Those who know me know that I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On one hand, this book is doing amazing things to one of comics' most iconic characters, that is, progression. This isn’t your daddy’s Spider-Man, or even YOUR Spider-Man. Maybe this isn't anybody's Spider-Man. But let me catch the casual fan up to speed: if you haven't picked up a Spider-Man comic in the past seven months or have been spending that time developing radioactive spiders to gain superpowers, I warn you:
That is not how radioactivity actually works. Also, life-changing spoilers ahead
In Amazing Spider-Man #697 it was revealed that Doctor Otto Octavius has switched bodies with Peter Parker, leaving Parker in Octavius’ dying, withering body. Following the events of #700, where Peter Parker (in Octavius’ body) died, the series which had celebrated fifty years came to an end and a new one began, following Octavius as the new, self-proclaimed, Superior Spider-Man.
This is one of the great things about this title, things change, events matter. The thing about comics and these characters is that they go through all of these experiences, trials, and adventures, some with huge repercussions, but rarely do the characters ever grow from them. It's like putting a wad of coal deep underground and patiently waiting until one day… you can dig up that same, unchanged wad of coal. What’s nice about this is that the hero has died, and while they may not have wanted to, their torch has been passed to a new hero—one with a different view on the world and a few different ideas on how to best protect it.
Eleven issues later and Spider-Man is at an island prison for metahumans, overseeing the execution of Alistair Smythe, also known as the Spider-Slayer, who has murdered now-Mayor J. Jonah Jameson’s wife.
Of course, Smythe manages to escape execution and enlists the help of the Vulture, Scorpion, and Boomerang. Spider-Man puts all of the civilians in a force field while he goes to hunt down Smythe, but unbeknownst to Spider-Man, JJJ manages to escape the field, for the purpose of hunting down and murdering Smythe himself. This directly leads into one of the most exciting moments of the book, where JJJ actually saves Spider-Man and then gives Spider-Man a direct order to find and kill Smythe.
The issue is mostly a battle between Spider-Man and the previously mentioned villains, which is where the hate part of my relationship with this book lies. Anytime Smythe gains some sort of advantage over Spider-Man, Spider-Man instantly has it nullified by some sort of technological set-up that happened earlier, unbeknownst to the antagonist. Unfortunately, it also happened unbeknownst to the audience, which at times seems to be synonymous with "enemy" to the authors, who refuse to share with us vital information for a cohesive narrative. I have a really hard time investing in an infallible character, which is how this Spider-Man has always come across to me. I don’t need to him to be outsmarted, but put him up against a villain who has more physical prowess than he does. Put him in a situation where I believe he may actually fail. Or hell, have him actually fail at something! Put him on Celebrity Apprentice and watch him crash and burn at selling Lemonade in Manhattan. Anything to make him lose something that he actually cares about, as opposed to something Peter Parker loved. Humanize him.
Of the three artists who have worked on this book’s still short run, Giuseppe Camuncoli’s (Hellblazer, 52) work is my favorite. His take on the characters is the most natural, compared to Ryan Stegman’s take on Mary-Jane Watson, who literally has a pencil-thin waist.
My final opinion? Superior Spider-Man continues to enrage and excite me. This issue is worth its cover price, and I’m happy to buy each individual issue instead of waiting a few months for the trade paperback. I only hope that we get the chance to see a more vulnerable Spider-Man in the future.
Superior Spider-Man #13 comes out on July 10th.
Zakk
