Wolverine brings out Spider-Man's superiority complex.
The Good
In this issue Superior Spider-Man runs into the X-Men while trying to save New York from a giant mutant spider. This story does a great job of testing Doc Ock's boundaries as Spider-Man. What truly shines in this issue are the character interaction between Spider-Ock and the X-Men. It is interesting seeing people who know Peter become confused at his unnatural behavior, equally amusing is Octavius fumbling to sound in character. This book starts to truly set the tone for Superior Spider-Man, showing you that Octavius is not complacent to live in Parker's shadow, a prime example being his first conversation with Wolverine. At the end of this adventure Spider-Ock has acted so out-of-character that Wolverine demands a psychological evaluation. Luckily he turns on the ol' web-head charm and fumbles his way out of it.
Paco Medina's art is great in this issue, and Dave Curiel's colors are a perfect match. It is nice seeing such a wide variety of characters so well represented. This story has nice panel layout and Medina does an especially good job at drawing Spidey's new costume.
The Bad
The giant mutant spider is an introduction to a new thread in the story, but I feel like it was not touched on long enough. Christ Yost was vague about who might have created it, and at the end it seemed like I was missing information. I'm sure Yost was light on clues intentionally, possibly to build suspense, it definitely feels like a set-up. Lastly, I don't like the way Medina draws Beast.
The Verdict
AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #16 is fun for all the reasons you would expect. I'm not sure where Yost is going with the giant mutant spider, but bringing in the X-Men for character development was a great idea. Even if you don't collect AVENGING SPIDER-MAN I'd recommend picking up this single issue if you are interested in fleshing out Superior Spider-Man as a character.
