7 Things Spider-Man is Getting Right
…And it happens to be when Peter Parker is DEAD.
If you’re not up to date with the latest in the ongoing Spider-Man series, you’re missing out. And this is from someone who doesn’t read comics regularly anymore but that’s how much fun it is.
Amazing Spider-Man (The series that’s been going since the friggin’ sixties) ended at issue #700 with a dying Doctor Octopus and Peter Parker switching brains.
Keep reading for your creative genitals to have the moves put on them!
With the release of the Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer yesterday, and the newest issue of Superior Spider-Man hitting the stands, it’s time to sing the praises of what he’s doing right. I criticize enough, ya dig?
It’s too much to go over the entire storyline, but you’re already up to date with the end of Amazing- Doc Ock doesn’t want to die and switches brains with Spider-man. I normally hate stories like this as the science is so far fetched I just can’t get into it. But with writer Dan Slott at the wheel, it’s worth reading.
So while Slott’s writing is decent, I’ve been a fan of artist Humberto Ramos since I was a teen and a friend first got a hold of his creator-owned series Crimson. His fun, cartoonish style fits the fast-paced world of superfreaks that is Spider-Man’s life. He draws Spider-Man how he was intended: powerful, agile, and gawky.
Still talks out loud to himself though.
So as I’m reading this thing a few months back, I’m scoffing slightly at the ludicrous idea that anything would happen beyond Parker and Octavious switching brains at the last second; and all is right in the world again.
Except that didn’t happen.
At the last second, the device that would’ve switched their minds back is blocked by a plate and after inheriting Parker’s memories and realizing why Parker does what he does, Parker (in Ock’s body) dies, with Octavious vowing to be a better hero for Parker and all the lives he’s ever wronged. And that was the end of Amazing Spider-Man.
DEAD!
Yeah, that’s right– THE END. OF YO DADDY’S SPIDER-MAN.
So now we have Superior Spider-Man; which features Ock living Peter’s life. He’s a much more arrogant, tech-savvy and brutal version of Spider-Man; yelling at peers and colleagues names like “Idiots!” when he feels like it. It’s pretty interesting to see characters reacting to Jerky Parker.
Now I was getting a little antsy, because as soon as Ock was living the life, Parker shows up and is a ghost in his own mind, which is cooler to type than it is to read.
It’s easy to figure out what happens from there; Parker will eventually push Ock out and pow, everything is back to normal.
Except that didn’t happen.
Mind fight!
Nope. While Parker was trying to regain control of his body, Ock eventually became aware of it and pushed him out, making all predictable storylines…a little less predictable; something any medium can use a good does of.
So let’s take a look at what Ock has done as Spider-Man in the past few months.
Spider-Bots!
Spider-Bots, Spider-Bots everywhere! This is what Ock has released all over the city to help keep him tabs on crimes throughout the city. Helpful, sure. Invasion of privacy? You betcha. He’s also created a lair and is pretty much what Spider-Man would’ve been had he become a villain. A nice, new perspective.
Just a show that things aren’t the same- it’s not as though they put Ock in a different body and just started writing him the same as they did Peter- he’s more efficient, more dominating.
All of this, while at the same time not dumping on Amazing’s legacy.
Murder!
Yep, good ol’ Doc Ock has got blood on his hands! Peter Parker’s hands, more specifically. Before getting Ghost Parker out of his mind, he publicly executed the C-list villain Massacre- with Massacre’s own gun, no less.
And while Spidey would always pull his punches, knowing full well what he was capable of, Ock is less forgiving. Literally punching the Scorpion’s jaw off, beating D-listers Jester and Screwball for a simple prank as well as others for more serious offenses are just a few examples.
He also doesn’t hold back when it comes to regular folk who pick on Parker’s friends; such as locking a couple frat guys in their trunk and flipping the car.
Destroyed the Kingpin’s Empire!
While Daredevil and Spider-Man would have a hard time pinning any specific crime to the Kingpin, Ock just showed up with robots and his own private army (Yeah, he’s got a private army) and just jacked everything up, leaving Kingpin no choice but to simply disappear…for who knows how long. Kingpin’s (formerly) current empire was in the “Shadowland,” and protected by a temple-like building surrounded by Ninjas…didn’t help him much.
Seeing how effective Spider-Man is physically is fun to see, due to how often Peter Parker was written holding back- Ock doesn’t have the same reservations.
Blackmailing J. Jonah Jameson!
Jameson more-or-less ordered Otto to kill his enemy, Alistair Smythe, and after Otto actually does it, he reveals he recorded Jameson telling him to do it, blackmailing him for any future plans Otto intends on carrying out. Need permission to level a block for personal gain? Got it!
Used a city-wide broadcast to publicize a villain’s identity!
No honor here! While trying to catch the newest Hobgoblin, he used his Spider-Bots to simply out the guy, Phil Urich, costing the man his job, reputation, and sanity… but that wasn’t all there to begin with.
This is an interesting lack of respect for his enemies- aside from ruining the guy’s life, who knows what people around Phil might have done to him just by finding out who he is- mobs are restless! And Ock’s tactics are far less reserved than the regular wall-crawler.
Dating a midget!
Oh, you thought just because he’s got a young man’s body, Otto would chase after Mary Jane and all those other dim-witted fools? Nay! He still digs a woman’s brain, but dating a little person is only part of it- the way Ock treats people in general hasn’t changed much. In fact, he’s a jerk to everybody. But the thing I’m the most grateful for?
Huzzah!
The most recent issue of Superior Spider-Man has him coming up against former arch-villain Venom, who’s now known as “Agent Venom”: worn by Parker’s former bully and Spider-Man’s biggest fan Flash Thompson.
Flash has been employed by the government to use the Venom suit as one of their most effective agents- but Otto doesn’t know that and as far as he’s concerned, Flash is a nobody and Venom is a villain.
Sure, we miss Parker. He is Spider-Man after all. But to see such dramatic, fun changes in a medium that thrives on things staying the same is awesome even if it can’t last forever. So let’s see what happens in the coming months…
Here are some other Spider-Man articles for your reading pleasure-
Great Villains We’ll Probably Never See in a Spider-Man Movie
It Took Me 25 Years to Realize Spider-Man is the Greatest Superhero
Zombies Ruin Everything 
Discuss!