The Four Color Media Monitor

According to The Fanboy SEO, this page from Amazing Spider-Man #698 is legitimate, and we're seeing the cliched old story of two people switching minds/bodies being dredged up, all for the sake of it, and all so that Dr. Octopus can become Spider-Octopus for a while. Oh, I'm sure it won't last forever, but it does bring to mind that wretched story Grant Morrison wrote for New X-Men in 2001 with "Cassandra Nova" switching minds with Prof. Xavier, so that she could dwell in his body while his own brain remained sitting inside her seemingly dead body. I don't see this being any better.

Update: and here's more info from an article on Newsarama that tells why the 700th issue is better avoided:

Well, it turns out that Amazing Spider-Man #698 actually starts the ball rolling, as Doctor Octopus, Otto Octavius, swaps minds with Peter Parker, taking over Spider-Man's body, and promising to take over his entire life.

This isn't your average body-swap, as Otto tells Peter he knows everything, all of his memories, everyone and everything that Peter has ever known, and Peter, trapped in Otto's dying body, is doomed. The entire issue takes place leading up to the big reveal, with Otto already in Peter's body and just living out a full day in the life of Spider-Man. He goes to work at Horizon and gives proper respect to Peter's inventions over the years, he visits Aunt May "that dear sweet woman" in the hospital, and he even renews Peter's romantic relationship with Mary Jane Watson, something we knew was happening in Superior Spider-Man in 2013.

Ooooohhhhh, I see. So Mary Jane comes back, but she's not actually reunited with Peter at all! It figures they'd be willing to insult everybody's intellect that badly. This brings to mind the controversy surrounding issue 603 where the Chameleon disguised himself as Peter and proceeded to seduce a roomate named Michelle Gonzales. Even if the Chameleon's actions can't be classified as rape, that story, by Fred Van Lente, was still an example of making a criminal's actions look like it was totally fun, which it's not. This new story in ASM sounds like a repeat.

If this is how they're going to try and entice Spider-Fans to return - by running a story where one of Spidey's villains switched bodies and it's not really him rejoining with Mary Jane at all - they're already failing, and the issue should be avoided. I'll be stupefied if comics stores are willing to order busloads of this, considering many only end up gathering dust in the bargain bins later on.

Labels: dreadful writers, marvel comics, misogyny and racism, Spider-Man, women of marvel