Superior Foes of Spider-Man #7

    Avatar image for inferiorego
    inferiorego

    25752

    Forum Posts

    28300

    Wiki Points

    170052

    Followers

    Reviews: 324

    User Lists: 12

    Edited By inferiorego  Staff

    The Good

    How did Janice Lincoln become the Beetle? Her origin is explained here.

    SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #7 is a quick, but awesome origin story. It gets pretty in-depth with Janice's first heist, as she stole all the presents and cake from a friend's birthday, all he way up to The Fixer giving her the Beetle suit. Writer Nick Spencer does a great job of giving us a great insight in who Janice truly is. She's a character who wants to be in the position her father is in. She wants to be a super-villain and one that is a leader as well. Her father doesn't think she has what it takes because she's a woman, but she wants to prove her wrong.

    Spencer always writes some fantastic gags. A chunk of this story takes place as Janice is a mediator between two villains. The idea itself is hilarious, but it also plays out so well, as we see a couple of villains acting like spoiled toddlers. In addition, there's another great moment when the Fixer remembers the moment when he first met Janice, when she was a child. Fixer and Tombstone are talking and Janice is holding a severed arm. It's little scenes, like this one, that make this such a fantastic book.

    In this issue, Rich Ellis takes over on art, along with Lee Loughridge on colors, and he does an amazing job. His style meshes so well with Spencer's writing tone. His page layouts are fantastic and his art really keeps the story moving. While we don't get a lot with backgrounds, that's fine because the focus is on these characters in these singular moments and these bizarre situations. Finally, the final page of this issue, featuring Janice in the Beetle suit for the first time, is downright beautiful. Loughridge's colors here are vibrant and brilliant and Ellis' art is clear and crisp. It's weird not to see Steve Lieber here, but Ellis does a bang up job.

    The Bad

    There's a panel, towards the end of the issue, where the top of Fixer's head isn't inked. It stands out quite a bit because he's the only thing in the panel.

    The Verdict

    SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN is a series that continues to impress me. Each issue is hilarious and zany and at no time does it feel over-the-top. Spencer and Ellis put together an extremely fun issue with a really cool story. If you wondered how Janice became the Beetle than this is the issue to read. Overall, I highly recommend this issue.

    Avatar image for captainhoopla
    CaptainHoopla

    1974

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    And introducing "Don Cinderella". Seriously, this series has been amazing. Every issue has been worthy of a monthly "Top of the Pile" spot.

    Avatar image for darkmount1
    Darkmount1

    1535

    Forum Posts

    19439

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 1

    User Lists: 12

    Now I've gotta read this issue--this Beetle is my fourth favorite Marvel villain. For some reason, I picture her with a Brooklyn accent, it works for me.

    Avatar image for monsterduc
    monsterduc

    90

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Seriously, where is the Private Eye (by Brian Vaughn and Marcos Martin) review.

    Avatar image for skyjumpermike
    skyjumpermike

    153

    Forum Posts

    46

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 3

    User Lists: 1

    This could be an Image book. It's that good!

    Avatar image for hunterm
    HunterM

    2

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Truly a great series. I would recommend it to everyone, especially if you like Hawkeye...but not just then. Issue 1 was not that good, but the issues after that they just got better and better!

    Avatar image for ando123
    Ando123

    388

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    One of the best series on the shells

    Avatar image for dathomiesilversurfer
    DatHomieSilverSurfer

    714

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Great read, hot dayumn

    Avatar image for longbowhunter
    longbowhunter

    9425

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 4

    User Lists: 1

    I'd like to see all the members get a one shot like this. Really great issue. Cool, to see the Fixer again. This series has been good about bringing in old Tbolts characters.

    Avatar image for kantrip
    kantrip

    307

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 4

    User Lists: 1

    This was easily the best way to start the new year. Marvel has a new awesome Beetle and I can't wait to see how the cliffhanger last issue plays out.

    Avatar image for mideonnviscera
    MideonNViscera

    408

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    I would give this issue a 4. Still good, but not as funny as recent issues.

    Avatar image for the_titan_lord
    The_Titan_Lord

    9508

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Love this series.

    Avatar image for owie
    owie

    9536

    Forum Posts

    286670

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 16

    User Lists: 0

    #17 owie  Moderator

    Love this series, and this was a really fun issue. Janice is a great character.

    I was not as much of a fan of the new art though, and there were a few other weird coloring issues beyond the inking mentioned above. Tombstone's text was rendered in inconsistent colors, and Janice was weirdly colored as well. She was all white, Tombstone-like, in her first appearance in the issue but changed back to her normal coloration soon after. Plus the flashbacks were oddly colored; they were sort of sepia, but not consistently so. Kind of annoying. But overall this is still one of my very top series each month.

    Avatar image for deactivated-5c6600594117e
    deactivated-5c6600594117e

    22316

    Forum Posts

    9027

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 111

    User Lists: 51

    1st issue of the book I've read. Gonna have to collect the first six issues, this was great.

    Avatar image for admwriter
    admwriter

    20

    Forum Posts

    0

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 0

    Eh, it was okay. I didn't really find Janice interesting enough to dedicate an entire issue to. Plus I really thought Spencer's take on Zemo and Fixer to be cartoonish after so much time and effort was spent making them into three dimensional characters in thunderbolts.

    This is a nice, fun, albeit unnecessary series. This issue fell flat to me.

    Avatar image for kidchipotle
    kidchipotle

    15770

    Forum Posts

    229

    Wiki Points

    0

    Followers

    Reviews: 0

    User Lists: 1

    I loved this issue, one of the best. This is one of the few titles I read that I actually can't wait for it to come out.

    This edit will also create new pages on Comic Vine for:

    Beware, you are proposing to add brand new pages to the wiki along with your edits. Make sure this is what you intended. This will likely increase the time it takes for your changes to go live.

    Comment and Save

    Until you earn 1000 points all your submissions need to be vetted by other Comic Vine users. This process takes no more than a few hours and we'll send you an email once approved.