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