Superior Spider-Man #1 (spoilers)

fxmatt

I was not disappointed or angered by ASM 700, but Superior Spider-Man #1 leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Coming out of ASM I was thinking this would be great, a fresh start for the character of Doc Oc. He had experienced Peter's past and vowed to honor him by being a "good guy". I saw this as a redemption story, a chance to really develop Oc's character with lots of possibilities for Spider-Man to struggle with what he had become. But is seems in SSM Octavius just conveniently forgot he saw the light and acted like a jerk again. Not that I would expect a character to normally flop sides instantaneously but that's the way it was written in ASM 700. This transition is just not making sense to me.

tommysheroes

Totally agree. I loved the ending of 700 and thought it was such an exciting story to see Ock in Peter's body being a hero. This issue read as if the end of ASM 700 never happened and he was just plan old villainous Doc Ock.

Also the last scene was tough. Not at all what I was hoping the direction would be. Went from being a bold, original direction for the story to a kind of predictable, boring one.

rebis

The Pimp called this. I bet he's surprised it happened so quickly.

ctowner1

I thought given the basic premise set up in ASM 700, they stuck pretty close to it. Spidey Ock (Spock?) was fighting bad guys (not an Ock thing to do, but given the end of 700, that's what he does now), but still was an Ockish dick, and then Peter asserted his influence over him. It was clear that influence was going to be asserted (just as it's clear that ultimately Peter's influence will have the effect of convincing Ock to voluntarily give up full control of the body to Pete), just in time for ASM #1).

e
L nny

sandman

I have to disagree with you guys. First off, I didn't care for the scene in ASM #700 of Octavious seeing Peter's past and then vowing to be a "good guy." Just because those things are important to Peter doesn't mean that they're important to Octavious. Why would they be important to a villain who has never cared about hurting people before.

Conversely, I like how in Superior Spider-Man Octavious has his own personality and his own manner of doing things and of dealing with people. What would be the point in having someone else being Spider-Man if they're just going to imitate Peter? You might as well just leave Peter as Spider-Man if that were the case. I think the conflicts that can arise from Octavious's personality can make this interesting. Octavious being a Peter clone wouldn't be interesting.

John_Steed

agreeing with @sandman

btw: all that hysteria around and about spidergate made me go back and read the last couple of issues. Now I'll also pick up the superior one.

Hex

Loved "Peter's" mad scientist outfit at Horizon Labs. Perfect!

ctowner1

sandman said:

I have to disagree with you guys. First off, I didn't care for the scene in ASM #700 of Octavious seeing Peter's past and then vowing to be a "good guy." Just because those things are important to Peter doesn't mean that they're important to Octavious. Why would they be important to a villain who has never cared about hurting people before.

Conversely, I like how in Superior Spider-Man Octavious has his own personality and his own manner of doing things and of dealing with people. What would be the point in having someone else being Spider-Man if they're just going to imitate Peter? You might as well just leave Peter as Spider-Man if that were the case. I think the conflicts that can arise from Octavious's personality can make this interesting. Octavious being a Peter clone wouldn't be interesting.

I think it was more than Ock seeing Peter's memories. I think he was actually experiencing them - feeling what Peter felt - and that had an effect on him.

I agree that he should be his own Spiderman - but given that Peter is in his head there with him, Peter will be influencing his actions.

e
L nny

Matt

ctowner1 said:

sandman said:

I have to disagree with you guys. First off, I didn't care for the scene in ASM #700 of Octavious seeing Peter's past and then vowing to be a "good guy." Just because those things are important to Peter doesn't mean that they're important to Octavious. Why would they be important to a villain who has never cared about hurting people before.

Conversely, I like how in Superior Spider-Man Octavious has his own personality and his own manner of doing things and of dealing with people. What would be the point in having someone else being Spider-Man if they're just going to imitate Peter? You might as well just leave Peter as Spider-Man if that were the case. I think the conflicts that can arise from Octavious's personality can make this interesting. Octavious being a Peter clone wouldn't be interesting.

I think it was more than Ock seeing Peter's memories. I think he was actually experiencing them - feeling what Peter felt - and that had an effect on him.

I agree that he should be his own Spiderman - but given that Peter is in his head there with him, Peter will be influencing his actions.

e
L nny

So, we're getting Firestorm Spidey?!

M

sandman

Matt said:

So, we're getting Firestorm Spidey?!

M

That looks to be the way they're going. "Ghost Peter" only shows up in the last panel or so of the first issue, and somehow his presence is there without Octavious knowing that he's in there with him. So I don't know if they'll start having a back and forth with each other ala Firestorm, or maybe "Ghost Peter" will only pop up from time to time.

sandman

ctowner1 said:

sandman said:

I have to disagree with you guys. First off, I didn't care for the scene in ASM #700 of Octavious seeing Peter's past and then vowing to be a "good guy." Just because those things are important to Peter doesn't mean that they're important to Octavious. Why would they be important to a villain who has never cared about hurting people before.

Conversely, I like how in Superior Spider-Man Octavious has his own personality and his own manner of doing things and of dealing with people. What would be the point in having someone else being Spider-Man if they're just going to imitate Peter? You might as well just leave Peter as Spider-Man if that were the case. I think the conflicts that can arise from Octavious's personality can make this interesting. Octavious being a Peter clone wouldn't be interesting.

I think it was more than Ock seeing Peter's memories. I think he was actually experiencing them - feeling what Peter felt - and that had an effect on him.

I agree that he should be his own Spiderman - but given that Peter is in his head there with him, Peter will be influencing his actions.

e
L nny

Yeah, they made it clear that Peter will have an influence, and its not bad to have that part of Peter there to make sure that Octavious doesn't go too far. You make a good point about Octavious experiencing Peter's life and not just viewing it, but it could effect Octavious or anyone else in a different way than it did Peter. Its easy to think that someone else going through Peter's life could have become bitter and angry and looking to take it out on people, so its good to have that Peter influence there to try and keep it from going too far, like we saw against the Six.

fxmatt

I think it would have been more interesting to have Octavious change behavior because of what HE was feeling not because there was an external force (Peter-Ghost) making him change. To me this didn't feel like an evolution of Ock's character but rather his actions being forced upon him.

sandman

fxmatt said:

I think it would have been more interesting to have Octavious change behavior because of what HE was feeling not because there was an external force (Peter-Ghost) making him change. To me this didn't feel like an evolution of Ock's character but rather his actions being forced upon him.

But an evolution has to happen over time. I think this is about the journey. I would want to see change over time, not just overnight in one issue.