That’s… not good.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Slott
Art: Ryan Stegman
What They Say:
The hottest comic in comics comes to a turning point that will get you angrier than you were after Spidey #700! The time has come to see who will live, who will die, and who will emerge as the one, true Superior Spider-Man!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Having Octavius realize that there’s something in his head that’s not his – well, besides himself since it’s not really his head – has gone in an interesting direction. His acquiring a piece of his Doc Ock technology and using it to map his brain to try and find the anomaly and figure out what it is, though he pretty much knew, was something that was Peter’s worst nightmare. If it really is Peter, since there’s still some uncertainty as to whether that out will really work in the end. But it’s something that Peter, as the anomaly, has been holding onto since he’s gained temporary motor control over his body and has been able to be heard by Octavius as well. Glimmers of hope are what superheroes live for sometimes and Peter Parker especially.
But a resourceful and determined Octavius is different from past opponents since Peter himself is definitely not in any real control to do anything. So with Octavius having figured it out, pinned him down and intent on wiping him out of existence, things get pretty bleak pretty quickly when it comes to Peter’s existence within his own mind that Octavius has taken over. But in true, classic form, we get Peter doing what all heroes do in trying to bring Octavius to his level to deal with him. To find a trick, a hope or something that will allow him to gain control. And you can certainly understand Peter’s intensity to do so considering the way that his mental world is crumbling around him as various memories are being wiped.
But Octavius is drawn into it all, against his better judgment, because he does feel superior. It’s a fascinating mind vs mind kind of fight that unfolds, with Peter bringing out his support side in friends and family that have helped him all these years, giving him what he needs to try and soldier on. At the same time, Octavius is smart enough to plan for this and he amusing brings in all of Peter’s foes over the years to fight back against them. But what really drives this fight is that we have Peter trying to get Octavius to be a hero, to give up the body to its rightful owner, but Octavius is so convinced of his righteousness – and being a better Spider-Man than Peter has been in a lot of ways, gives him what he needs to really prevail. It’s a grim, dark sequence that really doesn’t give much in the way of hope and I have to admit that I rather enjoy that hopelessness that comes from it.
In Summary:
Internal battles like this are one of those areas where comics can excel because it can do what it needs, no budget required, and just run with it. The fight between Peter and Octavius inside their shared head is definitely well done here as they both throw at it but we also see just how prepared Octavius is, how right he is in a lot of ways as well, and that he has the superior position to win the battle. How it all unfolds from there, what trick may lay ahead, remains to be seen. But what we get here definitely delivers a very good time overall for the reader and definitely puts this incarnation of Peter through the wringer once again, which is always fun to see when that glimmer of hope is so close but yanked away.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: May 1st, 2013
MSRP: $2.99
