Superior Spider-Man #21 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #21. Okay, I'm a couple issues behind right now, but I'm going to do my level best to get the following two issues out as soon as I can. I apologise for the delay.

Synopsis:

The newly restored Stunner attacks the Daily Bugle, where Joe Robertson is welcoming back Betty Brant to the team, asking where she can find Spider-Man. Unfazed, Robbie responds that "Spidey" will find her thanks to his Spider Bots (which their doing an expose on), which gives Stunner the idea of committing a crime to lure him in.

At Empire State University, Otto is fuming over the fact that Dr. Lamaze could ruin everything he's worked towards. He takes off, leaving behind a bewildered Anna Maria, and suits up, preparing to deal with Lamaze, but is suddenly contacted by one of his Spiderlings, who reports Stunner's rampage, prompting SpOck to intervene.

Elsewhere, at the supposed grave of Otto Octavius, Carlie Cooper stands with flowers, apologising to the dead man she now knows as Peter Parker for not believing him when he told her (back in ASM #700) that he was really Spider-Man in Doc Ock's body. she lays the flowers at the headstone, only for the ground to suddenly give way beneath her. She falls into the grave, but is more shocked to find that it contains no body. She's not given much time to ponder this surprise development however, as a cackling individual arrives and grabs her.

Meanwhile, SpOck is trying to explain his true identity to Stunner, but Angelina refuses to listen, railing against "Spider-Man" for killing Doc Ock, the man that she loved. Being more concerned about Lamaze's plans, Otto subdues her with his new web formula and sends his Spider Bots to track and shut down the virtual reality rig before taking off to deal with "more pressing matters". But Stunner is smarter than Otto gives her credit for, ripping through the webbing before pursuing him.

Otto catches up to Lamaze only to find that Anna Maria has already been trying to convince him otherwise of "Peter's" plagiarism. Touched by her defence of him, Otto is then forced to dodge a bus hurled at him by Stunner, which nearly crushes Anna & Dr. Lamaze if not for Otto holding the bus up with webbing. Stunner then rips Otto's metal arms from his back in disgust, while Lamaze abandons Anna Maria without a second thought. It looks as though Otto is set to have his own Gwen Stacy, but conveniently, the Spider Bots manage to reach Stunner's V.R rig and disable it, allowing Ock to win by the skin of his teeth.

SpOck soon arrives personally at Angelina's hideout, where he pilfers the rig while she is unconscious from neural feedback. When Stunner awakens, she is stunned herself to see Doctor Octopus standing before her, alive and well. Little does she know it's merely a hologram created and controlled by Otto using her V.R rig.

Ock tells her that, while he'll always care for her, he's moved on in the time she was away and found another, leaving Angelina in tears. Otto later visits Lamaze with his holo avatar, lying to his former colleague that Peter Parker was his assistant and came up with many of his greatest inventions. The next day, Lamaze officially retracts his accusations, meaning that "Peter Parker" is now a Doctor.

In the Goblin Underground, Menace brings the Goblin a present or rather a person, Carlie Cooper to be specific. To make matters worse (for Otto anyway) Menace has discovered her former friends journal (In which she's been keeping all her notes on the Superior Spider-Man) and presents it to the Goblin, who immediately delves in for a read...

Thoughts:

In my review of the last issue, I noted how much of the changes to the status quo seemed more like they were made for Peter than Otto, the opposite is true here, though the fact that Peter is now a Doctor would be an interesting thing for him to deal with. Carlie's capture by the Goblin's forces helps to streamline the many plotlines running through the veins of this comic, while simultaneously increasing the Goblin King's power, which makes his eventual confrontation with SpOck all the more promising. I'm also interested to learn what's become of Doc Ock's original body. Perhaps it's some sick joke by the Goblin?

Perhaps the best thing Dan Slott does in this issue is give Otto some more depth. The scenes with Stunner help to show a softer side to Doc Ock, and it's clear that it's difficult for him when he tells Angelina that he's moved on. This doesn't translate to other parts of the issue however. It's a missed opportunity for Otto to become somewhat humbled after Lamaze, a man he saw as a complete idiot, came so close to ruining him. As it stands, Otto seems as indifferent to him as he was before, which feels rather unnatural and rushed.

It's ironic that a D-List villain like Stunner could give "Spider-Man" more grief than the Vulture or the Spider Slayer, but it's appreciated since it shows that Otto isn't as Superior as he makes out. His acquisition of Stunner's hologram projector would certainly be an effective tool for disproving any suspicions about "Spider-Man's" identity, though I doubt it'll be used again with Darkest Hours and Goblin Nation hot on the heels of this issue.

Giuseppi Camuncoli's art quality is very consistent with last issue, with some beautifully framed shots. It's almost eerie seeing Doctor Octopus appear in his original form after all the time he's spent in Spider-Man's body. The shot of Carlie at Peter's grave is also suspiciously reminiscent of the opening panel of Otto in #1.

 

In short, this story arc was enjoyable, but it might not age well given how much it's built upon changes to the status quo...

 Score: 3.5/5.0

Superior Spider-Man #20 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #20. Once again I'm really sorry for the delay.

