If there are two things that I remember about comics in the 90s, they would be unnecessary pouches and DC heroes being “replaced” by a new character.

The idea of super hero identities as legacies have been explored on both sides of the eternal comics divide (DC vs Marvel), but DC really leaned into the concept with the transition from the silver age to the, then, modern age of their universe. Hal Jordan went nuts and complete new comer Kyle Rayner was given the last Green Lantern ring. Batman was broken and passed his cowl onto Azrael. Superman died battling doomsday, only to see four guys pop up with flowing red capes. The list goes on.

That isn’t to say that Marvel didn’t take a few swings at this device (shout outs to Beta Ray Bill and Jim Rhodes), but the idea of a “legacy” hero has always struck me as a very DC gimmick. And a gimmick, that I at least, have always enjoyed. Back when I bought issues instead of trades, I was totally dialed in each week to follow the decent of Jean Paul Valley as he tried to reconcile his programming as the assassin Azrael with his new role as the Batman. I followed in the background as Bruce Wayne battled back from his injuries and Robin and Nightwing struggled to make sense of their mentors decisions. I was a Kyle Rayner, Wally West and John Henry Irons fan. The idea that there needed to be a Batman, a Superman, a Green Lantern… this made for good stories.

Which brings me to what I thought was a really good story: the 30 issue run of The Superior Spider-Man by writer Dan Slot and artists Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos and Giuseppe Cammuncoli. I was a few years late to the table on this one, so I knew where the story was going but, thanks to the Marvel Unlimited App, I finally sat down last week and dove in.

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