SPOILER ALERT
Superior Spider-Man #1 - Hero or Menace?
Released - 09/01/2013
Cover -
Pencils - Ryan Stegman
Inks - Edgar Delgado
Letterer - Chris Eliopoulos
Review -
Now, this is the first comic I ever bought, but don't panic, I've been a fan for many years now, so I know my Ultrons from my Apocalypses. For those of you that don't know what happened in Dan Slott's brilliant final arc of "Amazing Spider-Man", Peter is dead. Gasp! Not Peter Parker, perhaps the most famous character in the history of... of... ever! Yes, I'm afraid so. Doc Ock, the crafty devil, switched minds with Spidey on his deathbed, leaving Peter to die (after a final confrontation) in his body. This left Octavius' mind in Peter's body and, clearly, there was outrage.
I was always discouraged when it came to jumping in on "Amazing Spider-Man", mostly due to the fact I was about 600 issues behind, and, boy, 50 years is a hell of a lot of history to catch up on. When I discovered Marvel NOW!, I was overjoyed, as it gave me a jumping on point, especially with my favourite hero, Spider-Man!
I skipped on down to my local comic store to find there was only one issue left. This was just two days after its release. As I was paying my loose change to the store owner, a 40-something came in and was bitterly disappointed to see me clutching the last one in my teenage, inexperienced hands. He even offered me £5 (about $7) for it, which I turned down.
I read the book once on the bus home, again when I got in, again when I went to put it in my makeshift comic box, and again on my Nexus 7 before I went to bed. Since that fateful day, I must have read this comic 25 times, and it gets better every time! I love every drawing, every speech bubble, every fast paced conversation with Speed Demon and even every single advert on every other page!
Now for the actual review...
The book begins with Peter (Ock) standing at his (Octavius') grave. His parting words to himself are "Farewell, 'Otto Octavius.' From now on, my name is Peter Parker." Golden. Next, remembering his promise to the fallen Peter Parker, Spidey (Ock) responds to a police alert via his fancy bluetooth device from the year 3000. Revealing the suit underneath his boring Peter clothes, Spidey swings into action!
Cut to 11th and Greenwich where the science building is being torched by an all new Sinister Six! (Ock won't like this!) Obviously, a new roster is in effect. Boomerang heads the team, with Shocker, Speed Demon, Beetle, Living Brain and Overdrive as his subordinates.
The team appears to be after a "Barometric Oscillator", whatever that is. The Six begin to argue about Overdrive's escape plan, but then comes the money shot: the title page. A full page of glorious superiority (see what I did there?). It truly is spectacular (and again), amazing (one more), the ultimate (there it is) title page!
We see Spidey looking a little more menacing here, swapping out his blue and red suit for a black and red one. It's badass.
After some clever quips from a small piece of Peter we see coming through Ock's hard exterior, Spidey easily disposes of the new Sinister Six, with the exception of Boomerang, who has one last shot at Spidey before the wall-crawler strikes him with these claw things he apparently has (that, I didn't know).
We now visit Horizon Labs, Peter's workplace, with all his friends. However, Ock doesn't know these people well, only through Peter's memories. In fact, the first thing Peter (Ock) says is to call them "dolts"! Surely someone has to notice something's wrong with our hero?
Max Modell is seen having doubts concerning Peter's work designing "weapons" for Spider-Man, but Peter (Ock) quells his anxiousness by handing him a list of "peaceful applications" he's working on. He's thrown Modell off his scent!
Whilst continuing work on the Living Brain, Peter is interrupted once more by his girlfriend, Mary Jane Watson. A date is organised for that night, which is where we head to next...
MJ is talking to Peter, but he's distracted in his thoughts, but sparing a moment to consider "the view". It turns out, those claws placed a tracer on Boomerang, and Peter can hear their plans through his bluetooth from the future. Turns out, they're planning to attack Horizon Labs to steal an "Atmospheric Condenser".
The plan seems successful, that is until Spidey shows up to ruin their morning, especially for Speed Demon, who's neck almost becomes seperate from his body. Turns out Peter was up all night setting traps of his own to defeat this new Six, which it turns out, even my gran could beat the new Six.
In his final confrontation with Boomerang, Ock realises something... he's winning. He likes this, so much so, in fact, that he almost beats Boomerang to death, on TV no less! But something stops him... a blue, ghostly hand...
PETER PARKER IS ALIVE!
Yes, somehow, Peter is alive as a ghost, and he has some control over his old body. This is good news for any fan of AS-M, as I'm sure you can appreciate.
So that was my interpretation of the narrative, and I'd like to commend Dan Slott for his perseverance with the die hard fans. Spidey fans are like Sonic the Hedgehog fans... not easily pleased at all.
And the artwork... wow. I know I was new to comics at the time of my purchase, so it may not be the most fantastic drawing ever, but to me, it was about 10 to the power of a million times better than anything I can draw. I'm very impressed to say the least. If anyone sees Stegman, give him a thumbs up for me.
I know I've read up to #9 at this point, but I remember so much anticipation for #2. Slott's cliff hanger left me wanting more, and boy, has he delivered! But that's a story for the next few posts!
Rating -
Story - 5/5 - Can't imagine a better way to kick off a reboot/follow on!
Artwork - 5/5 - Stegman captured the emotion of the story, and my heart, with his pencil-man-ship
Overall - 5/5 - My first comic, and perhaps my favourite issue I have in my collection right now. I look forward to the next 700 issues, Slott!
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