Well, its been long enough now, that I thought it was about time I wrote my opinions on Superior Spider-Man. Most Spider-Man fans obviously love the character and what he represents. As do I, but I’ve always been drawn to the dark side of heroism. That’s why I’ve always loved Venom, Punisher and all those anti-heroes … Spider-Man was always the light in the dark world of comicdom. He has the determination of Batman, the moral code of Captain America, the strength of the She-Hulk and the sense of humor of Deadpool.
When I first started reading Spider-Man it was about a year or so before the clone saga got into full swing. Peter was still the same Peter that we all knew but there was something on the horizon coming and when Peters parents were outed as shape changing robots built by Harry Osborn, well, the dark side of Peter started to be at the forefront of his titles.
Bad things just kept happening to Peter, that not only questioned his heroism but his entire humanity.
Like slowly driving past a car crash, I couldn’t help but keep reading. Every month Peter was dragged through hell and then it just kept getting worse…after 4 years, this storyline ended with Peter returning to the personality we all know and love and the status quo back to its upbeat formula. To me, those 4 years have always been my favorite time to read Spider-Man because the whole story was ultimately about how good and decent a person Peter Parker is.
Then years later the announcement of Spider-Man #700 was released and everyone was shocked, including myself. We had found out the Peter was going to die and Otto Octavius was going to be a new “Superior” Spider-Man. Like everyone else, I was upset at this news but unlike most people, I knew it wouldn’t last … unless sales tripled every month etc.
After reading Superior’s first issue, I was hooked. Peter Parker would hate me in real life but I love these rare story lines where the hero is taken to such a limit, you don’t know how he’ll ever come back, or when they’ve been beaten so badly … they rise above it every time. My first thoughts on Superior was “I wonder how long this is going to last?” I was never of the belief that this was their way of really killing Peter Parker – I always believed he would be back. (Although the longer this goes on and more Spider-Men appearing in the marvel universe, the more I am becoming concerned) I didn’t, however, realize how far they would go.
You see, because Spider-Man is my favorite hero. I had always wanted the marvel universe to finally know just how good he was. I had always wanted to see a Marvel Universe vs. Spider-Man storyline (we did get this in a couple of “What If?” comics) and when the movies came out and he finally joined the Avengers, I thought “Finally…” Now it looks like, that’s going to happen. At least Spider-Man vs. the Avengers.
The first few issues of Superior were really about the tone of the comic changing. With a blue ghost Peter hovering around, being able to see and hear everything Doc Ock was doing but unable to do anything about it. This annoyed a lot of people but to me, it was a way of the writer (Dan Slott) to show that Peter wasn’t really dead. I personally loved it because it made what happened in issue #9 scary. In that issue mentioned, we learn that Doc Ock has known about ghost Peter and has a way of getting rid of him for good – which he does. Yes, from #9 – Peter Parker is really gone “forever” and now it really is only the evil Doctor Octopus swinging around in Peters skin.
A LOT of fans continued to be upset at this and refused to buy anymore Superior Spider-Man until Peter comes back. Now this is just my opinion but I think that’s ridiculous. To actually believe Peter is gone forever is pretty short-sighted and those fans not reading this series are doing themselves a big disservice. Yes, it may not be Peter and yes this is NOT the Spider-Man we all love but that’s the point. Every issue of Superior that comes out – I have 2 thoughts.
1) what is Dan Slott going to do to him this month and shock me?
2) When WILL Peter come back?
If you’re a writer, I think knowing that your readers ask these questions means you’re doing a good job. NO, I don’t believe for a second that Peter will not come back and yes I also believe that Dan Slott has an ending to all of this, that is going to be truly epic.
Already since its inception, there are now 3 regular titles a month based on Superior and every one of them is fantastic.
Dan Slot has already gone on record to say that this, is a love letter to Peter Parker and I believe him. Even though at the moment, the book seems to be showing us everything Peter hasn’t done or could have done better – have faith – all will be well. I cannot wait for Peter to make his eventual return but for now I’m loving the ride Dan Slott has put me on.
