Road to Superior Spider-Man

jedispyder · Post by **jedispyder** » Wed Dec 26, 2012 6:05 pm

Spoilers obviously.

ASM 698 saw normal Spider-Man stuff in the beginning with him being requested to Ryker's Island (think it was Rykers) to see Doctor Octopus in his final hours of life. Spidey gets there and unmasks, revealing normal Peter Parker underneath. Yet we soon find out that it's actually Doc Ock's mind in Peter's body with Peter's mind in Ock's body! He says he has Peter's memories so he's taking over Parker's life.

SpOck (Spider-Ock) leaves and PeOck (Peter-Ock) begins passing away, with 699 starting with his resuscitation by infirmary staff who didn't want to bring him back to life but knew they had. PeOck realizes if SpOck can access Peter's memories then he can access Ock's memories (hilarity ensues when he remembers Ock putting the moves on Aunt May and almost marrying her, including possible pre-marriage sex). Know he needs to break out, he further accesses the memories and realizes how it all happened: starting with ASM 600 when Peter had to use Ock's brain control to work with the tiny metal octopi around the city and again when he had to use the brain control device during Spider-Island (and think there was a 3rd time), Ock was completely scanning Peter's brainwaves. Then in ASM 697, a golden tiny metal octopus pierced Peter's head which must be where the brain swap began.

So PeOck uses one of the tiny metal octopi to start a chain event to get him out of prison. A new Sinister Six is formed (well, half of it) consisting of Scorpion, Hydro Man, and Paste Pot Pete (can't remember his new name, lol). They come in and break PeOck out of prison and everyone debates on who they should break out to make the Sinister Six 6 members instead of just 4.

ASM 699.1 sees Morbius being broken out of prison during that event and the rest of the issue doesn't tie in with ASM stuff besides 2-3 pages. Basically the issue was a backdoor pilot of the new Morbius series.

ASM 700 was the big showdown. We had SpOck putting the moves on Mary Jane but being a total dick to her (typical Ock fashion). Soon he finds out PeOck has escaped and rushes out. He lies to everyone and says that "Doctor Octopus" is going to try and wreak vengeance before he dies. PeOck meanwhile is put in the original Doctor Octopus suit to maintain himself before the body dies. No one knows about the mind swap until the Sinister Four break into the police station to get the golden octopus (I think, as I said I read the issue over a week ago). In the police station, he informs Carlie Cooper (who knows Peter is Spider-Man) that he's not Ock but instead Peter Parker stuck in Ock's mind. She ignores him and tries to shoot him.

Next they go to the Avengers tower, sneaking in through a service entrance below. I think PeOck had confused the Avengers into leaving, can't fully remember. We find out that SpOck had assumed this would happen so when he gathered everyone to put them in safety he holed them up in the Avengers tower. Once Scorpion finds out that Jameson is there, he rushes off to find his location and get his revenge finally. Hydro Man goes along with him, which leads to SpOck using all his strength on Scorpion and literally ripping off his jaw, not knowing the extent of Spider-Man's powers. Hydro Man gets taken care easily, same way that Sandman got taken care of by Horizon Labs.

Now it's the final showdown between SpOck and PeOck. They battle and get pushed out of the tower. SpOck survives but PeOck in his already deteriorating state gets mangled in the fall. Now he's finally dying and pulls SpOck over to him to talk to him wish his dying breath. He forces his own memories to get forcibly pulled up into SpOck's mind, who had access but never experienced them, now he's being forced to experience EVERYTHING that ever happened to Peter Parker. As PeOck's body completely passes away, SpOck stating that he's going to be a better Spider-Man than Peter ever was, proclaiming he's going to be SUPERIOR.

Avenging Spider-Man 15.1 is the first full story with SpOck as the only Spider-Man around. He experiences a burglary that he was going to ignore yet his muscle memory has him automatically club the burglar (aka it's a hint that Peter's mind can still take over the body if needed). SpOck goes into Octopuses' previous underground lab which sets off a warning system that forces him to fully understand Spider-Man's nuances of power. The end has him working on a new costume which includes, for some unknown reason, talons on his fingers and possibly his toes (it looks exactly like Spider-Man 2099, which is what confused the whole comic community when we saw previews leading us to believe Miguel O'Hara was in the present). Thus, we now have the Superior Spider-Man.

