Crossover Time in Superior Spider-Man #8
So, I think we all saw this coming. The major War of the Realms event has hit Superior Spider-Man. And it brought a temporary team for our genius to deal with: the West Coast Avengers. Obviously, fans of the now-canceled series will likely be thrilled to see their reappearance, no matter how brief it is.
This probably goes without saying, but if you’re not following War of the Realms, there will be some spoilers here. Honestly, though, other than the core concept of what’s happening, you don’t need to know everything that’s happening to understand this single tie-in issue.
Superior Spider-Man #8 brings a rare moment to the series, and no, I’m not just talking about the tie-in. While the plot itself didn’t feel all that impactful, some of the interactions within were, which absolutely made this issue worth reading.
Writing
Tie-in issues are very hit-or-miss on the whole. And if you’re not following the full event, they tend to lean more towards the miss than the hit. That being said, Superior Spider-Man #8 was a fairly interesting issue. However, that had more to do with the character interactions than the plot itself. But that’s okay. The plot was why they were forced to interact, so does it all work out?
Christos Gage did a lot with the characters involved in this issue. Along with the West Coast Avengers, there are also some other major appearances. But since they’re not shown on the cover of this issue, I won’t ruin it by revealing them.
What I loved about this issue is that they seemed to nail all of the characters’ personalities, making appearances. That is easier said than done. I’m resisting the urge to talk about that in more detail, and trust me, it isn’t easy. I will say that they did justice to some of my favorite characters here, so they get my vote of approval.
Anything this issue lacked in the plot, it made up for in other ways. The banter, the serious conversations, the humor. You name it. And the end of this issue possibly had the biggest win for our quasi-hero.
Art
Oh man, there were a lot of characters to portray in Superior Spider-Man #8. I know that cameos are standard for tie-in plots, but this one has to be up there. It was impressive how the artists stayed true to all the characters shown. Even relatively recent changes to appearance were shown here. You can tell that they did their homework.
Four artists came together for this issue and brought these characters together. Lan Medina did the penciling while Cam Smith inked the pages. And last, Andy Troy and Erick Aciniega provided the coloring for it all.
There were plenty of dramatic moments in this issue to be gushed about. Some of them simply required dramatic poses (but remember, there were many characters for that!). Some were amazing fights. All were really well done.
Conclusion
Superior Spider-Man #8 made it into my top three list for tie-in issues for War of the Realms. And since it’s probably one of the last to happen, I think that’s saying something. Many of the cameos were given a chance to have a moment. And better yet, all the characters seemed to act true to themselves. Something that made me especially happy since one of my favorites appeared.
The banter and fights in this issue made it all worth it. As did one heavier conversation towards the end. I look forward to seeing if this issue impacts Superior Spider-Man‘s main plot.
This review was originally written for Word of the Nerd, but has been ported over to Quirky Cat’s Fat Stacks now that the site has shut down.
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