Superior Spider-Man #2 - The Peter Principle
Released - 30/01/2013
Cover -
Writer - Dan Slott
Pencils - Ryan Stegman
Inks - Edgar Delgado
Letterer - Chris Eliopoulos
Review -
Firstly, I'd just like to say that the cover is very striking, and I think we all know why (guys?). But seriously, the cover is a good hint at what this issue concerns. The first time we really see Peter (Ock) and MJ together since "the accident".
The first page shows us Spider-Man returning with the atmospheric thingamajig from #1, which the Sinister Six stole, the crafty so-and-sos. A scary looking woman who looks like she could eat Spidey in one giant mouthful introduces herself as Ruth Goldman, dean of students at ESU. Apparently, for bringing back the atmosphere doohickey, a "special guest" wants to thank Peter personally, and as Peter rightly says, "For bringing this back to the Marla Jameson wing? Wonder who that could be."
Yep, you guessed it, everyone's favourite mayor... J. Jonah Jameson! And, big shock, especially to ghost Peter, the wall-crawler and Jameson... shake hands?
And MJ's right too, that is "crazy-town-banana-pants", as our hero would (and did) say! In this scene we are at MJ's apartment. We are reintroduced to Carlie Cooper, who's bullet ricocheted off of Ock's (Peter's) mechanical arms in #700 of AS-M. She appears to have made a slight recovery, but is still hesitant to talk about what happened. (If you remember, Peter (in Ock's body) tried to tell Carlie that he was actually Peter, but she didn't believe him, and so tried to shoot him, only to be wounded herself).
MJ also reveals that she and Peter are getting back together, which leads us into the next scene, which Peter (Ock) has named "Lunch with the Watson woman." Romantic. He introduces it by stating that he's now working on a better life for Peter, and sees MJ as the key to this. As Ock tries to turn on the charm, ghost Peter is in despair. "He's saying super villain stuff!" he cries to the sky.
The date is rudely interrupted by a crisis in the city. How rude! Ock acknowledges his new responsibilities and tends to the emergency, with ghost Peter following behind with his "I told you so" tone on.
Peter returns to his lab later that night and begins working on his new Spider-Bots, which can be controlled by this fancy app, so Ock can do Peter stuff instead of patrolling the city and doing Spidey stuff.
The second "Lunch with Watson woman" seems to be going well. They take a trip to the planetarium, to which ghost Peter scoffs. All Ock gets at the end is a peck on the cheek, much to ghost Peter's amusement. The next date sees Peter try ballroom dancing, which has the same end result. The "third Watson Dating Trial" takes them ice skating, and, once again, a peck on the cheek for old Octavius.
The fourth trial is where it gets interesting. The location is at MJ's nightclub, appropriately named "MJ's". Three silhouettes are sitting on a roof opposite. It's impossible to guess who these three are at this point.
Inside, MJ is dancing rather zealously. I imagine there's few people around her as they've retreated to the bar for fear of getting hit by hair or a flailing limb. Sound like my prom.
Peter's spider sense goes off, most likely due to the three figures opposite. Peter than refers to MJ as "the missing element" and rushes her outside. He decides to take her web swinging for the first time since Spider-Island in a smooth attempt to get her away. it works, and ghost Peter appears to be quite jealous.
Ock finally thinks he's found success in this idea as he drops MJ home, as MJ is a woman who "lives for danger and excitement" and he has now accommodated for that. However, he can't come in for... "coffee" because Carlie is still there, and is overtly suspicious of Peter (Ock) as she reminds him of her injury.
Ock is furious that he didn't get any and swings off in a huff, whilst ghost Peter tries to tell Ock it's because MJ is his soulmate, but Ock obviously can't hear him.
Then it gets weird.
Ock realises that he doesn't need MJ. With Peter's memories, he can remember "each kiss, every tender moment. Her touch, her taste, the feel of every inch of her..." And then we see all the famous Spidey/MJ moments... but the horror is they all have Ock's face instead of Peter... Creepy, right?
Well at least that horror's over. Peter wakes up, looking oddly happy, in a disgusting and creepy way, and flirts with everyone on his way to work, much to ghost Peter's annoyance, as he still has feelings for MJ.
In his lab, that handy app introduced earlier sends him the most annoying push notification ever, and alerts him to trouble at MJ's nightclub! The three figures are revealed Vulture's henchmen, as they fly in through the windows and look for a safe. (Did I mention MJ's is Vulture's old hideout? It is).
They find it as we cut to Spider-Man swinging past a mugging. Ghost Pete tries to make him turn back, but Ock is adamant that MJ is more important, forgetting that with great power must come great responsibility.
The mini vultures kidnap MJ and drop her above the city. Spidey luckily sees her and says he'll try to catch her leg. Peter warns him the snap back will kill her (*cough* Gwen Stacy *cough*), so he makes a net and saves her. Hooray!
Ock then figures out that he can't be with MJ because she loves him as both Pete and Spidey, but she can't be with Pete and Spidey because it's too dangerous. He then drops MJ off and leaves with ghost Peter gaining some respect for Ock as he could never leave MJ behind himself.
At the end, Carlie is being retold the story of the issue, and mentions how Pete sounds like a new person, which brings back recollections of her conversation with Ock (Peter) before she was shot. She decides to investigate, which ends this issue.
With the same creative team as #1, it's hard to give a different review. I heavily praised the pencils of Stegman last time, and he was on form this time too. He has a unique art style which really emphasises the character's expressions and bodies, allowing the reader to empathise with their favourite characters.
I also can't fault Dan Slott. I imagine the second issue was, in some ways, harder to write than #1. He had an audience hooked in the first issue, and the task this time was to properly reel them in, and feed the anticipation of every reader, which he did to great success. Bringing back old villains is a nice touch, as it allows the reader to see how they've evolved. Vulture in his first appearance is so different to how he looks in #3 (which I'll look at next time) and it's interesting to see his personality change too.
The development of the relationship between Peter and MJ was also spot on. It didn't move too fast, but, at the same time, it didn't leave the reader hanging on. The timing of this whole issue was just right. Kudos!
Rating-
Story - 5/5 - Spot on again, Slott! Keep 'em coming!
Artwork - 5/5 - Once again, no faults I can see in Stegman's work, so he gets a perfect 5 again!
Overall - 5/5 - Right, team. You have us hooked, let's keep this up!
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