Superior Spider-Man #22

Writers - Dan Slott, Christos Gage

Art - Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, Edgar Delgado

There has been a definite ebb and flow to the story of Otto Octavius as Peter Parker.  He was a great Peter Parker, but Spider-Man suffered.  He was a great Spider-Man, but Peter Parker suffered.  We take another step towards the eventual end here as SpOck is starting to put together the pieces needed to succeed at both lives.

Of course we know he won’t succeed.  We know the true Peter Parker persona will return.  That’s been covered to death.  What I want to talk about here is a character who has become important to SpOck and will undoubtedly play a big part in the future, Anna Marie.  Through her eyes we really get to see what kind of man SpOck can be.  The humanity of SpOck isn’t something a lot of readers want to see, at least the vocal ones if you follow Slott on Twitter..  They want Peter back in the saddle.  The idea of Otto Octavius on something of an unintentional road to salvation isn’t appealing to them.  However, I think this has been the most important part of the story.

SpOck’s biggest crime so far has been trying to do the right thing in the wrong way or for the wrong reason.  This is natural.  He’s really a career villain playing the part of the hero.  This behavior is to be expected.  The little moments scattered across the past year of stories where he does the right thing for the right reason.  In this installment, the first part of a storyline featuring the return of the Venom symbiote to the Spider-Man book, SpOck solidifies the emotional connection he has with Anna Marie.  I wasn’t expecting it, but it really got me thinking.  Anna Marie has been presented as an extremely intelligent character.  She knows Peter isn’t telling her everything.  At the heart of the matter, she sees him for what he does and she seems to love him.  Can we the readers eventually learn to feel the same way?  This is the point in the story where I went from looking forward to Otto Octavius being defeated to wondering if he can be saved.  

Other things happened here as well.  But none nearly as important.  SpOck’s fighting Venom.  He doesn’t care that Venom’s host, Flash Thompson, has a deep past with the real Spider-Man.  There will be fisticuffs.  That part of the story isn’t fleshed out much quite yet, so I’ll reserve my comments for the time being.  The art was great.  Ramos nails the body language for SpOck.  Same body, only different personalities and mannerisms.  The colors make everything pop.  This is a great book and a solid return to form from the last few issues.

The Verdict…

Pretty great.  This issue makes me wonder if this story isn’t so much about Peter Parker’s eventual return or Otto Octavius’ possibilities of redemption.  Either way, I’m hooked.