The Superior Spider-Man Vol. 1: My Own Worst Enemy
Writer: Dan Slott
Artists: Ryan Stegman and Giuseppe Camuncoli
Dan Slott excels in portraying Otto Octavius' attempts to become a Superior Spider-Man
Ranking: 4 stars
Through my experiences, I've come to realize that first impressions are often always false. But even though individuals realize this, we all have the potential to be biased towards something until we develop a better understanding of it. Many Spider-Man fans had negative first impressions towards Dan Slott's decision to have Doctor Octopus perform a mind-swap on the wall crawler, replacing Peter Parker as the new Spider-Man.
In the previous story arc DYING WISH, long-time Spider-Man writer Dan Slott had a terminally ill Doctor Octopus (Otto Octavius) perform a mind swap on the wall crawler in a FREAKY FRIDAY scenario. Spidey desperately struggled to regain his body, but he eventually succumbed to the cancer ravishing Octavius's body. With Peter Parker now dying, Octavius now had the opportunity to use Spider-Man's body to help aid in his evil schemes, but something unexpected occurred. The mind switch not only granted Octavius access to Peter's spider-powers, but it also exposed him to Peter's memories and the the one moral that Peter held above all others, that with great power comes great responsibility. With Spider-Man now dying in Doc Ock's body, Octavius, now changed by Peter's experiences, promises to continue Peter's legacy as a better Spider-Man than Parker ever was. This decision was heavily controversial among fans at first, claiming it to have ruined Spider-Man. I hated this status change myself when I read about it on the internet, viewing it unnecessary as we already had the Ultimate Spider-Man killed of and replaced with Miles Morales (who made an amazing new Ultimate Spidey). It felt that Marvel had been trying to ruin Peter Parker ever since Joe Quesada (my mortal enemy) erased the marriage with MJ the awful ONE MORE DAY storyline (which I will never forgive him for)! However, my opinion towards the mind-switch scenario began to change when I saw that the follow-up series to DYING WISH was receiving a fair amount of praise. Seeing that others were open-minded to Doc Ock's role as the new Spider-Man, I decided to give a shot at THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN myself. Although it's not phenomenal beginning to a new chapter in the life of Spider-Man, Slott excels in developing Octavius into a web-slinger that is not only an enjoyable character, but one that is three-dimensional as well. Starting two weeks after the events of DYING WISH, Otto Octavius has begun to establish his presence as a different, all-new Spider-Man to New York's criminal underworld. No longer is Spider-Man a wise-cracking, responsible protector, but is now a super hero who uses advanced technology to aid in his fights, and is is not afraid to use excessive force towards criminals. Outside of the costume, he dedicates his hours towards mimicking the life that Peter Parker had, as well as continuing his career in science. But will Otto reach up to the same levels as Peter Parker did as the wall crawler, and will he be prepared to do what is necessary when a notorious serial killer turns New York into a bloodbath. What I appreciate the most about Otto's role as the new Spider-Man is that his characterization is completely different than that of Peter Parker's. Ever since Spider-Man's first appearance in AMAZING FANTASY #15 in 1962, Peter is immediately established as a character whose life guided by responsibility and morals. When his Uncle Ben was murdered by a burglar who he had earlier let escape from a robbery, Peter was plagued with the fact that he was indirectly responsible for his uncle's death, and as Spider-Man, tries to correct that one mistake. Peter was established as the character he is right from the start, but Octavius' Spider-Man is still in development. Having spent the majority of his life as an mad-scientist super villain, Otto isn't fully attached to the same morals that Peter was. Of course he was changed by Peter's memories, but that was only two weeks ago, and we can't expect him to be a completely different person by then. In SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN, Otto still retains some of the mannerisms he possessed as Doc Ock. He treats everyday life as an experiment (hilariously portrayed when he attempts to date Mary Jane), he has a tendency to be self-centered, letting his own motives get in the way of the greater good (my favorite joke about this was when he was more focused on getting the doctorate Peter failed to get, rather than investigating Massacre's trail of death), and he's not afraid to display brutality towards criminals. People may think that this contradicts what Spider-Man's character stands for, but I believe that it not only remains faithful, but also creates an intriguing character. Although Octavius isn't the same morally-bound Spidey that Parker was, Otto is giving his best effort to be the Spider-Man Peter was, and beyond that as well. He's struggling with this massive transition (being a former super villain of course) to become a hero who puts others above himself, which makes him a three-dimensional and believable character that I hope to see further developed in later stories. Other high points for THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN are directed towards the balance of serious and humorous characterizations of the rest of the cast. I particularly praise Octavius' the resolution for the subplot involving Otto's dating experiments with Mary Jane. After saving her from Vulture's henchmen, Otto realizes that he has actually developed genuine feelings for her, and breaks up with her as he realizes that loving her requires her to be involved in his insane, and dangerous life as Spider-Man. Although I admit that I was at first a little disappointed to see them break up (I've been hoping for them to get back together ever since Quesada pulverized their marriage), but I love how their break up was made realistic and emotionally captivating, unlike the atrocity called ONE MORE DAY, which not only had the demon Mephisto erase their marriage from history, but also made fans (including myself) angry rather than sad. Compared to what Dan Slott does here, Joe Quesada's work on ONE MORE DAY is so horrible that even Ed Wood would be laughing at it. Also I enjoyed the role Peter Parker's ghost played in the story. Although Parker died in the previous story, his spirit lives on and acts as a monitor for Octavius' actions as Spider-Man, even mentally stopping him from killing criminals. Peter's ghost also provides much of the humor in this story, especially through his disapproval of what Octavius does in his body. My favorite joke was when Peter is astonished to witness J. Jonah Jameson, former editor of the Daily Bugle and now mayor of NYC, shaking hands with Octavius (especially after all the crap Jameson has headed on Spider-Man since day one). If there are any flaws with the book, I'd say they mostly stem from the villains, as they weren't heavy-hitters like Green Goblin or Venom, and felt distracting as I wanted to see more of Otto's development as Spidey. Never less, the deep development of Otto Octavius as Spider-Man, as well as the balance of serious and humorous storytelling, and the characterization of the rest of the cast made THE SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN an awesome read. I was definitely wrong to judge this book before I read it, as were thousands of other Spidey-fans, but now that I have read it, I must say that Otto Octavius definitely makes a Superior Spider-Man indeed. "I don't know if you've ever noticed this, but first impressions are often entirely wrong. You can look at a painting for the first time, for example, and not like it at all, but after looking at it a little longer you may find it very pleasing." -Lemony Snicket, THE BAD BEGINING
