Thursday, January 10, 2013

The Superior Spider-Man #1

After reading this comic, my friend Pete told me he liked it, but I wouldn't.

He was right.

(Oh, and we'll be talking about the events spilling out of Amazing Spider-Man #700, so if you haven't read it yet, spoiler warnings and all that.)

So here's where we are - Dr. Octopus has been dying for the last 100 issues, so he somehow switched / merged his mind with Peter Parker's, switching Parker's mind to his dying body.

And in issue 700, Peter "died" with the Doc's body. However, Ock has now been exposed to Peter's life and lessons, and vows that he'll be a greater hero than Spider-Man ever was.

Right.

So this issue shows us the "new" life for Peter Parker, fighting crime (sorta) with a vicious edge Spider-Man never had, ogling Mary Jane's chest and generally behaving like a jerk.

It still feels like a seamy, desperate attempt to garner sales - and is no doubt succeeding in that respect (it's a first issue, after all) - but it's a dark day for the character, having to stoop to such low antics to get attention (and the implications of rape hanging over Mary Jane's future are particularly unsettling).

The art by Ryan Stegman has some nice energetic moments, but it's all too busy and cartoonish for me - there are many panels in there that I have no idea what's going on.

The end of the issue includes a twist that seems to indicate the creative team is already backpedaling on this storyline - but this is the last issue I'll be picking up for a while, so it doesn't really matter to me.

It's sad - Spider-Man has been one of my favorites for a long time. But "my" Spider-Man hasn't been around for a long time, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever see him again.

Grade: D+

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