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YMMV / The Superior Foes of Spider-Man

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  • Better As A Trade: Not a major example, but reading the comic in trade paperback form can make it even funnier since reading it in quick succession means that all the running gags, brick jokes, and set-ups are still fresh in your head.
  • Crack Pairing: Parodied and Played for Laughs with Boomerang's fanboying over Dormammu.
  • Crosses the Line Twice: This comic doesn't even know that the line exists. It pretty much begins with Speed Demon stealing a puppy.
    • "Plus his costume looks like something your wife says she doesn't own."
    • Boomerang shoving Shocker off a bridge.
      • Followed up later by the rest of the group burying Shocker alive and holding a eulogy for him... only to call him rude for interrupting by pointing out he's still alive.
    • The backstory behind the Doom portrait, with Doctor Doom getting drunk, kidnapping a painter, ranting about his mommy issues, and than disintegrating the guy when he learns what he did.
  • Cult Classic
  • Ensemble Dark Horse:
    • Inspector, the dog that Speed Demon stole and takes care of is quite popular with readers.
    • Amongst the actual team, Shocker seems to be getting the most fan love. It helps that he was already an Ensemble Darkhorse over in the normal Spider-Man books.
    • This book probably owes part of its existence to Boomerang having this status during his time in the Thunderbolts.
    • In a truly bizarre case of this, Shocker's couch is pretty popular with fans.
  • Fan Nickname: While it didn't exactly originate from the fans, the group has gotten the nickname "The Sinister Several".
    • Or alternatively "The Sinister Some".
    • "Lady Beetle" to help differentiate Beetle from previous holders of the title, as well as alternate versions.
      • Alternately, Sheetle.
  • Friendly Fandoms: With Matt Fraction's run on Hawkeye due to their similar styles. Also with fellow Cult Classic New Warriors.
  • Heartwarming Moments: In issue #14, Speed Demon returns Inspector to the little girl from issue #1.
    • Hydro Man saving Shocker from being buried alive. Sort of subverted when the still-pissed Shocker promptly knocks out Hydro Man, but hey it's the thought that counts.
    • Silvermane actually growing to like the family that took him in. Incredibly weird too, all things considered, but still sweet.
    • After being a Butt-Monkey for most of the comic, Mach VII finally gets the team up with a real Avenger that he always wanted.
  • Ho Yay: Hammerhead seems to really like Silvermane. So much so that he cries when Shocker escapes with Silvermane's head.
    • Boomerang ends up having a rather passionate hug with Hippo at his support group meeting. Note that Hippo is literally a humanoid mutated hippo.
  • I Am Not Shazam: The group don't call themselves the Superior Foes; they are the Sinister Six (even though there are only five of them). The title has multiple meanings: In part it is a reference to the Superior Spider Man, to which this series is vaguely connected, as well as a sarcastic reference to the protagonists being anything but superior. Additionally, it references the Spiritual Predecessor villain-based miniseries, The Deadly Foes of Spider-Man (who didn't call themselves that either- they were the Sinister Syndicate).
  • Jerkass Woobie: Boomerang.
    • Speed Demon after he has to return Inspector for money.
  • Memetic Mutation:
  • Moment of Awesome: Shocker using Silvermane's head and math equations to escape Hammerhead and his goons.
    • The team and bunch of other supervillains tracking down Chameleon to his apartment to kick his ass.
    • Shocker taking out the goddamn Punisher with one hit.
    • When the Heroes for Hire attack the group, Shocker holds his own for the longest and even (briefly) gets the upper hand on Luke Cage. Butt-Monkey he may be, but he's been in this game far longer than the rest of the team and it really shows.
  • My Real Daddy: Nick Spencer has become this to pretty much the entire cast (except maybe Shocker) due to actually bothering to give them fleshed out personalities and backstories, whereas before they were mostly one-off crowd-fillers.
  • One-Scene Wonder: Baron Zemo and the Fixer put in a brief but absolutely hilarious appearance in issue #7.
  • Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: A good portion of the cast due to actually being fleshed out, whereas before they were one-issue no-names. Special mention for the Looter, who was widely considered an embarrassment before this comic.
  • Rewatch Bonus: Oh yes. Rereading issues after plot twists can greatly enhance your experience since you'll catch all the foreshadowing and set-ups for things to come. For example; the rumors and discussions about Silvermane's head become even funnier when you know it's all actually true.
  • Sleeper Hit: It didn't get too much attention from Marvel when it started, but popular reception from critics, usage of underused and obscure villains, and the fact that the comic is light-hearted in a market bloated with angsty, grimdark comics made it into a big hit amongst fans. Marvel has even referred to the comic as a sleeper hit in some of the advertisements.
    • Hell, this so true that Marvel decided to keep the comic going beyond the initially planned 12 issues to 17 issues due to its unexpected popularity.
  • Spiritual Licensee:
    • This is pretty much what you would get if you made a Mystery Men comic and turned the heroes into villains.
    • With the style of humor, running gags/brick jokes, and nested flashbacks, this could also be considered Arrested Development with supervillains.
    • Similarly, it's been called the best comic The Venture Bros. never made.
  • Tearjerker: A subtle one in issue #4; Shocker fights Luke Cage, whom he had worked with during Shocker's time on the Thunderbolts. After the fight is over, Cage solemnly takes away Shocker's Thunderbolts badge and sadly mutters "You don't deserve to wear this anymore".
  • Too Good to Last: A funny and at-times heartwarming take on supervillains that defies the angsty and overly dark tone of recent comics with a cast of no-names that are beloved by fans? Sorry, only 17 issues for you. Even worse it was cancelled alongside the similarly beloved new volume of New Warriors meaning fans felt twice the pain.
  • The Woobie: Shocker due to all the abuse he suffers.
    • Mach VII. He just wants to help Boomerang be a better person and clearly believes in the superhero ideals of justice. He has a tendency to embarrass himself and it's clear that nobody takes him seriously. In issue #16 Iron Man basically mocks him and sends him off alone into a battle that he genuinely needs help with, showing that even the other superheroes don't treat him well.
    • Overdrive's Backstory reveals that he only became a supervillain because he wanted to than pull a Heel–Face Turn and become a hero. It all blew up in his face and now he's reduced to being a glorified getaway driver.
    • Mirage to the point of being the Butt-Monkey. He lost his girl, died, came back, nearly died again and keeps getting drawn back into supervillainy thanks to Boomerang despite his attempts to stop... usually resulting in bad things for him.

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