ANYONE KNOW WHERE THIS IS FROM?

’cause I love it.

MEDITATION ON SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN

Spider-Man No More by m7781

Yesterday, my son was looking at some of the new Marvel Legends figures and he said the Big Time Spider-Man one looked cool.  I had to agree….But at the same time, I’m always the first to object when Peter Parker gets a new costume.  Iron Spider-Man, Captain Universe Spidey, Iron Spider….They all feel kinda forced to me.  And although I really enjoyed most of Dan Slott’s work with the character, when he started up the Big Time storyline I got annoyed.  Too many gadgets.

And when it came to Superior Spider-Man, I had contempt before investigation.

SPOILERS AHEAD…KIND OF

This probably isn’t much of a spoiler by now, but Superior Spider-Man isn’t Peter Parker.  Well, it is Peter Parker, but he’s got Doctor Octopus’ mind and soul inside him.  Ock put Parker’s mind into Dr. Octavius’ dying body and migrated into Parker’s body.  Only, Peter managed to slip back into his own body at the last minute so now they’re both up in dat skull.  For now, Otto is dominant.  It’s kind of like Face/Off with souls.

As Spider-Man, Otto uses devices more than ever.

He’s got blades and nanites and improved Spider Tracers.  He “bugs” (i.e., wiretaps) the bad guys so he can be a step ahead of them.  He’s got Otto’s ego…

And when it’s Dr. O using all these devices, it turns out I love it.

Dan Slott really had to convince me that this was a book worth reading.  He’s only one issue in, so we’ll see how long this can be sustained, but I see lots of potential.  Turns out kinda evil Spidey is way, way better than Shadowland Daredevil.

And even more, I can’t wait to see how Spider-Man, after his body is inevitably re-taken by Parker, crawls back from this.

Serialized comic books, Marvel and DC alike, are a difficult medium to keep interesting because you can’t change the character too much, but without a challenge, the book becomes stale quickly.

We all know Spider-Man will be back to normal soon–probably in time for the movie this summer–but in the meantime, Slott has managed to do something truly novel with the character. I’ve read every issue of Amazing Spider-Man ever, and most Peter Parker The Spectacular Spidey’s, too, but I can honestly say I’ve never seen a tale like this before.