Synopsis:

The issue flashes back to the time of Peter Parker's death in #700 of Amazing Spider-Man (like we really need to relieve that all over again). Across town from Avengers Tower, at the hospital, Doctor Mondrian and his team are paged to the coma room, as one of the patients is showing increased brain activity. As they cart this mystery patient away for surgery, they pass Julie Carpenter, aka Madame Web, who wakes from her own coma screaming psychically that "the web of life is coming undone" and soon "all the spiders will die. The surgery is a success and the mystery patient revives only to hear that "Doctor Octopus" has just died, which enrages them.

We then cut to present day in Midtown Manhattan, where Otto Octavius is on his way to a date with Anna Maria Marconi. His conversation with her is interrupted by a Spider-Bot reporting a robbery in progress, which Otto heads towards. The robber turns out to be Felica Hardy, aka the Black Cat, who greets Otto in a flirtatious manner as he approaches her. "Spidey" responds by punching her in the face (WTH!!), which knocks out one of her teeth. Otto then fights and quickly defeats the bewildered Cat, leaving her webbed up for the police and utterly fuming, swearing that she'll never forget this.

Otto's date with Anna Maria involves a picnic on a web strung over a couple of rooftops. Otto answers Anna Maria's concerns about it's longevity with the revelation that he's improved on Peter's web-fluid (well that's certainly going to have a lasting impact). The new formula now stays up indefinitely, until Otto activates a dissolving agent. He also reveals that he's applying for a business loan to start his new company, Parker Industries (kind of ripping off Tony Stark there, aren't we Otto?), and invites Anna Maria to be a part of it. She accepts.

The next morning, Aunt May and Jay Jameson talk at the hospital about "Peter's" plans, which their both investing in. A large, hooded figure (the mystery coma patient from before) then emerges from the therapists office with Sha Shen, commenting that they're back on their feet now before leaving. We then cut to Otto signing the paperwork for his new endeavour along with May, Jay and Sajani Jaffrey, who'll function as his vice president.

Meanwhile, Carlie Cooper is talking to Yuri Watanabe at her apartment, saying she now has enough evidence to take to the Avengers. As Yuri leaves, Carlie calls Mary Jane Watson, warning her to stay away from Peter and to keep May and the others away too. MJ however, is otherwise occupied, she's arrived at the local firehouse, fully glammed up, to ask out firefighter Pedro Olivera (the one who saved her from the fire at the club). Like Black Cat, she doesn't get the welcome she was expecting, instead being pounced upon by Pedro's dog, Jake, but he offers to make it up to her with a coffee, asking that she call him Ollie.

Elsewhere, "Peter" presents his doctoral thesis to the board at Empire State University. It looks as though he has it in the bag, but then none other than Dr. Don "the Shnoz" Lamaze accuses him of "stealing" Otto Octavius' life's work (how deliciously ironic), dismissing everything as plagiarism. He vows to see "Parker" expelled and made the laughing stock of the entire scientific community...unless of course a certain web-head gets involved?

At Avenue B, the mystery coma patient enters an abandoned building, the subsequent scanning revealing her as Angelica Brancale, the former lover of Doctor Octopus. She activates a back-up system of her holographic avatar, swearing vengeance on the "Superior Spider-Man" in the name of Otto Octavius (Irony x2) as Stunner...

Thoughts:

Dan Slott has been teasing for a while now that the events in this issue would have lasting ramifications in the Spidey-Verse, and while I don't think they were all exactly as earth-shatteringly "shocking" as those seen in the previous issue, there's still a lot of very interesting developments and definitely a couple of surprises.

First off, SpOck punching poor Black Cat in the face. That certainly threw me for a loop. I've always liked the character of Felicia Hardy (in fact when I was first introduced to her via the 90's Spidey animated series, I actually wanted Peter to end up with her rather than MJ) and since she's on the cover for this issue I expected much of the issue to focus around the dynamic with Otto & Felicia, so it was a real surprise that this meeting was ended so abruptly and violently, but it was also a good use of misdirection and Slott looks to be taking the Spider-Man/Black Cat relationship in a different direction for when Peter returns (let's face it, we all know it's going to happen).

The concept of Otto forming his own business as Peter Parker was also unexpected, though I doubt it'll come to fruition and even if it does, it will likely be short lived. The scene with Dr. Lamaze brings a fascinating quandary to the table. While it was a very satisfying comeuppance for Otto (given how much he looked down on Lamaze), it could also mean the end for Peter's scientific career if Otto doesn't stop him, but taking that form of action is morally wrong.

Carlie Cooper's investigation into Otto's activities garnered a good piece of evidence last issue and I'm pleased that she's planning on taking this to the Avengers, though it's hard to shake the worry that Slott will cop out with this particular subplot. The reintroduction of Stunner isn't a surprise given the solicitations for the following issue, but I'm interested to see Otto's reaction to his former lover's return, especially since he appears to have moved on. Talking of moving on, Mary Jane's budding relationship with "Ollie", while a very funny scene, is also a little sad since it definitely has legs and would be a legitimate way of keeping Peter & Mary Jane apart even if she were to discover that Doc Ock had taken over his body. I know I keep talking about Peter's return, but it very much seems that Slott is setting up some elements that would affect Peter more than Otto.

Giuseppe Camuncoli provides plenty of polished, eye-catching pages in this issue. Black Cat in particular looks terrific considering her limited panel time. Slott's writing definitely seems to have matured through the course of the series. Here's hoping that he can keep it to this standard with the following issues...

Score: 4.0/5.0 

Superior Spider-Man #19 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #19, the conclusion of the "Necessary Evil" storyline and what looks to be the beginning of the return of Peter Parker (OMG!).

