So here we are at the second part of my Dan Slott Spider-Man read through, and to the section of the story that is widely regarded one of the best Spider-Man stories ever told. Now for context, I’ve read Superior Spider-Man before and enjoyed it, but now that I got to read it a second time with the context of the previous part of the run, I definitely have some thoughts.
Right off the bat, having Doctor Octopus take over as Spider-Man is a great way to retread classic Spider-Man stories without it feeling completely redundant. I like that as soon as Otto gets a taste of Peter’s life, he immediately fixes everything for the better. He ends the will they won’t they with Mary Jane, he gets a doctorate, and even creates a way to effectively monitor the entire city without the need for patrol. Having Otto step in and immediately think Peter could be living life on easy mode is nicely juxtaposed with Otto figuring out Spider-Man’s actual strength by punching Scorpion’s jaw clean off. To me, this is the first small thing that gives him an appreciation of what being Spider-Man is about.
Despite only being a 31 issue series, no story feels too condensed or too slow moving. We get a couple really good story arcs in here such as “My Own Worst Enemy”, “Superior Venom”, and “Goblin Nation”, but we also get a pretty low quality story in “No Escape” which largely suffers from my hatred of the Spider Slayer storylines. An underrated moment in this volume is from “A Troubled Mind” where we see yet another moment of Otto finally embracing what it is to be a hero. I love the moment where Otto realizes that Cardiac is trying to steal his old technology, not because of pride or malice, but to save a little girl’s life. There’s something that tugs at me for the panel where Otto says that he will do the surgery himself, it just sums up Spider-Man so well to me in a way most people wouldn’t think of. This arc also helped cement a new favorite character for me: Anna Maria Marconi, Otto’s brand new girlfriend. Anna Maria is a core part of Otto’s turn to heroism, and she is very refreshing in contrast to the past love interests like Carlie Cooper or Mary Jane. Anna Maria has the intellect to rival Otto, but she’s also extremely practical and no nonsense. There’s something just nice reading a relationship that doesn’t have any unnecessary drama, everything is smooth sailing.
The last part I want to talk about is “Goblin Nation” which in my eyes is a near perfect story. I love the main parts of this story, Peter going through all of his and Otto’s memories is a great reminder of who this character is, and him revealing himself to help Otto reaffirms that notion. I also love that Otto doesn’t admit Peter is superior because of the state of the city, but because he can’t get Anna Maria back. It reminds us that yes this character has changed, but he still is a bit selfish when push comes to shove. I also simply have to tip my hat to the sequence of Peter putting on the red and blue again, it’s so damn cool that it hypes me up every time I read it. The thing that brings this arc down for me is that I don’t understand why Liz Allen is onboard with Norman’s plan. Alchemax wasn’t a huge part of this section so it felt a bit cheap to have a heel turn for a character that was largely absent. Maybe this is something that once I finish the entire run I will understand more, but as of now, it really harms the storyline.
So that’s my thoughts on “The Superior Spider-Man”! Have you read the story, if so what are your thoughts?
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