I don’t want to say that Steve Ditko’s style is dated by 1988 but…It is. Speedball exists so that Marvel can bring Ditko back to the fold, but it’s just not a good comic.
The first issue has him learning his powers and introduces the cast of side characters (his dad’s a prosecutor, his mom is a book-burning, bible-thumping mutant hater) and offers a brief story where the antagonist is an old crook that Speedball’s dad threw in jail years ago. Then there’s some freak-of-the-month type enemies. One is made of sticky goo, so Speedball’s bouncing powers aren’t as useful, for example. Another guy has spring-loaded shoes, so he also bounces.
His origin (stuff spilled on him in a lab) is equally uninspired.
I do like that he has a cat sidekick named Niels.
Roger Stern is writing this—I really hoped for the best. But it’s inconsequential and cliched. Tom DeFalco did some plot work.