Synopsis:

On the Caribbean island Grand Tauro, Antoine Morant (banker to super villains like A.I.M, the Maggia & the Red Skull) is being pursued in a car chase by Carlie Cooper and Yuri Watanabe, aka the Wraith, who is on board his car. Wraith dives off the vehicle after being shot at and rendezvous with Cooper, who's close behind. Yuri suggests they play it cool since she got some of her fear gas in their vents, but Carlie insists that they need to nail him now since they can't risk losing this lead on uncovering "the Superior Spider-Man's" deception.

Back at Horizon Labs in New York, as people outside begin to notice the growing energy around the building. Otto Gunther (seriously?) Octavius defends his knocking out the Spider-Man of 2099 to the Horizon staff. Grady Scraps informs everyone of how Tiberius Stone's three separate acts of sabotage have led to this "time bomb" occurring. Stone unlocked the safeties on Peter Parker's Alpha energy generator (playing with the fabric of space), recalibrated Scrap's time door (explaining the chronotons) and tampered with Sajani's artificial vibranium (adding an alien harmonic frequency into the mix). SpOck dismisses the situation as "child's play", instructing Sajani and Uatu "Not the Watcher" Jackson (sorry, I just like saying that) to retrieve a sample of reverbium and the Alpha energy regulators respectively (Max Modell is annoyed by the former since Sajani was supposed to have destroyed all of it). He also frees Tiberius Stone to aide in constructing a counter device since he is familiar with the tech.

Max tells "Spidey" that they need Parker (don't we all) too since he was the one who solved the equation that cancelled out the reverbium's vibrations. Unfortunate, since he deleted all of Parker's memories (JERK!), Otto isn't sure if he has the equation. He can still recall the ones he's already accessed, so he furiously goes through them to see if the equation is among them. As this happens, we see a silhouetted figure lift and throw a ton of rubble off of himself in the mindscape (Could it be?!).

Otto is then shaken out of his deliberation by Modell, who reveals that he's been thinking for eight minutes! In that time, the group and Stone have patched together the counter device. All that's left is for someone to input the correct frequency, Peter's equation. Miguel comes to as Otto attempts to calculate the equation instead. Realising that "Spider-Man" doesn't know the equation, Max orders a full evacuation of the building. Everyone leaves except for Stone, who O'Hara webs back and holds down, deciding that Stone should die, regardless of the cost of his own existence.

As the staff of Horizon dash outside, they are confronted by Mayor Jameson who, after yelling at them, asks if they are about to blow up his city. Modell answers that there's still hope as "Spider-Man" is still in there, which doesn't give Jameson any confidence. Inside, Otto thinks he's finally cracked the equation and enter it in, only to get it wrong and run out of time. As the implosion occurs, Miguel has a change of heart and legs it, just making it out of the building with Stone in time as Horizon Labs implodes, seemingly killing Otto. 

86 years in the future, in Nueva York, Alchemax CEO Tyler Stone is informed by his scientists that the timeline has been fully restored. Stone then immediately damages the time machine, stranding Miguel in the past, with nothing but a download of his holo-assistant Lyla, and an ancestor he can't lay a finger on for risk of altering his future. Tiberius smugly leaves, telling Max to look forward to the numerous lawsuits as he has places to be. That includes celebrating the formation of a new mega-corp with Liz Allan and her lawyer Mr. Banks, a mega-corp called...Alchemax. The celebration is interrupted however, by the arrival of a young man named Michael O'Mara (sounds familiar), who notifies Stone that he's been assigned as his personal assistant, which the "bithead" totally buys.

Jameson meanwhile uses his contacts in Washington to have the charges against Max dropped, on the condition that he not pull any "science shenanigans" in New York as long as he's Mayor. Max agrees, though as soon as Jameson leaves, he breaks his promise and he and Grady bring "Spidey" back to life with a Doctor Who reference...seriously, look!

With the so-called "superhero" safe, Max makes a deal of his own with SpOck, that they both go their seperate ways and consider this chapter closed. As they leave, Otto looks on at the wreckage of Horizon with a hint of sadness. Arriving back at "his" apartment, Otto goes through his voicemail, with a whole load having come from Mary Jane. Deciding it's time he told her once and for all that she needs to move on, Otto calls her only to be told exactly that by MJ.

Later that evening, Max, Grady, Bella and most of the staff board the Zephyr (which Max still owns since it's one of his personal possessions) and leave New York for new horizons. Sajani & Uatu stay behind, Uatu because his mother wants him to take a break from all this and Sajani because of her previous indiscretion with the reverbium. SpOck contacts her shortly afterwards with a proposition in mind.

Back on Grand Tauro, Carlie & Yuri break into Morant's private compound, stopping the banker from shredding any potential evidence. Carlie swiftly uncovers a document that proves that the henchmen and equipment were purchased with funds straight from the secret bank account of Otto Octavius (Gotcha indeed)...

Thoughts:

It seems that almost every story-arc in this series ends with a dramatic change to the status quo. Dan Slott has stated that this issue and the next one in particular will feature huge changes to the Spidey-verse, and unlike his repeated claims that Peter Parker is staying dead, he's not lying. There are plenty of exciting developments in this storyline that close it out very well, making this the strongest arc of Superior to date!

