Superior Spider-Man #16

Writer:  Dan Slott

Art:  Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado

Get Caught Up…

Phil Urich has been outed by the Superior Spider-Man, and the first chapter of the latest Goblin saga is nearing its close.  Meanwhile, Carlie is digging deeper into the mystery of what’s going on with Spider-Man’s strange behavior.

What’s Good?

Pretty much everything.  I love being wrong about a book.  I wasn’t looking forward to the “Superior” storyline when I first heard about it, but with each issue I get more and more drawn into the story.  I love the approach Slott is taking, the slow burn of watching Otto Octavius succeed where Peter Parker has failed.  Things are starting to unravel, though.  Carlie has taken notice of Spider-Man’s increasingly erratic behavior, and she knows something is not right.  These small chips in the veneer of the Superior Spider-Man’s behavior are beginning to add up.  I love where this is going.

At the heart of this storyline, we find a pair of villains, each trying to hide their identities from those around them with varying degrees of success.  One to succeed at playing the part of the hero, and the other for personal betterment.  The pressure has built up for Urich, with his friends and coworkers realizing his duplicitous behavior.  It plays out wonderfully, with the tension and confusion building to a crescendo with a showdown in the Daily Bugle offices.  I can only hope this mirrors the eventual crumbling of the Superior Spider-Man.  It is only a matter of time.  With the end, Urich chooses to shed his civilian identity and embrace the Goblin.  Will Otto do the same, effectively killing off Peter Parker’s identity and embracing the Spider?  I look forward to finding out.

What’s Not So Good?

Phil Urich’s hair.  How much product does the man use?  Aside from that, there aren’t many issues worth nitpicking.  I would like to see more of Urich’s motivations that drive his criminal second life, and how he became this character from his heroic beginnings.  The duality of his identity only worked if he was an employee of the Bugle, and they’ve already taken that route once, so introducing a new character to play the role was definitely off of the table.  I’m sad that Phil Urich became what he became.  But, I suppose an emotional attachment to a character really should fall more under a postive than a negative.

The Verdict…

I love this series.  It is consistently one of the best Marvel books, and I have no problem with it double shipping, as long as the story and art don’t suffer.

Oh, Yeah, And…

Spider-Man 2099  is up next.  It has been a while since we’ve seen Miguel O’Hara.  Last I remember he took ahold of Mjolnir and headed to space or something.  This looks like a pre-Mjolnir Miguel, though, so I’m curious as to what point in the future he’s coming from.