Avenging Spider-Man #16

Writer: Chris Yost
Pencils: Paco Medina
Inker: Juan Vlasco
Colorist: Dave Curiel
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics (Dan Buckley)
Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 16th, 2013

It is official, Superior Spider-Man is everywhere. If you are not on this bandwagon by now it is time you bail from Spidey comics. I suppose it would be hard to have another ongoing in the same universe as Superior if the main character wasn't Otto Parker, but this is Marvel.

Anyhow, this is our second issue of Avenging Spider-Man where we no longer have Peter Parker as the front man and this is one of the first moment where Otto could be in trouble. He get stuck teamed with the X-Men to fight a tri-bred Spider-creature that is attacking New York. It sounds very Spider Islandish and they even make a comment about it in the issue. Regardless of how meh the setup is, the issue is a lot of fun to read.

It is so strange to see Spider-Man as a violent guy. Someone that is willing to do whatever he can to get the job done and the people around him are noticing. Specifically in this issue, Wolverine has a bad feeling about the guy. Heck, the two of them end up fighting briefly. This leads Wolverine to ask Rachel to dip into his mind and see if something is up. Otto is quick on his feet and finds some quick talking to get out of the situation but he realizes how bad a telepath could be for him.

The issue was a lot of fun to read. There were some great action moments and it was another great place to see how Otto is going to function as Spidey. I am still buying into it. I am enjoying the more vicious, take no prisoners, jackass style of Spidey that he is playing...for now. I think that this will be fun for a while but may lose steam in the not too far off future.

I do continue to stand by this title though. Avenging Spider-Man has had some weak moments but all in all it is a fun book with amazing art (Kudos to you Medina) and some supplemental material for the main Spidey book. If you are still following the adventures of the Superior Spider-Man, I recommend this title whole-heartedly.