I am too young to remember when the first Superman/Spider-Man crossover was published, but somehow we have blinked and the fiftieth anniversary of that comic is upon us!
To celebrate, Marvel and DC have once again joined forces and released an assortment of stories pairing up heroes and villains from both universes. Front and center are Superman and Spider-Man once again, and the majority of the stories feature characters from the Super and Spider families, to commemorate the anniversary of their team up, the first ever to break the ice of the two companies.
Four specials were published with myriad creative teams which have now been collected as two trade paperbacks. Although there are a lot of fun stories in both collections, I will be reviewing the Superman themed tales for our purposes here over the next few weeks, starting today. Hope you enjoy!
When I reviewed the Marvel/DC crossover omnibus last year, the first thing that struck me when reading the first Superman/Spider-Man crossover was just how well Peter Parker and Clark Kent exist in each other’s universes. I mean, a newspaper reporter and newspaper photographer…
… why did I never think of it!?
The Superman/Spider-Man crossover in this collection was written by Mark Waid- avid fan of Superman and Silver Age Marvel- and drawn by one of the best Superman artists to come out of the Rebirth era, Jorge Jimenez. Right off the bat, that’s a GREAT combination if you’re a Superfan!
This 30-ish page yarn sees Doctor Octopus teaming up with Brainiac, a refreshing change from the Doc Ock/power suit Lex Luthor pairing from the 70s, which never really worked for me. Here we get the sci-fi/tech angle that works wonderfully as a foil for both heroes.
The action is great, the art is great, there are some fantastic Easter eggs and nods to both characters’ histories, and most importantly, Clark and Peter are in character, not always the case with writers from opposite companies are handling writing duties. Thankfully, Waid is a veteran who knows both characters extremely well.
The other cool thing is that Peter and Clark are both pretty nice guys, and they play off each other great, especially in the moments of the story that are about self-sacrifice and heroism.
All in all, a really, really fun story that is handled with love and respect for both characters and their fanbases. Great stuff.
A few more thought on the other short stories of note in this collection:
Lois Lane & Mary Jane
Tom King is not a great writer of heroes in my opinion, but who cares!! This story was all about giving Jim Lee an opportunity to draw Gambit and Sentinels in a Marvel comic again, and I am here for it!!
Superboy Prime & Black Suit Spider-Man
A very meta story about fandom and multiverses that was enjoyable enough, but Superboy Prime has annoyingly become a stand-in for “the angry fan.” Still, an enjoyable enough read but veteran Christopher Priest and the talented Daniel Sampere.
Superboy & Spider-Man 2099
The story was okay, although that could be because I have never gravitated to Superboy as a character, and Sean Murphy’s strengths clearly lie elsewhere. That said, Murphy was born to draw the world of Marvel 2099 and Batman Beyond!!!! Incredible art!
Jimmy Olsen & Carnage
You read that right. What do those two characters have to do with each other?
Nothing, as it turns out. I never finished Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber’s farcical Jimmy Olsen series, but they reunite here to take the absurdity to another level. I would say my least favorite story in the collection.
Jonathan Kent & Ben Parker
I recently learned a new word that describes this story, “simplexity.” It definitely applies to this flashback tale of Pa Kent meeting Uncle Ben when they were young and helping some folks out on the road.
Jeff Lemire and Rafa Sandoval are talented creators and do some decent work here. I just have a tough time getting into stories where things seem a little too conveniently tied together.
The Daily Bugle & The Daily Planet
Greg Rucka and Nicola Scott create a short “story” about Lois Lane and Jonah Jameson debating about news on a TV talk show. I put the word story in quotation marks because this felt more like a debate about news and less about comic book characters.
I have enjoyed a lot of Greg Rucka stories over the years but this one felt like the writer was indulging another interest of his more than telling a story. Plus, Nicola Scott seems to draw the same face on every male character.
The last short in this is a digital-first Supergirl/Blade crossover coordinated by the Mojoverse (huh?), which doesn’t make sense to me, despite the nice Mikel Jamin layouts. There is also a decent Punisher/Power Girl story, which would be a bit of a stretch to call a Superman story, but I thought I’d mention it.
Overall, this collection felt like the best of the current comic industry all put their heads together and put out some great fan service. Not all the stories were winners, but it was still a highly enjoyable, worthwhile read. As a Superman fan (and Marvel and DC fan in general) I’m glad it was published!
Capeage Meter: 7.5 out of 10
Stay tuned for Part 2!!
