Superior Spider-man Team Up #6 review

It’s the Sinister Six vs. the Masters of Evil in a super villain throw down.

Superior Spider-man Team-Up #6

Writer: Christopher Yost

Artist: Marco Checchetto

Color Art: Rachelle Rosenberg

Letters: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Cover: Paolo Rivera & Joe Rivera

Spoilers to follow after the break:

The Plot: Word gets out that Spidey is working with the Sinister Six and no one is happy about it. At Octo-Spidey’s secret lab the Sinister Six continue to vow revenge with Chameleon beginning to realize something has changed about Spider-man.

We get a brief day in the life of Sun Girl before she runs into Whirlwind. He says he is waiting for someone else and asks her to go away in a funny bit. That someone else is the Sinister Six and once they arrive the Masters of Evil step from the shadows. And not just any incarnation of the Masters but the A-list version that followed Baron Zemo Jr. in “Under Siege” (one of the five greatest Avengers stories ever told. It’s by Roger Stern and if you have never read you need to buy the trade). Anyway the line-up includes Absorbing Man, Titania, Mr. Hyde, Blackout and the Wrecking Crew.

Meanwhile Lightmaster goes off to steal the macguffin from last issue, which is apparently a teleporter that leaves an explosive discharge in its wake.

The Six and Sun Girl are barely able to hold their own with the Masters. Ock’s summons his robots for help but they get destroyed in a panel. Spidey himself is doing well thanks to his agility but his teammates are starting to fall down rapidly.

Ock decides to grab Sun Girl and retreat but their escape is cut off by Lightmaster with the macguffin. In a brilliant bit Ock then switches gears and mocks Lightmaster to the Masters doubting that this C-list villain can possibly lead or properly pay the team he has assembled. Lightmaster is about to respond by detonating the teleporter when he realizes Sun Girl is his daughter.

She then defeats her father and uses the teleporter herself to remove the Masters of the Evil from the battlefield. Unfortunately a side effect from the explosion caused by the teleporter is it damages Ock’s mind control technology and the Sinister Six attack as we hit the cliffhanger.

Critical Thoughts: I like it a lot. Ock’s comments on Lightmaster was exactly what I was thinking when I saw we were using this incarnation of the Masters. In general Ock’s commentary is pretty perfect throughout the issue with him noting which members of his team are out of their league against the Masters, and his superiority complex giving way when his robots are so easily trashed.

We also get a little more effort to make Sun Girl more interesting, which I appreciate. I could quibble with her stolen tech beating her father’s original version with his years of experience but I suppose we could chalk that up to Ock saying he helped her modify her weaponry and he being a better scientist than Lightmaster.

The art is also really good. I like the cover. I like the fight scene. I like the last splash page.

Overall this is a real fun issue and the Sinister Six next month has a lot of promise as even though they are not as powerful as the Masters they have a much more personal vendetta against Octo-Spidey. Plus there is a small chance the Chameleon may figure out that this is no longer the original Spider-man.

Grade A. I enjoyed this thoroughly. Best issue of this series so far.