For starters its great to see what happens to Otto Octavius in this issue. After spending so long bragging that he's the best there is at what he does (but what he does best isn't very good), watching him not only fail, but have others save the day and him was extremely satisfying and a huge ego-blow to the enormous "bithead" (wow, 2099 slang sure is infectious). It was an especially nice touch of irony to have the one thing Otto couldn't solve be something that Peter managed to do.

At first, I was beginning to consider it a major criticism that Miguel and Otto don't interact too much in this storyline, but the fact that Mr. O'Hara is "sticking" with us for a while renders this point moot and sets up an exciting new status quo for the character that warrants a new series (please get Peter David to at least guest write if that comes to pass!).

Miguel's brief moment of possible self-sacrifice is good as it shows him to be a more selfless hero than Otto, but his change of heart towards the end is also gratifying as this character is way too interesting to die. Maybe now that he's in the present day he can alternate with Otto on the Superior Spider-Man Team-Up series. I'd certainly like to see Chris Yost's take on the character.

It's kind of sad to witness the end of Horizon Labs. It was one of the best things Slott brought into the Marvel Universe and it's staff were all very entertaining. I don't think this is the last we've seen of them though. They'll likely return once Jameson's tenure as Mayor is up. He did say "Not while I'm Mayor" after all, that's more than a little foreboding.

There are a few plotholes present however. Considering Grady successfully went into the past to retrieve evidence of Tiberius Stone's wrongdoing, I'm confused as to why he didn't show this to the authorities once the they were all safe? This shocking bithead is the main reason the building imploded, and yet their happy to let him go free and sue them for their intellectual properties? I don't get it? A throwaway line about Grady losing the evidence would have been enough to explain this.

Ryan Stegman's work here is brilliant. Spider-Man 2099 looks as awesome as ever and the splash page of all the classic moments of Spidey lore when Otto tries to recall Peter's memories is rather striking (not to mention that it seemingly features a certain hero clawing his way back to consciousness). While I stand by my criticisms of past issues, this story arc marks an exciting set of changes for Spidey's corner of the Marvel U and I've enjoyed this story-arc thoroughly...

Score: 4.0/5.0

Superior Spider-Man #18 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #18. Sorry about the long delay with this post, but at least it's finally up, and hopefully when #19 comes out, I'll have my review of that up much faster.

Synopsis:

Face to face with his present day counterpart, Miguel O'Hara attempts to re-introduce himself to who he believes is Peter Parker. Unfortunately for him, it's really Otto Octavius, who has no idea who this guy is (since he erased Peter's memories before he had the chance to study them all). So he just elects to punch Miguel in the face instead. While Miguel briefly confounded by "Spider-Man's" actions, SpOck turns his attention back to Tiberius Stone, who continues to wind him up. O'Hara gets between the two however, declaring that Stone is under his protection (since he's Miguel's grandfather) and the two Spider-Men face off, each unsheathing their talons.

Inside Horizon Labs, lawyer Hector Baez leaves to go and help Max Modell, who is still in federal custody, despite Uatu "Not the Watcher" Jackson's protests. Grady Scraps is also about to enter his "Time Door invention (despite his girlfriend, Bella's protests and the fact that a future Spider-Man just came through the thing!) to expose Stone for the little swear word that he is.

Back outside, Otto manages to slash Miguel in the gut, only to find that it did jack squat! Miguel explains that his costume is made of UMF material, which is standard in the year 2099, though it looks cutting edge to a "low tech" like Otto, which infuriates SpOck to the point where he picks up a car with his retractable tentacles. Seeing his chance, Stone activates a portable Spider-Jammer in his hand, overloading "Spidey's" Spider-Sense and causing him to drop the car, which almost crushes Normie Osborn. Thankfully, Miguel saves him with a web line before taking off with Stone. A frustrated Octavius gives chase, remarking that this is all unacceptable (...you're unacceptable!)

 

He orders his minions to search for Spider-Man 2099 in conjunction with the Hobgoblin. The call is interrupted by another from Anna Maria Marconi, who is offering to come over and help "Peter" with his college thesis. Through his response, Ock realises that all his thesis work is stored over at Horizon and heads back there as fast as he can.

Meanwhile, Miguel puts some distance between himself and Doc SpOck, landing on a rooftop with Tiberius Stone.Tyler Stone (the corrupt CEO of Alchemax, Tiberius' son and Miguel's dad) informs Spidey that his personal timeline is stabilising. Miguel briefly ponders whether or not he should allow his scheming grandpappy to live since that will lead to the creation of Alchemax, but is interrupted from his thoughts by Tiberius, whose figured out that Spider-Man won't harm him, putting his theory to the test by jumping off the rooftop. Miguel saves him and promptly webs him to the wall,
 deciding to hotwire his wrist communicator to another channel. He "dl's" the thought bank of his holo-assistant Lyla to his location, instructing her to "info-dump" him on everything she knows about the connections between Tiberius, Horizon & Alchemax.

