Superior Spider-Man #18

Writer - Dan Slott

Art - Ryan Stegman, Livesay, Edgar Delgado

Get Caught Up…  

Spider-Man 2099 was jumped back in time to prevent a catastrophe that possibly rewrites his own existence.  He wasn’t expecting the Superior Spider-Man to be standing in his way, though!  Oh, and the Goblin King is out there, still.  Can’t forget about him.  Superior Spider-Man has a lot of plates to juggle, eh?

What’s Good?

The Superior Spider-Man is not a likeable person.  This is a good thing.  He’s a mind-thief.  I don’t want to like him.  That is, I don’t want to respect him.  I like him as a character, same way I like Dr. Doom.  I just don’t want to be friends with the guy.  The beginning of this series saw Otto Octavius taking control of Peter Parker’s personal, professional and secret lives.  And succeeding in balancing them all.  It was hard to watch.  I like to think this overarching Superior Spider-Man story is reaching its midpoint.  We’ll see a much different story from here on out.  The cracks we saw created over the past few issues are getting deeper, and the identities are getting blurred.  I love it.

Time travel and the adverse effects thereof are one of Marvel’s main talking points this year.  It’s nice to see Slott tie the Spider-Man story into that facet of the Marvel universe while still remaining true to the characters.  This isn’t a story that seems forced by any means.  Not only does it fit into the current arc, but it makes sense with the Spider-Man universe as a whole.  We’re seeing the events that lead to Spider-Man 2099’s scientific community.  My only  complaint would be that the Goblin arc needs to get moving.  We’ve seen them in the background of events.  It’s time for them to come to the front.  We got a taste of what that will be like in Phil Urich’s fall from grace.  I want more.  Maybe I’m just impatient.

Another thing I love is the character of Spider-Man 2099.  I was a big fan of the original series back in the 90’s.  Having him back now is great nostalgia.  It doesn’t hurt that Slott’s characterization of him is dead on.  Speaking of characterization, I have to give credit to the art team here.  It is difficult to take someone inherently likeable as Peter Parker and make me want to hit him.  The depiction of Peter in his mad scientist gear (lab coat and goggles) with the  overbearing attitude is one of my favorite scenes in this issue.  I just want to hit him.  In a good way.  Stegman’s depiction of the Spider-Men is great.  I am a big fan of the lithe Spider-Man body.  This is who the character is to me.  A nerd who developed some muscle.  Not the stocky muscle man that some artists have drawn.  

The Verdict…

This is consistently one of Marvel’s top-selling books, and it is deserved.  The real Peter Parker will be back eventually, but this isn’t a bad way to spend our time until that happens.