Synopsis:
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #2:
As the "Superior Spider-Man" goes about his new life, he narrates about how when he says that he is the greatest superhero ever, there is no ego at play, only fact (I think I'm going to be sick). As he arrives back at Peter Parker's apartment, still gushing about his accomplishments, he is startled by a voice, one that doesn't trip "his" Spider Sense. The voice belongs to Kaine, the Scarlet Spider (who actually earned that name), who says that he and "Peter" need to talk (I wonder what about?).Unfortunately for Kaine, he's soon forcefully ejected from the building by Otto, who remembers how Kaine killed him some time ago by breaking his neck, and is certainly not in a forgiving mood. He attacks Kaine relentlessly, rambling about how he took his life. Kaine at first is confused by SpOck's actions, but he soon gets his head in the game and begins to dominate the fight.
Suddenly, a mutant spider-monster...thing interrupts the brawl, attacking Kaine. Correctly deducing that the Jackal is responsible for the creatures, SpOck decides to leave and let them kill each other, but is stopped by more mutant monsters. He's rescued by Kaine, who jokes that they "get away from his idiot brother". As they resume their fight with the clones, Otto attempts to use the moment to strike a killing blow to Kaine (Coward!) but he's thwarted by the Jackal of all people, who's backed up by several more mutant clones as well as Carrion.
Kaine leaps at the Jackal, with every intention of murdering him. Carrion gets in the way however and starts choking the life out of Scarlet Spider. Try as he might, Otto can't leave Kaine to his fate and saves him, declaring to himself that he will be the one to kill Kaine. He then heads for the Jackal, despite Kaine's protests, only to be blasted by a clone of Gwen Stacy, who apologises to "Peter". The weakened Spider-Men are surrounded by the Jackal, who proclaims that "this is going to be good."
Scarlet Spider #20:
Kaine awakens after a trippy dream/flashback to find himself and SpOck (who is busy insulting practically everything in the room) chained up. The Jackal arrives with Carrion, informing Kaine & "Peter" that he's calibrated their shackles beyond Spider-Man's strength level. SpOck asks the Jackal what his endgame is, to which Jackal responds that he wants Peter's soul, every chromosome of it, which causes Otto to flip out, yelling that "his" DNA is his and his alone (Oh no it isn't). He also calls the Jackal pathetic for prattling on about nonsense (Hypocrite!), only to be surprised when the Jackal reveals he's already taken all the samples he needs.
Kaine then chooses the moment to break free of his chains and attack Jackal, who sics the mutant clones on him. Kaine frees SpOck, reasoning that he'll need some help. The Jackal orders Carrion to kill Kaine, the living virus complies by attempting to possess the Scarlet Spider, but he doesn't count on "The Other" presence inside Kaine's head. Having cut his way through most of the clones, Otto disarms the Gwen clone and attempts to kill her. Kaine prevents his "brother" from doing this, arguing that this isn't her fault. SpOck calls her an abomination, "a worthless mockery of humanity...just like all clones"
Swinging away, Otto throws a piece of detritus at the Jackal's equipment, setting off an explosion. The Jackal, horrified at the prospect of losing "his babies" charges into the fire to save the DNA samples. Kaine tries to save the Gwen clone, but she refuses his help, apologising again before she is consumed by the fire. Outside the building, Otto is feeling pleased over his actions, thinking he has disposed of the DNA samples, the Jackal & Kaine in one fell swoop. Suddenly, Kaine emerges from the wreckage, surprising SpOck. Kaine wants to know what the hell Otto was thinking, as he could have killed Kaine, walloping Otto in the jaw (now that's well deserved) when he responds that he "took the most efficient path". Kaine then walks away after telling "Peter" that while he knows he is not a hero, "Peter" is, and he should act like it. Otto swears that this isn't over as Kaine leaves.
While arriving back at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Housten with Aracely, Kaine is hit in the back of the neck by a mysterious pellet, which he assumes is a mosquito bite. While musing on "Peter's" words to him, Kaine makes a horrorfying discovery on his return to the hotel. His cellular degeneration is back!
Thoughts:
When Marvel first unveiled the Superior Spider-Man's identity, the characters whose reactions I was itching to see the most was Venom & Scarlet Spider, which made this team-up a highly anticipated story for me, and for the most part, it didn't disappoint . Kaine has proved to be a surprisingly compelling character in his solo series thanks to writer Christopher Yost and he's probably the best thing about this story. Kaine deals with a lot of abuse in this story, both physically and mentally, from Otto and the Jackal and I wound up feeling sorry for him by the end. Kaine is shown to really look up to Peter and though he doesn't say it, deep down he wants to be accepted by his "big brother", which makes it all the more heart wrenching that Otto is there instead to deal out some hurtful words. The final twist (while a little predictable) was rather exciting and it certainly looks to make the next few issues of Scarlet Spider impactful, though I hope that Kaine is still the Scarlet Spider when Peter inevitably returns as there would be some interesting stories to tell between the two.
This is the one time where I actually don't mind Otto being portrayed as an entirely reprehensible jerksince it puts Kaine in an interesting place.The focus is really on Kaine for this story and Otto is just buisness as usual, though I appreciate that Yost remembers their prior conflict since it's a good driving point for a fight scene between the pair. I also appreciate that Otto gets his arse handed to him by Kaine during their fight (it's about time that happened). The Jackal is the weakest part of the story for me since his motivations are rather lacking. Why does he want to replace everyone with clones? That being said, I loved the "I'm not a Bond villain" scene, it felt straight out of Watchmen and gave Miles Warren more credibility as an antagonist.
The art on display is stunning. I've been continuously impressed with Marco Checchetto's work on Avenging Spider-Man and he knocks it out of the park in Superior Team-Up #2. K-Studios In-Hyuk Lee also produces some stellar artwork in Scarlet Spider, blending hyper-realism with comic book-style poses and angles.