Travelling back into the past, Grady (who is invisible to everyone there ala the Pensieve from Harry Potter) uncovers Stone's sabotage of Peter Parker's demonstration of his "Parker Particles", taking photo evidence before contacting Bella and Sajani to input the next set of coordinates so he can jump back further. While this is going on, Otto is removing all of his equipment with the Living Brain. They are met outside by Hector & Max, who begs "Peter" to trust them as they can sort this out. Of course, Otto refuses to listen and ultimately infuriates Max by cutting him off mid-sentence to take a call from his Spider-Lings, who have located the Hobgoblin, but instead of Phil Urich, it's the Goblin King in disguise as the original Hobby. Out of patience, Modell informs "Parker" that if he leaves right now, he's fired! Guess what Otto does? As this is happening, Lyla informs Miguel that Stone's sabotage led to the actual destruction of Horizon Labs, which led to the rise of Alchemax. She also reveals the date of the event, which leaves Miguel "shocked" since (in the Marvel U anyway) it's today!

Heading back into Horizon Labs after firing "Parker", Modell discovers what his employees have been doing with the time door. Grady emerges from it just as Max calls for them to pull him out, saying when they hear what he's found it, the whole thing will be worth it. Outside, Otto frantically pulls on his costume as he fumes over all the different problems that are plaguing him. It's at this point that he receives a call from Mary Jane Watson, who simply wants to talk. Otto basically snaps at her before spotting Spider-Man 2099 heading to Horizon with Stone in hand.

Back inside Horizon, the time door has been shut down, but there are still several chronotons in the air. Grady explains that they aren't from the door and that this was always going to happen, a claim that's backed up by Miguel as he arrives with Stone. He tells everyone that the place is about to blow, but if they listen to him, they can all make it out in one piece. It's at this point that SpOck chooses to wallop Miguel in the face, asking "What?" (I don't know Otto, what could you possibly have done wrong?) as Miguel's watch states that a temporal event will occur in sixteen minutes!

Thoughts:

Midway through this arc and things are heating up nicely. Despite all-out mayhem occurring in these pages, Dan Slott keeps things surprisingly coherent for the most part, with a cliffhanger ending that makes the wait for the concluding chapter all the more difficult.

While I personally would have liked to have seen Otto's decisions throughout the series negatively affect him earlier than this, it's still good to see Slott taking him down this route now. It's rather satisfying to watch the "Superior Spider-Man's" mistakes, both past and present (which I guess is an apt phrase for this storyline), catch up to him. It definitely seems as though Doc SpOck won't be coming out of this unscathed.

Miguel O'Hara continues to function well as a duel protagonist. His detective work ensures that he remains his own character rather than being reduced to a pawn of Alchemax, and it also allows Slott to bring in more characters from 2099 briefly. And while he may not have much of a sense of humour, Miguel's actions provide some much needed comedy to the story, like when he calls Otto low-tech. The only moment that seemed a little out of place was the brief appearance of the Goblin King, though this could pay off in the next issue so it's not really a criticism.

Ryan Stegman provides some truly spectacular panels of artworks here. There's an abundance of detail in the characters and the surroundings, with an awesome action scene between the two Spider-Men. So far this has proved to be a pretty effective story. A lot is resting on the final part however and I'd be lying if I said I haven't been disappointed by Slott in the past, but hopefully he can deliver a satisfying conclusion to this story...

Score: 4.0/5.0

Superior Spider-Man #17 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #16, featuring the return of everyone's favourite future hero, Spider-Man 2099!

Synopsis:

In the city of Nueva York, in the year 2099, the Public Eye order everyone within the vicinity of the headquarters of mega-corp Alchemax to evacuate immediately. Miguel O'Hara disembarks from a nearby "mag-lev" and suits up as Spider-Man 2099 to investigate.

It turns out that the Public Eye are trying to contain several biplanes and a T-Rex that have emerged as a result of temporal energy distortions. After assisting them in their endeavour, Spider-Man breaks into Alchemax headquarters, suspecting the corporation of causing the distortions in the first place. Instead, he discovers that the CEO of Alchemax, Tyler Stone (Hmm, that surname sounds familiar?) is being slowly erased from history by some unknown force from the past. Unfortunately for Miguel, Stone is his biological father, which means that he'll also be erased if he doesn't prevent whatever's causing the problem, which is pinpointed to the year 2013. He's forced to go anyway as he's recorded as appearing there already (As a Time Lord once said, Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.).

In the present day (2013) Otto Octavius is taking part in a company softball game at Horizon Labs. After hitting a home run and being a complete arse about it, the game is suddenly interrupted by several federal agents, who arrest Max Modell on the spot and take him away, shocking Otto (trust me, no pun intended there.), whilst the devious Tiberius Stone looks on from the distance, musing that this is only the start of a very long fall for Modell.

 As the news spreads of Max's arrest, Horizon's stock prices plummet, and an "anonymous" individual begins leaking classified documents of theirs onto the internet. The Daily Bugle reports about the leaks, but not the footage of Modell's arrest since Robbie believes that this insider is trying to manipulate them all like pieces on a chess board.

Meanwhile, in the Goblin Underground, Phil Urich is whining at the Goblin King to let him go and challenge "Spider-Man" for a rematch, saying he was unprepared before (yeah right). Naturally the Goblin King kicks his arse whilst reminding him of how he nearly led "Spidey" to uncover the Goblin Protocols, though he suddenly stops and giggles to himself, saying that Urich has given him an idea.

Back at Horizon, "Peter" is being reminded of all the questionable actions Horizon has taken, replying that his memories been fuzzy lately (and whose fault it that?). The group then receive visitors in the form of Liz Allan (and her son Normie), who has just become the majority shareholder of Horizon. She's also brought along her choice for the sites new supervisor...Stone, who informs everyone that every unpatented idea they've worked on is now the intellectual property of "Al Chem" (Al Chem, Alchemax...why didn't I think of that?), which includes all of the technology that Peter & Otto built for Spider-Man!