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 4:19 am

Thanks for the summary dude!

So, is Superior Spiderman the only Spldey around? And, is Parker's mind submerged in the body and brain, but with Ock in control?

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 5:54 am

So it's Parker and Ock sharing Spider-Man's body?
Well, that's gonna last 24 issues then things will revert to normal when Superior Spider-Man is turned back to Amazing for issue 725. No?

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:04 am

This is quite a bold move.

In a sense, for Marvel's big New 52/Marvel Now, they haven't re-launched one of their top properties, Spider Man.

wolf_2099 · Post by **wolf_2099** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:24 pm

XIII wrote:So it's Parker and Ock sharing Spider-Man's body?
Well, that's gonna last 24 issues then things will revert to normal when Superior Spider-Man is turned back to Amazing for issue 725. No?

Parker's mind is in Ock's body, and supposedly dead. But we all know he isn'.t

jedispyder · Post by **jedispyder** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 3:05 pm

I'd say right now that Parker's mind is dormant but still bubbles up occasionally (such as with the robber in 15.1). It was decided that after the first arc of Avengers, all books will only feature Superior Spider-Man/Doc Ock with no mention of the true Peter Parker role.

Slott got a lot of hate mail for this, including a couple of death threats. Did you guys see the burn tweet that Stan Lee gave him? So hilarious!

Dan Slott:
Wishing an early Happy Birthday to my #Generalissimo, "The Man", the Myth, the Amazing: @TheRealStanLee! The Greatest Comic Scribe of All!

Stan Lee:
@DanSlott what a gift, some guys give a nice cigar, a watch, but no not you, I get a dead #PeterParker Thanks for the bday wishes my friend!

Dan Slott:
.@TheRealStanLee HA! Printing that out now. THAT'S goin' up on the fridge! I am NEVER taking that down!!!! :-D

Stan Lee:
@DanSlott at lest you'll have a good price of writing in your house. Ha. Keep up the amazingly spectacular work you always do!

Guessing in the last tweet it was supposed to be "piece" and not "price" as that makes more sense. I also like how he made sure to do a compliment in the end after the burn.

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 4:24 pm

Do death threats carry legal repercussions? I presume they do. They really should as well.

I wonder how long this Sp/Ock story can go on for?

MGM · Post by **MGM** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 4:26 pm

Amazins 750, presumably?

MGM · Post by **MGM** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 4:27 pm

If that's before the next movie, that is.

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Thu Dec 27, 2012 5:27 pm

I love how we can all rely on Marvel to start caring about issue numbering when it suits them.

Tragic Angelus · Post by **Tragic Angelus** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 7:58 pm

I have to say, Slott's run on Amazing Spider-Man (that I've been reading at least) has been wonderful. I started reading at Spider-Island, and I've loved it. He really has a handle on the characters, jokes, and situations he writes. And I have to be honest, I did not see this coming at all. When he first revealed in 698 that Octavius was in Peter's body, I was shocked! I loved how it had played out for months, literally from the time I had started reading.

After reading 700, I was blown away. I didn't think it would go out that way. I loved the issue for what it was, and it really made me feel for the character. I loved how Slott had Octavius come around to realize he needs to be a hero, and it makes me interested in reading Superior Spider-Man.

That being said, I'm not sure I will. It's an interesting concept, and yes, we can all agree Marvel already has a built in 'out' for how to bring Peter back, which I'm sure they will too, but I don't see myself reading the book without Parker actually as Spider-Man. My friends and I were coming up with various scenarios that would bring him back and I'll keep tabs on it, but I can't say I'll get Superior Spider-Man every month.

I really loved the issue. It hit me like a comic hasn't in a long time. I actually wanted to pretty much just go to bed right after reading it and do nothing for the rest of the day. Some really amazing storytelling by Slott there.