Read this BEFORE AGE OF ULTRON #3
The Good
How could Superior Spider-Man be of use against Ultron in this event? This issue of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN takes the reader on a journey of how a more tech-saavy Spider-Man would adapt to this cold and brutal landscape, written by Christos Gage with art by Dexter Soy.
As soon as I noticed this was a tie-in, I was bummed out. When I saw it was a completely different creative team on the book, I was super-bummed out. After I read it, I had a big, dumb smile on my face because the issue was a ton of fun. SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #6AU is a fantastic "Day in the life" story. What would Peter do in this dystopian wasteland in order to save his own species?
This was the most engaging book I've read this week. It's a very solid and well put together "Heroes Journey" story. The things Peter can and does do in this issue, with his technological ability, are totally awesome. You'll find yourself really cheering on Peter here as he makes his way closer and closer to Ultron.
I have never heard of Dexter Soy before this issue, which outs me as someone who isn't reading CAPTAIN MARVEL. This guy is awesome. This is going to be an artist you'll want to keep your eyes on. His work is a bit reminiscent of Japanese anime; however, it's his color work that really makes him stand out. It's eye popping work. His page layouts are fantastic, and his work has a great sense of flow as well of a sense of movement.
The Bad
My biggest problem with this issue is that there is no flow, at all, between this version of Peter Parker and the one in the main AGE OF ULTRON book. Here, we see Superior Spider-Man: Dock Ock inside of Peter's body in his new outfit using all his cool tools, speaking like a pompous jerk, just like SSM. In Age of Ultron, we see Peter Parker, in the old outfit, talking just like Peter Parker normally would. It's obvious that the AU Peter is not SSM. I loved this issue, but it doesn't work with everything that's happening in AGE OF ULTRON.
I'm also really not keen on the fact this tie-in has to force its way into the regular series. This story, which I'm really enjoying so far, doesn't take place within continuity, so why force it upon the other books? Why can't they just be one shot tie-ins? Why does this have to be SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN 6AU? This is a great issue that suffers greatly because of continuity errors made on the part of the company.
I found it very weird that Dan Slott was not writing this.
The Verdict
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #6AU wasn't what I was expecting. It was a lot better. While I still feel like the Peter in this issue and the Peter in AGE OF ULTRON #3 (which also came out today) are completely different people, this issue, on its own, was fantastic. The writing and art were great, and it's a wonderful journey from start to finish. Christos Gage puts together a compelling tie-in story with the help from Dexter Soy's brilliant artwork. Normally, I hate tie-ins to event books, mainly because the majority of the time, they miss their mark.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue.