haven’t been reading it already, it’s too late to jump on now. For another, I read fifteen Marvel books this week including three about AXIS, two about Spider-Verse, and three about Death Of Wolverine, and I was hoping to write more about some of the crossover titles.

But no other comic made me laugh out loud twice. You could hear me from the office next door, and that’s pretty embarrassing.

The story itself has been terrific. For most of the series, Boomerang and his crew of villains (Beetle, Overdrive, and Speed Demon) have been setting up some heists, and last issue, they came into possession of the disembodied-but-still-living-and-still-very-cranky head of Maggia boss Silvio Silvermane. This positions them to rule Marvel’s criminal underworld, but being who they are, these people backstab each other, and that leads to an enormous and silly gang war this issue.

My first out-loud laugh came from the opening pages, a scene showing how tough it would be to act as The Punisher’s Uber driver. The second one came from the physical comedy of Speed Demon getting bored guarding the head of Silvermane and dressing him up as a pop culture icon. Quieter chuckles popped up during a conversation where Mach VII asks Tony Stark to help out against Boomerang’s Sinister Six, a perfectly-timed spread of panels where Mach VII’s ridiculous robot wings keep him from fitting through the exit door of a diner, and organized criminals joyfully discussing the management skills they’ve learned by reading Leaders Eat Last. Nick Spencer has demonstrated time and again his ear for dark humor while still moving a twisted plot forward and developing characters into consistent patterns of action. Steve Lieber has never failed to tell the visual joke.

I have read funny comic books. I have read villain-centered comic books. But I have never read their combination with this much glee. Congratulations, team. I’m going to miss this next year.

Honorable Mentions:

Ms. Marvel 9, for that supremely scary drawing of Lockjaw on the cover. If the artist was going for “Ladies-Man hipster in a dog’s body with giant mutant bug teeth,” he absolutely nailed it.

Magneto 11, for improving the ongoing AXIS event. I happen to love big crossovers, and the plot of AXIS has actually been pretty good, but the characters have generally come across as interchangeable and too jokey. In the main title this week, Magneto makes some surprising moves, and in this issue, the man who has been writing the heck of this antihero gets to explain how these actions are all in character for Magneto. It’s tough to wedge a great title into a line-wide event, but Bunn does this with consistency and grace.

Uncanny X-Men 27, for letting Cyclops see all the Bendis hyperbole of “OMG this mutant is the most powerful mutant who ever mutant-ed and OMG we are all going to die and OMG I. Can’t. Even” and react with a plan to use him in the service of his militant mutant state instead of freaking out. The amount of characters telling you what a Big Deal this new character is gets annoying, but Cyclops is a breath of fresh manipulative Machiavelli.

Death Of Wolverine 4, for sending the big guy out with a noble sacrifice. I haven’t read his solo title in years, but I have loved this whole darn miniseries. Rest in peace, Logan.