Doctor Doom is out to prove that his version of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are superior to the originals. One of the more interesting concepts to come out of Marvel’s One World Under Doom publishing event is Superior Avengers. Similar to titles like Dark Avengers and Thunderbolts, Superior Avengers stars a cast of mystery characters that take up familiar identities, except instead of adopting heroic monikers, these characters go the villainous route with their names. Of course, there has to be enough meat on the bone to keep readers intrigued, and so far, Superior Avengers #1 succeeds with an unexpected twist.
We mentioned that the identities the Superior Avengers cast has chosen are all recognizable villains. From outward appearances, they mirror these characters. Doctor Octopus has four mechanical arms, Killmonger has a Black Panther mask, you get the idea. Whereas most books would end the comic by revealing their identities, that doesn’t seem to be as important as where they come from and what their secret mission is. Their handler is Doctor Doom’s adopted son, Kristoff Vernard, and it makes sense to bring him into One World Under Doom, considering his father just took over the world. We get to follow events from Kristoff’s point of view, and that of the Superior Avengers. Doom is only here for a few pages, so he doesn’t steal the spotlight.
Something I took away from Superior Avengers #1 is how quickly the story moves. I was expecting to flip through more pages and learn more about how characters, but then I was on the final page, and it was over. It’s not a negative; just something that caught me by surprise. That’s a credit to writer Steve Foxe and the rest of the creative team for keeping the pace moving and not getting bogged down in the fine details. Yes, we don’t know the whole story behind the Superior Avengers, but there’s plenty of time for that to be filled in. We know enough that a new reader can decide to continue with the series to see how things play out, or give up on it without a huge investment.
We have two separate artists on Superior Avengers #1 — Luca Maresca and Kyle Hotz. Maresca handles the current-day story while Hotz delivers a flashback page. Together with Mattia Iacono on colors and VC’s Cory Petit on letters, the art team creates a captivating comic. The opening pages toss the reader right into the action, where we get to meet our Superior Avengers while they defend the Capital from Annihilus. There are other impressive pages, like when Doctor Doom teleports in to greet Kristoff, a surprise appearance from a Marvel hero, a two-page spread of the Superior Avengers being introduced to the world, and when Hotz jumps in for his somewhat spoiler-filled page.
Superior Avengers #1 is the type of book one would expect from a Marvel crossover event. It piggybacks off the event’s main story, but also has enough room to branch out and take readers on an exciting ride. Whether a reader enjoys that ride is subjective, but in this reviewer’s opinion, Superior Avengers is worth a try.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Published by Marvel Comics
On April 16, 2025
Written by Steve Foxe
Art by Luca Maresca with Kyle Hotz
Colors by Mattia Iacono
Letters by VC’s Cory Petit
Superior Avengers #1 is a One World Under Doom tie-in that introduces readers to Doctor Doom’s sponsored team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Read More