As they leave, Grady gets the idea to use his time door to go back in time and gather evidence of Stone's wrongdoing's, but "Peter" has already decided to solve this problem as "the Superior Spider-Man" and pursues the Al Chem limousines . As Grady goes to activate the time door, it activates by itself and O'Hara comes bursting through! After clarifying what year it is, he takes off to find and prevent the anomaly, noting the name Horizon as he goes.

Outside, Otto lands in front of the limos and demands that the occupants exit them. Liz trusts him as she considers Spider-Man an old friend much like Peter, but Normie creepily says that he knows who "Spidey" really is and that someone should do something about him (All he needs to do now is enunciate "Redrum"!). Stone takes pleasure in telling SpOck that everything he's doing is aboveboard, meaning he's supposedly untouchable. That doesn't stop Otto from trying to knock his block off with his bare fist, but Miguel stops him with a webline. The two Spider-Men confront each other, with Miguel declaring that he's "the Spider-Man of tommorow, here to save today!" (As well as his own "shocking" grandfather.)...

Thoughts:

This issue gets things of to a "shocking" good start. Dan Slott invests a great deal more focus than he has in previous story arcs, which is probably why they were so unfocused in the first place, and delivers a satisfactory first part.

Within seconds of reading the opening scenes in 2099, you can tell that Slott has a real reverence for the character of Miguel O'Hara and his voice for the character is really consistent with Peter David's. Miguel is very distinct from Otto and his motivations are nicely complicated to go along with the Doctor Who-style time-travel.

What's also impressive is how Slott ties 2099 to the present day Marvel U. The reappearance of Liz Allen was a nice surprise and I never suspected that Alchemax could be a future version of Al Chem merged with Horizon Labs. It's good to see Otto express concern over Max Modell's arrest and speak highly of him for once, I was getting tired of hearing him insult everything that moves. There's some good jokes here too, the gag of the Horizon staff being divided into everyone who got turned into a spider versus everyone who got turned into a lizard is pure genius!

Ryan Stegman returns for art duties this issue and he does a great job, with the exception of some of the scenes set in 2099 which are a little hard to follow, though Miguel looks like a total badass in every panel he features. Overall, very promising...

Score: 4.0/5.0

Superior Spider-Man #16 Review!

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #16.

Synopsis:

With everyone in the Bugle offices now staring at Phil Urch, Joe Robertson orders everyone to turn off their phone or get away from their keyboard, threatening to fire whoever texts, tweets, or posts a status update about the current situation. Ben Urich refuses to believe that his nephew is the Hobgoblin, but Norah is more sceptical, asking Phil to say himself that he is not the Hobgoblin.

Unfortunately for Phil, an anonymous employee tips off the media and "Spider-Man", who swiftly arrives at the Bugle. As Phil starts to lose it, Robbie reprimands SpOck for his handling of the situation and asks where his proof is. After noting the irony at play here, Otto proves his claim by explaining how he injected Phil with Nano-Spider Tracers. At this point, Phil finally snaps, activating his flame sword and using Norah as a hostage, quipping that "nothing says Goblin like a dead blonde!" (only if you're green though).

In his secret lab, Tiberius Stone laughs at Hobby's misfortune, before moving onto the next target on his list, Horizon Labs! As various news crews debate whether or not costumed vigilante's deserve secret identities, we cut to Captain Watanabe interrogating a Spider-Ling as the Wraith. Despite her use of "fear gas" (Man, Scarecrow would sue if he lived in the Marvel U, ha, rhyme!), the henchman maintains that everything involving their salary is above board. At Carlie Cooper's request, Watanabe sends her the Spider-Ling's bank number, which gives them a lead on a large (likely illegal) offshore account, and since Carlie knows Spidey's secret identity, this only serves to fuel her theory. The pair decide to travel to the Caymans in order to follow the money.

Back at the Bugle, Norah breaks free of Phil's grip and elbows him in the face, whilst also feeling the need to tell him their through (I don't think he'd have assumed otherwise). With no hostage, Phil resorts to using his Lunatic Laugh on the civilians. He falters however at the realisation that he's killing his "Uncle Ben", which allows SpOck to detonate the Nano-Tracers, stunning Urich. SpOck then tackles him through the window and out into the street.

Meanwhile, the Goblin King watches the chaos from his Goblin Underground. He chides "Spider-Man" for releasing Urich's identity to the public, remarking that "it's almost like you don't know how this game is played anymore" (if only you knew Gobby). He then instructs Menace (where the hell did she come from?) to bring Urich to him.

Surrounded by police and Spider-Lings, as well as several news-crews recording everything, Phil opts to surrender rather than continue to fight. SpOck picks up the now-discarded flame sword with the intention of killing him, but he's suddenly interrupted by an Avengers Priority Call from Captain America himself, who tells him that they need to talk (What, do you think he's a Skrull again Cap?). Otto deactivates the sword, thanking the people of New York for their efforts.

As the chaos dies down, the media begins to question why so many employees of the Bugle have led double lives as super villains. Robbie dismisses everyone except for Ben and Norah. He explains that Ben will have to be temporarily sidelined. Norah however will have to be let go since she was the one reporting the front page Hobgoblin stories.

