The main reason I've been actually reading these nerdgasms again is because of the death of one of my favorite heroes of all time: Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man....sorta. Writer Dan Slott, the master minded behind the last 50 + issues of the Amazing Spider-Man, felt like Spidey needed a make over. A lot of people disagreed, even going as far as stupidly making death threats to Slott's life.
Still with me so far? OK.
The Amazing Spidey may have died but according to the man formerly known as Otto Octavius, the new Spidey would be better than the first one, a 'superior' Spider Man and there's now a new Spider-Man series called 'Superior Spider Man' detailing this Spidey's crusade against crime.
18
issues into this new series and the anger from fans who were
pissed this even happened (myself included) has turned into something
else entirely, an addiction
to one of the most memorable comic book storylines I've ever read.
Ever! This young series has already had TONS of WTF?!!?!?! moments
including
issue #9. I won't mention anything about these previous issues because
you MUST check them out to even believe them, with #9 probably being one
of the most depressing comic books I've ever read. It has these...
moments worthy of their own blog posts. Trust me. These early issues establish a fast tempo and a storyline that gave the reader a sense of hope that Peter could somehow revive from the dead and get his body back but all of that hope is muted by the end of the ninth issue, just the way Slott intended.
From issue 10 on, all bets were off and the latter issues got even more intense. Why? The element of surprise. See even though Ock has taken over Parker's body and is actually trying to be a hero, he still has a villain's mentality and he applies that to his crime fighting. This Spidey ain't the friendly-neighborhood guy you grew up with. This Spidey has no problem killing, even shooting one villain in the head at point blank range. What else unhero like has this Spidey done? Well, how about hiring henchmen, even calling them 'Minions'? Or what about have the current mayor of Spidey's New York, former Daily Bugle editor in chief and another Spider Man nemesis J Jonah Jameson, FINALLY show support for Spidey only to have SpOck blackmail him into giving him his own headquarters and spoiling that rare peace between them? And the funny part is everybody and I do mean EVERYBODY knows this isn't gonna be permanent, despite what Dan Slott, the mastermind behind the Superior series, has said. Peter Parker will come back somehow.
How? Who knows? The fact that it doesn't even matter how at this point is proof that Slott is a genius at storytelling. We all want our original Spidey back. That hasn't changed. What has changed is we're in no rush for him to get back. Is that really the case? Maybe, or maybe we don't want to see SpOck gone just yet. My preference is that both Spidey's coexist at the same time. Why not? We already have Scarlet Spider, a Peter Parker clone, running around too and he's already clashed with the new Spidey. And thanks to the events of Marvel's huge company wide Summer crossover series The Age Of Ultron, the time stream itself has been broken and the current issues of Superior Spidey have him fighting the Spider Man from the year 2099. The one thing that is irking me is all of this that has transpired is all just undercards to a main event Slott has been setting up since day 1: Dr Octopus (as Spidey) vs the Green Goblin, a Goblin who may or may not be the original, Norman Osborne. Another future story line has Octavius battling the former Spider Man suit that turned out to be a parasitic alien, Venom, who is currently using Parker's high school friend/bully Flash Thompson as it's host. One more storyline has Dr Octopus along with the Indestructable Hulk and the all 'new' X-Men, which is a joke in itself since these are the original X Men who've been brought to the future because they may be able to stop their own future selves' actions (I know ??????, right?), fighting a villain named Dr Octopus. Yeah. Its getting crazier.
What's crazier is the world Peter Parker will have to deal with once he does return. Superior Spidey has done so much damage to the already fragile life of Peter Parker and the image of Spider Man that maybe Parker is better off dead. He's alienated himself from his friends, particularly the former Mrs Parker, Mary Jane. Recently he's gotten Peter fired from his job at Horizon Labs. He's even has his hero allies like his teammates the Avengers, who have him on 'probation' following a very brutal televised beating of two d-list criminals, raising there eyebrow at him. None more dangerous for Otto than Police Chief Yuri Watanabe who knows Peter is Spidey, knows there's something not quite right bout this Spidey, and is actively investigating what the change behind this Spidey is all about.
Which brings me to another great aspect of this series. The other shoe hasn't dropped yet. Otto's plan working, to some extent, is one thing. It's very interesting to see Otto face the same challenges that Peter faced, easily overcoming some like getting proactive on crime as Spider-Man, failing with typical Parker flare with some like Parker's love life. The other thing is somebody is bound to find out that this is Dr Octopus. He may be in a hero's body now but he's still a comic book villain; no comic book villain succeeds for long. What happens when the truth comes out? What happens if that truth comes out and it's our beloved Petey back in the Red and Blue costume? Fireworks, and storylines galore, for sure.
