The Superior Foes of Spider-Man

Superior Foes of Spider-Man
Promotional cover to Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
Schedule	Monthly
Format	Ongoing series
Genre	Superhero
Publication date	July 3, 2013 - present
No. of issues	13 (as of July 2014)
Main character(s)	Sinister Six (Boomerang Beetle Overdrive Shocker Speed Demon)
Creative team
Written by	Nick Spencer
Artist(s)	Steve Lieber

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man is an ongoing comic book series published by Marvel Comics that debuted in July 2013. The series is written by Nick Spencer with artwork by Steve Lieber. It debuted as part of Superior Spider-Month which saw a major status quo change in Spider-Man storylines in the aftermath of Superior Spider-Man #13.

Publication history

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man was announced alongside Superior Spider-Man Team-Up in May 2013 as a part of Marvel's Superior brand expansion during Superior Spider-Week.

Plot

Boomerang now leads the Sinister Six, consisting of Shocker, Speed Demon, Overdrive, and the new Beetle. Following their defeat in Superior Spider-Man #1, and the loss of their sixth member Living Brain, Fred Myers (Boomerang) finds himself in prison. Needing to get out of jail, Myers hatches a layered scheme that has his former team post his bail, and having The Chameleon help trick his team into doing it by promising him to steal the head of former New York crime kingpin Silvermane from current major crime kingpin The Owl. With the head of Silvermane, Chameleon would have legitimate claim to becoming the Boss of much of the organized crime in the city. Accepting the deal, Chameleon (disguised as Hammerhead) tricks Herman Schultz (Shocker), James Sanders (Speed Demon), Janice Lincoln (Beetle), and Overdrive into bailing out Myers. The two stipulations being that legally Myers must attend a former super villain support group lead by reformed super villian Mach VII, and secretly Myers must have his team work for Chameleon without charge and without them finding out.

After learning that Myers is being tailed by superhero Mach VII, and deciding they have all the information they need to steal the head of Silermane themselves, The Sinister Six call a vote and decide to oust Myers and have Lincoln replace him as leader. Myers needing his team to help repay his debt to Chameleon, tells Mach VII about the remaining four Sinister Six member's hidden base. Moments before the four are ready to leave for the heist against The Owl, Luke Cage, and Iron Fist arrest them despite a valiant effort to fight them off. Once arrested, Myers breaks them out and demands the leadership position as the group now owes him for the rescue, the four not knowing it was Myers who manipulated events to his advantage agree. However as they start to regroup Schultz pulls Myers aside and informs him he is aware of Myers working with The Chameleon, and he is also aware that he owes him a debt of some kind. Myers panicking makes up lie which Schultz seems to believe, but Myers unable to trust Schultz ties him up in the back of his car and pushes off a bridge in an attempt to silence and murder him.

The next day the remaining members of the Sinister Six (now missing Living Brain and Shocker) start their heist on The Owl's compound none the wiser of Myers' multiple back stabbings the day before. Things initially go well for the team despite heavy conflict, but Myers quickly splits off from his three remaining teammates and allows Sanders, Lincoln, and Overdrive to be captured by The Owl's forces. Myers then reveals that at no point does he believe The Owl ever had the head of Silvermane, nor does he even believes it exists. He tricked not only his team, but also The Chameleon, just to steal his real prize, a painting of Doctor Doom that Doom himself commissioned that was painted without his mask on. Myers believes the painting to be of high worth, and steals escapes The Owl's compound with the painting while leaving his former three teammates for dead. With all of his former teammates dead, and him being the only one who knows about the painting, Myers can become a major crime lord all by himself without having to split the money.

However unbeknownst to Myers, the head of Silvermane does exist, and through a series of lucky breaks and coincidences, Schultz who survived Myers' murder attempt comes into possession of the head at the same junkyard where Silvermane was once thought to be killed many years before. Back in The Owl's base, Owl prepares to slowly torture and kill the three captured members. Lincoln, however, also reveals to the shock of everyone that she is the daughter of crime lord Tombstone and asks her father for rescue, to which he obliges. The Owl escapes the ensuing chaos while Lincoln, Sanders, and Overdrive escape with Tombstone and his men. Realizing that Myers was lying to them the whole time, but not entirely sure on what exactly, the three split up to find Myers. Myers himself is also having a hard time, after lying to Mach VII about his whereabouts the day before, he was also then visited by the Chameleon who tortured him until stumbling upon the painting shoddily hidden in haste. The Chameleon then tells Myers that he is taking the painting, and that their business is concluded.

Collected editions

Title	Material collected	Year	ISBN
The Superior Foes of Spider-Man Vol. 1: Getting the Band Back Together	The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #1-6	March 2014	978-0785184942
The Superior Foes of Spider-Man Vol. 2: The Crime of the Century	The Superior Foes of Spider-Man #7-11	August 2014	978-0785184959

Reception

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man has garnered wide praise from both critics and fans, with a large fanbase amongst the comic community. Initially planned for just 12 issues, the series has since been expanded to at least 17 due to the popularity of the series. The series is also regarded as a sleeper hit.