En route to New Jersey, Phil Urich's convoy is attacked by Menace, who frees Phil and takes him to the Goblin Underground. After watching the news reports on his escape (Which includes SpOck blustering over it and Mayor Jameson dodging questions.) he's let in to see the Goblin King, but first he's given something else to wear. As he dons his new costume, the Goblin King informs him that Phil Urich's life is over, and this new identity, the Goblin Knight, is all he has. In return, the Goblin Knight promises to deliver "the spider" to the Goblin...

Thoughts:

Thankfully this story arc has managed to end in a way that isn't a cop-out. There's good payoff to the characters, especially Phil Urich, the ongoing plot threads are built upon very nicely and art from Humberto Ramos is pretty good, although it's a little rushed in some places.

Despite Phil Urich being exceedingly irritating in his previous appearances, I actually felt a small amount of pity for him as his life crumbles to dust here and he goes down what looks to be the point of no return. Dan Slott gives a surprising amount of depth to this character in this issue, which justifies the somewhat tragic nature of this issue. You could almost say that "the Superior Spider-Man" did kill Phil Urich, as by the end all he has left is the Goblin. Watching him lose control in the Bugle offices was very tense and it made sense (Another rhyme!) because he's under pressure from numerous things. Norah Winters on the other hand is still very annoying, her dialogue was nothing short of nauseating.

I very much enjoyed the appearance of the Wraith and the way in which both her and Carlie Cooper's ongoing plot to expose Otto is building. The same can be said of the Goblin King, whose army is becoming pretty impressive with the additions of Menace and the Goblin Knight, even if Menace's appearance came out of nowhere. I also appreciated that we see more of the fallout from Otto's actions.

While it's not perfect, this issue is the most satisfactory, as well as the most fun, conclusion to a Superior Spidey story arc so far and actually leaves me jazzed for the next issue and the re-introduction of Spider-Man 2099...

Score: 4.0/5.0

Superior Spider-Man #15 Review

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here and welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #15.

Synopsis:

Hobgoblin arrives at one of the Tinkerer's shops. He informs the Tinkerer of the destruction of Shadowland and asks that he fix his gear before abruptly leaving in a panic. The Tinkerer then opens a secret door to the back of the shop, where Tiberius Stone (whose been cowering there for weeks like the little weasel that he is) is working. With Kingpin out of the way, Stone no longer needs to hide from him. He agrees to do one final job for the Tinkerer, to fix Hobby's gear. While doing this, he thinks about the millions of ways to get back at the various people who've hurt him (including "Spider-Man"), declaring that they "MESSED WITH THE WRONG NERD!" (dude, seriously?).

Elsewhere, the "Superior Spider-Man's" minions and Spider-Bots are scouring the remains of Shadowland for the bodies of the Kingpin and the Hobgoblin. Carlie Cooper (whose investigating the site along with Captain Yuri Watanabe) pulls "Peter" aside for a quick chat, asking how on earth he can afford all the minions and equipment. SpOck answers that the cities helping out and she can ask Mayor Jameson. The body of Smedley Kornfield is soon unearthed, leading everyone, including Ock, to believe the Kingpin is dead. SpOck takes off, instructing Carlie to contact him once the Hobgob's bod is found. Carlie tells Yuri that she's all but certain of her "crazy theory about Spider-Man", relaying what "Pete" told her to Watanabe, who decides to do some investigating as her vigilante alter ego, the Wraith!

Meanwhile, Phil Urich is in trouble. Despite bagging a fat check from the Bugle for his Goblin footage, it's not enough to cover his rent to Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, or his fixed gadgets. After a call from Kingsley, Phil resorts to robbing banks per his suggestion.

All the while, Spider-Ock becomes frustrated at his inability to locate Hobgoblin. He muses in his lair
whether he should commit 100% to Spider-Man and abandon the life of Peter Parker, only to put that thought out of his head when he receives a call from Anna Maria Marconi.

Realising that the Hobgoblin is unknowingly piggybacking off of his Spider-Bot hack and that this could tip Spider-Ock off to his schemes, the Goblin King shuts the program down temporarily and instructs his men to lie low for awhile, wondering aloud how well "the wannabe" will do against the Spider.

The call from Anna Maria turns out to be a summons to the Chancellor of ESU's office. He tells "Parker" that he'll be receiving a full credit despite his "spotty" attendance, at which point Otto kisses up to Doctor Lamaze. While leaving, Anna tells Peter that she cares about their future, which pleases Otto (I think that was the look on his face anyway?) though "unfortunately" he has to leave as the Hobgoblin has been spotted.

SpOck wastes no time in attacking Hobby, who is also furious at Spidey for ruining his job with the Kingpin. He attempts to kill SpOck with his flame sword, but Stone (who is observing not too far away) turns the device off via remote, which leads Otto to regain the upper hand. Gobby then retreats and discards his costume. Having tagged him with some Nano Spider-Tracers, SpOck is able to listen in on Phil bursting into the Bugle offices demanding an advance on his Goblin footage. SpOck then activates a feed broadcasting on every channel, instructing everyone in the city to contact him if they find the Hobgoblin, exposing his identity as Phil Urich (oh snap!)..

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Thoughts:

Okay, this is actually going quite well. The story has not at all gone the way I was expecting, but unlike the last story arc, that's actually a good thing. Despite the huge amount of plot elements Dan Slott is juggling around, he manages to keep a balance between them for the most part. I was relieved to finally get a moment of contemplation with Otto Octavius, never mind the fact that it took us a total fifteen issues to get to this point, and the idea he brings up about abandoning the Peter Parker persona is very intriguing.