Yeah I'll admit that when I first heard this idea, I hated it. Spidey is one of my favorite characters in all of fiction. For him to go through this is crazy but crazier still is Slott himself has got to be a bigger fan of Spidey than I am. The history Slott has turned over and over and reworked into this current series is incredible. Also the similarities between the two characters, Peter and Otto, have been made quite clear thanks to Slott's plotting. One was bullied, you say? Well, which one? He's also a genius? Could you get a little bit more specific? The one that lost his parents? Well, Peter's died but Otto's parents.... It's genius how all of it comes into perspective, all the while still telling a fresh story that never seems to let up on the surprises as well as really highlight what being Spider Man means. Slott's characterization also gives the world a Spidey I know a lot of people actually wanted for a long time: a take no prisoner type of hero. Maybe not how everybody expected but that's what we got. He's saved the day numerous times so far but everybody, and once again I do mean EVERYBODY, knows that Otto's downfall is coming.
I'll give you a few moments to gather all what I just said. Got it? Good. Now go read the most fascinating story since....IDK.
Actually, duh! Yeah, I do.
The only thing I can even come up with that can even compare to how exciting this book has been is the tale of a certain chemistry teacher who finds out he has cancer so he starts cooking meth to leave behind for his family to be financially stable after he's gone.
Yep, I'm talking about Breaking Bad. There is no denying that AMC's revolutionary show is fascinating TV. Each week there's something of a sense of dread that creeps up on you for no reason whatsoever some of the times but often it's most certainly warranted. Bryan Cranston's antihero Walter White is the most original character we've met in a long time. We love him but we shouldn't. He's not a good guy. He started in the meth business because he wanted to support his family but as the show went on, we've learned that's not quite the case, is it? Some of the things he has done has not only jeopardized his family but cost him a member or 2 maybe. I won't spoil nothing for the uninitated, all 2 or 3 of you, but you've got one week to cram 5 1/2 seasons into before next Sunday's series finale. Be forewarned: you're probably gonna need a doctor before you make it to Season 4. It's that intense.
What 'Breaking Bad' creator Vince Gilligan has done has been phenomenal. This TV show may be coming to a close but the legacy of what it was able to achieve will be talked about for years. I believe that a great story isn't about what happens to what characters. It's about caring for all of the characters themselves, even the villains. If we didn't care, we wouldn't watch. We love Walter White; he's just not a hero and he's not a role model. He's a liar, a killer, a drug dealer, and he's a manipulator but we care about him. Why? I have no idea. His wife, Skylar, has done stuff we don't like but we're not against her either. Her sister Marie and her DEA agent husband Hank, one of Walt's nemesis, aren't bad people either. Jesse, Walt's former student turned partner in meth selling? Lovably dense. One thing all of them have in common is we hope they make it through the series end alive, which if you've been paying attention definitely is not gonna happen now. Over the last 2nd half of the 2 part Season 5, particularly the 'Ozymandias' episode, we've seen Walter stripped down to his bare essence. What we have left is disheartening not because he become a monster but because we understand why he become a monster. Couple that with the fact that he started off just like any normal person would and you could see how we got to this point. And even though Walter has done too much for us to assume he'll be redeemed by Sunday's series finale, aren't we asking for that anyway? We want to see him walk away from this ordeal alive, He certainly doesn't deserve that kinda happy ending but we're gonna be glued to the TV sets regardless just to see for ourselves.
It's
kinda the same thing with Otto. I'd love to see if this will make him a
super hero when things do return to normal but he doesn't deserve to
live after all he's done. Believe me, for all the good Otto as Spider
Man he still hasn't redeemed himself for all the wrong that he's done.
Just 50 issues before the swap, he tried to destroy the earth! What he's
done is made us like him despite his less than righteous actions. We're
starting to love the guy that killed Spider-Man. That's about as
ludicrous as loving a high school chemistry teacher who turns into drug
kingpin. Or any other villains, when you think about it.Either we're starting to root for the bad guys more or shows like 'Breaking Bad' and books like 'Superior Spider-Man' are doing a damn good job on blurring that once clear line between hero and villain. I've never been so amped up for a series finale in my life and at the same time, I wish it wasn't THE END of Walter's tale. I bet I'm gonna feel the same way when SSM ends too.
Til that day then. In the meantime, I'm definitely gonna stay tuned, WORLD. Dueces.
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