So, What Happens? In New York, Spider-Man stops a robbery near a construction site. His spider-sense warns him of something else going on in the area, but the arrival of the police forces him to leave, unaware that Doctor Doom is observing the scene because the site is a cover for one of his schemes, a plan he has spent years, money and resources to prepare and that now is close to fruition thanks to the unwilling help of the Hulk, who has been guided towards a certain area in Metropolis. The following morning, Peter too goes to Metropolis to look for the Hulk, after Jameson refuses to buy his latest Spider-Man photos. Meanwhile, in Metropolis the population is aware that the Hulk is getting near leaving behind a trail of destruction. Seeing him getting closer, Clark Kent creates a distraction at work to run away and face him as Superman, unaware that something is causing the Hulk's growing rage. The short fight is witnessed by Spider-Man, who takes photos from the top of a nearby building, and for a moment it looks like the Hulk is the victor as he punches Superman miles away before smashing the ground around his own feet. Before Spider-Man can jump in, Superman returns and this time holds his ground whilst using his microscopic vision to notice a miniature drone buzzing around the Hulk and emitting an ultrasound noise to drive him mad. Superman grabs and destroys the drone, quickly calming the Hulk who reverts to Bruce Banner. The hero then flies away, without noticing that the Hulk's last punch had shattered the Parasite's underground prison, freeing the villain like Doom had planned all along. An almost starved Parasite steals some energy from Peter Parker to get away, leaving a tired Pete to be helped by Superman's young pal Jimmy Olsen. The two become friends and Peter is invited to the Daily Planet, where he meets Lois and Lana Lang, and sells his photos to Perry White. Jimmy eventually convinces Peter to stay in Metropolis for a while, just when Superman, having learned of the Parasite's escape, visits New York to investigate since he already suspects Doctor Doom to be behind such an elaborate plan. A quick visit to the Latverian embassy confirms his ideas since Doom, protected by his diplomatic immunity, has no qualms about revealing his plans of world domination. After escaping a kryptonite trap, Superman leaves the embassy but decides to stay in New York for a while and work freelance for the Daily Bugle, much to Jameson's delight. In a curious turn of events, Superman and Spider-Man therefore end up switching cities for a few days, even though their personal fortunes don't change as even Jameson hails Superman as a real hero while Spidey is quick to find out that the Metropolis police isn't any more trusting towards him than its New York counterpart, and that even at the Planet he's the victim of the local jock's pranks. As time goes by, and despite some signs of rebellion from the Parasite, Doom's plan also moves along with the capture of the Hulk. Meanwhile, a tingling of his Spider Sense and the memory of what happened in New York makes Spider-Man investigate a construction site in Metropolis, where he finds the entrance for a massive underground complex and Wonder Woman fighting Doom's soldiers. Watching everything from his monitors, Doom takes advantage of the situation and briefly pits Diana against Spider-Man, but Peter uses his superior speed and reflexes to prove he doesn't mean her any harm. Before they can compare notes however, Diana is felled and captured by Doom's soldiers, taken to his main base and put in a stasis tube next to the Hulk, both kept alive to serve as sources of power for the Parasite. Doom's elaborate plan is to use a number of underground stations built all over the world to emit a certain radiation that will turn any fuel into sand and make most weapons useless, so that the planet will have no choice but to submit to him in order to benefit from his special fusion reactor. Overhearing everything but also uncertain to be capable of stopping Doom, Spider-Man goes out to get help and runs into Superman, who decides to face the monarch and the Parasite alone. Still, after some soul searching Spidey follows and the two heroes face the Parasite and one of Doom's robots, destroying the latter only to be defeated and captured when Doom uses a kryptonite dust and Spidey's powers are absorbed by the Parasite. Unbeknown to the Parasite, Doom's full plan is to feed him the Hulk's, Wonder Woman's and Superman's energy in order to both kill the heroes and turn the Parasite into a crystal that will stabilize Doom's reactor. However, the Parasite has absorbed Spider-Man's powers, including his spider-sense, warning him of the threat before Doom can put his plan in motion. His short-lived rebellion allows Spidey to use his web to clean the Kryptonite dust off Superman, who in turn frees him. Neither of them however is aware that the Parasite has accidentally broken the reactor's master control panel, starting a chain reaction that could destroy the entire planet. Doom takes notice and flees, but only after Superman has ripped one of his gauntlets off to hit the Parasite without having his strength absorbed. When the Kryptonian realizes what's about to happen, he flies to hold the generator off for a few minutes and slow the reaction, trusting Spider-Man with fixing the controls. Both heroes are in a pinch, Spider-Man with no idea of how to make sense of the machinery and Superman fighting the pain of being burned alive to hold the reactor at bay, but eventually the spider-sense clues Peter on how to operate the final lever and the reaction is stopped. Superman immediately pursues Doom, but can't reach him before he enters his embassy, regaining his diplomatic immunity. The following day, Clark is back in Metropolis, explaining to his friends how Superman rescued Wonder Woman while the Hulk got away on his own, and adding that Superman would trust Spider-Man with his life. Meanwhile, a homesick Peter Parker is back at the Bugle, where he can enjoy annoying Jonah Jameson once more.