Since Phil Urich has been soooo annoying in his appearances as the Hobgoblin, I actually found it quite amusing to watch his life come crashing down his pointy ears. "Since when did
being a bad guy become a job?" The Goblin King is becoming rather compelling as a master manipulator, and it was nice to see him exercise some common sense unlike Otto. I was also interested in the fact that both his and his assistants faces was kept obscured, much how it was in the original comics, Unless it's a fake out and its just ol' Stormin' Norman, I'm expecting a twist regarding the Goblin King's identity.

I didn't care for the way Mary Jane was characterised. After fifteen issues (not to mention all the guest appearances and team-up series) she's just now entertaining the thought of something being wrong with Peter? That's respect for your supporting cast right there. She should have been suspicious a long time ago.

Humberto Ramos' draws some good panels for the most part, although that shot of Happy SpOck is just wrong. To quote Scott Pilgrim, "that is eeeevil!"

Overall, a decent issue and hopefully the cliffhanger will be paid of in good form next time, though I've still got my doubts...

Score: 3.0/5.0

Superior Spider-Man #14 Review

Hello everybody, Donlinedude here & welcome to my review of Superior Spider-Man #14. Yeah there's been a bit of a break here, but I'll be putting out a video review of the three story arcs of Superior that I haven't reviewed on my Youtube channel either this week or the next, along with a review of the Claremont/Miller Wolverine series to tie in with the release of The Wolverine.

Synopsis:

In Hell's Kitchen, a father narrates that his son is afraid to sleep at night because they live in the shadow of Shadowland, property of Wilson Fisk, aka the Kingpin. The father is frustrated that no one is doing anything about Shadowland, when, as if on cue, the "Superior Spider-Man" arrives, complete with "Arach-Nauts", a small army of "Spiderling" minions & around 300 Spider-Bots, to commit "regicide".

Otto and his Spiderlings cut through the Hand ninja like a knife through warm butter, which convinces Kingpin & the Hobgoblin to fall back. Otto is forced to take a call from Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, who is disgusted that "Spider-Man" is attempting to blow up a building in "his city". However Octavius reminds Jameson of the conversation they had in the previous issue. Jameson protests, saying that lives will be lost, but Otto states the only bodies that will be found in the rubble of Shadowland will be those of Fisk and the Hobgoblin, deliberately leaving the last part of the exchange open to Fisk's security feed so as to intimidate the Kingpin.

Inside the castle, the Kingpin realises that, despite the voice being the same, this is not the Spider-Man he knows. This is one who will kill them if given the chance. He retreats underground with the Hobgoblin, revealing an obese man named Smedley Korfield watching television and stuffing his face. Fisk breaks Smedley's neck and tells Hobgoblin that Mr Kornfield's body has been modified to mimic his own DNA, which, along with cosmetically altered dental appliances, will allow the Kingpin to convincingly fake his death. He then activates the self-destruct sequence, escaping in a one-man sub and leaving Hobgoblin to die.

Ol' Phil is smarter than he looks however, and manages to escape the castle before it collapses. He thinks he's gotten away, only to scream when he realises one of the Spider-Bots has spotted him (what a sissy.). But lo and behold, the drone doesn't alert Otto, instead enacting "goblin protocol" and sparing Hobby, who takes the opportunity to flee.

With Shadowland now reduced to rubble, "Spider-Man" is thanked by the grateful residents of Hell's Kitchen, including the father & son from earlier. All the while, Jameson is fuming that SpOck has him completely under his thumb.

The father leaves for work a short while later, leaving his son with a neighbour. As he walks away, his narration resumes, saying that he believes his son will be safe because "Spider-Man" is watching over them all. Little does he know, new dealers are emerging on the streets, invisible to the Spider-Bot's sensors because of a little goblin tattoo.

Underground, in the sewers, or the "Goblin Underground" as they are now calling it, the Goblin King's henchman welcome the several members of the Hand ninja, who feel disgraced for retreating from battle. They join the rest of the small army building underneath New York as the Goblin King himself makes an announcement that, in having taken over several of the Kingpin's operations, they have now passed the tipping point. 52% of crime in the city is under their control. The Goblin cackles, declaring that New York is his...and he did it without lifting a finger...

Thoughts:

This issue was surprisingly fast. I was expecting more of a complex take down of Shadowland that perhaps might even fail, not an all-out assault by Doc Ock that actually succeeds! Like the decision to kill off Massacre, I'm glad that Slott was allowed to make this story decision and we're left with an interesting ending to this issue with the Goblin King making a surprise appearance as his power grows. It's good that he's making regular appearances and contributing to the plot rather than just standing around in the background letting us know he's there, like Cygor from the Spawn comics.

The "Superior Spider-Man's" new costume definitely reflects Otto's personality and I like the addition of the spider legs and the black lenses. Perhaps this is a metaphor for how Otto is twisting the image of Spider-Man to match his own warped personality? The art by Humberto Ramos is pretty good here since most of this issue is utter chaos and that's something Ramos' style is very much suited to. I will say that the pace was maybe a little too fast, but overall this was a good issue, though after the previous arcs, I'm more than wary of the next instalment...

Score: 4.0/5.0