The week in comics 16/01/13

Please note that SPOILERS may be present in this article

The Superior Spider-Man returns this week in not one but two new adventures, propping him next to other Marvel heroes that the regular Spider-Man shares a great deal of history with.

First up is regular team up book, Avenging Spider-Man, featuring the X-Men (well, the ones that aren’t currently international fugitives). Here writer Chris Yost begins to have a little more fun with the body swap concept than Dan Slott’s flagship book is planning to take. The new webslinger clearly isn’t a mutant sympathiser, which puts an interesting spin on the proceedings.

It’s an issue oddly reminiscent of early team-up books, where the heroes would face off against each other before discovering some sort of profound respect for each other and overcoming the real threat. There are plenty of funny moments – something bound to be available in spades while this book continues – and there’s an interesting twist that should guarantee an enjoyable arc ahead for this book. It’s an empty, but perfectly entertaining read.

Ironically, it’s the team up outside of Avenging that proves more effective. Yes, the new Spider-Man shows up again this week in Mark Waid’s Daredevil. This is a series that has redefined its hero in its twenty issue run, and this has earned a little break from the usual thrills and spills to focus an issue on a classic team-up. It’s funnier than Avenging, pitting our new ‘hero’ against a man that can sniff out even the slightest lie, and the return of the Stilt-Man is a welcome treat. It’s not the most demanding or exciting issue of this brilliant series, but it’s probably the best showing the new Spidey’s had yet.

One of my big issues with comic book, uh, issues is when you don’t feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of a single book. Despite adoring the first two issues of Remender’s new Captain America series, this third entry felt far too brief and insignificant to justify its price. No doubt it lays down some pivotal character development as Cap finally catches a break in the wastes of Dimension Z, and there’s a killer twist to boot, but when the book is over and done with there’s an undeniable feeling of not getting as much out of it as the last two issues. It’s a slight falter which will no doubt be rectified next time.

 The week ends with Batman; a series so consistently brilliant that I all I need do is nod in approval at yet another fantastic issue. Writer Scott Synder is slap bang in the middle of a landmark Joker tale that will undoubtedly go down as one of the better stories in the villain’s history. It’s an intense story that has convinced us to genuinely be fearful of the safety of classic characters. The success of the story will be defined by just how far Synder takes the conclusion, but the journey there certainly hasn’t disappointed.