Notes: The story implies that Marvel and DC characters share the same world and occasionally references the first Spider-Man / Superman crossover. For example, Peter and Lois have already met in New York. Jim Shooter is listed as writer, with "special thanks" to Marv Wolfman, who was supposed to be the original author and offered "plot suggestions".
Something Silly This Way Comes: The idea that Doom keeps an interstellar rocket ready so that he can leave the planet and find new civilizations to conquer is pretty goofy.
Review: When
reviewing the original Superman vs Spider-Man crossover, I wrote it was the triumph of form over substance, with a rich sense of wonder that couldn't quite hide that story's many plot holes. As such, it's a little surprising that this second meeting is an almost polar opposite, with a story that is as solid and consistent as it is joyless, much like a formal dinner with colleagues compared to a beer with friends. In terms of plot, there is very little wrong with
Spider-Man and Superman, and the only major drawback - an inclusion of the Hulk and Wonder Woman that has very little to offer and ultimately feels redundant - was imposed by the publishers to capitalize on the success of the two's iconic TV serials that were airing at the time. The fundamental problem, highlighted by Marv Wolfman in the introduction for the Crossover Classics volume, is that Spider-Man and Superman don't really mesh well, since the latter can do anything Spidey can, and more, and doesn't really need any help, as he is quick to point out twice during the story. But a crossover of this importance inherently needs both stars to have more or less the same relevance, so Shooter is forced to cleverly find a work-around and have Peter use his scientific expertise - virtually the only area where he is superior to Superman - to save the day.
This grounded and realistic approach effectively produces a story that is far more solid and credible than its predecessor, but also deprives it of its joy. Gone are Superman's smiles and warm handshakes, or the epic double splash pages when the heroes are together in the same panel for the first time, respectively replaced by a patronizing attitude and a small rectangular panel where Supes hardly looks at Spidey. They are no longer "two living legends making history", but just two guys doing their jobs, and if they belonged to the same company it wouldn't look or feel any different. Likewise, Lois is no longer fawning on Peter Parker the way she was when they first met, which again makes sense considering their respective careers, but also makes it all seem a bit too normal for a special event.
This is not to say that there isn't any fan-service. Superman vs Hulk and Spider-Man vs Wonder Woman are a couple of similar fights put there to make the most of a bad deal, and in both instances the titular hero wins without outright defeating their foe or harming their popularity. This is not surprising in Superman's case, especially considering this is the pre-Crisis invincible powerhouse we are talking about, but it's a bit of a stretch in Spidey's case, given how much stronger Diana should be. All in all, I prefer the parts with Clark working at the Bugle and Peter at the Planet, interacting with each-other's cast of characters.
In terms of villains, once again we have a partnership that is anything but equal. If Lex Luthor was clearly the predominant bad guy the first time around, now it's Doom's time to steal the show, effectively using the Parasite as nothing more than a pawn. Except somehow it works better this time, because the Parasite's powers make him look like a real asset in battle, and his role in the story's plot is far more central than the clueless Doctor Octopus we had last time. Doom himself is at his scheming best, arrogant and shamelessly manipulating anyone to reach his goals.
With two powerhouses such as John Buscema and Joe Sinnott at the art, one would expect this to be a marvellous book to look at, but unfortunately my reprint seems to have been reproduced and recolored from poor quality photocopies, resulting in a loss of detail and a few almost blank faces, ruining the characteristic expressivity one has come to expect from Buscema's characters. Looking at scans online, the original work was indeed top notch, despite a distinct lack of splash pages, an overabundance of text and a number of different inkers for the backgrounds (everyone from Walt Simonson to Al Milgrom and Bob Layton). Again, there is nothing wrong with it - quite the opposite, it's a beautiful book to look at, and a few panels such as the raging Hulk are absolutely amazing - but it doesn't feel special either, which summarizes the entire crossover in a nutshell.
Perhaps due to the difficulties in writing a good story with Superman and Spider-Man, this will be the last time the two meet in a solo crossover until "All Access", which is more of a group story anyway. Supes will go on to meet the Hulk, the Silver Surfer and the Fantastic Four, while Spidey will deal with Batman twice.
Final Verdict: A better story than its predecessor, but also one that doesn't quite recapture the same sense of wonder.
4/5
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