Superior Spider-Man #17 Review

Dan Slott's 'Superior Spider-Man' has been a controversial series from the start. Some love it, others hate it, but regardless of your feelings towards it, there's no denying it is a masterfully plotted comic.

Issue #17 is no different. The first issue in a 3 part arc "Necessary Evil", this book was charged with the task of reintroducing Spider-Man 2099 to audiences for the first time in a few years. The issue opens in the year 2099, with Miguel O' Hara, the Spider-Man of tomorrow, battling enemies from out of time. Investigating the ripples in time leads him to Alchemax, the evil corporation helmed by his father, Tyler Stone.

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The writers needed to come up with a good reason why 2099 was in the present other than the fact that it'd make a cool story, and they did so in a reasonable way. Tyler Stone is being wiped from existence due to the timeline issues, so to prevent himself from being erased from history along with his dad, 2099 must travel to the year 2013 to discover the source of the messed up timeline. From there, we jump to the present, where Max Modell is arrested for a variety of charges. The man behind it? Tiberius Stone, father of Tyler Stone and grandfather of Spidey 2099.

The premise of the book is solid and quite interesting. Somehow, Tiberius messes up the past in a way we've yet to see that completely screws up the future, and now the Spider of today and the Spider of tomorrow have to stop it. (course the issue has so many side plots to set up and follow up on that this doesn't really happen this issue, but is set up for the next.) And to further excite the reader with little plot connections, Liz Allen is brought into the picture. What happens to be the name of her company? Allan Chemical?

AlChem?

Sounds an awful lot like Alchemax, doesn't it?

We also get an update on all things Goblin, with the Green Gobin, er, "Goblin King", fighting with the Hobgoblin, er, "Goblin Knight", and then teasing that he has some evil scheme in mind. We also get a particularly foreboding speech from Liz Allan's son Normie, talking about how bad Spidey is and how somebody should "do something about [him]".

All these little plot connections make this story a really fun read. I'm definately interested in where they're going with this, which in my eyes means that this was a successful issue. Slott is a mastermind at long term plots, and Stegman's expressive, almost messy artwork really fits the fast-paced feel of the book. In my opinion, Superior Spider-Man is heading in a really good direction.

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