The Four Color Media Monitor

Belated comment on the scene from last pages of "Superior" Spider-Man's 1st issue. So we see here that Peter turns up as a ghost, and is using his influence to keep Dr. Octopus from going overboard killing criminals and such. I'm not impressed, as this story gimmick was unwelcome to begin with, and does not make for plausible character drama. Nor do Spider-fans want to read series like this to see an imposter dominating the body of the hero in something so deliberately protracted. When we read Spidey's adventures, we want to read about Peter Parker up front in his very own body.

And it's pretty obvious where this could be going: Peter is going to do everything possible to trip up Doc Ock in retaliation for stealing his form, yet in the end, he'll only end up becoming an outcast again. I saw the promo, that Spidey is going to get fired from the Avengers, and noticed some predictions on forums that another wedge is bound to be driven between Peter and Mary Jane Watson. I know what the disgraceful staff at Marvel will claim - better than Doc Ock taking advantage of Mary Jane. But it's still the oldest trick in the book, irritating fans with the possibility that something they would rightfully take offense at could take place and then arguing - even indirectly - that the alternative is better, as a cover for a direction they're taking that nobody likes either. No true Spider-fan would want Doc Ock exploiting Mary Jane, that is true. But even if it doesn't happen, that still doesn't make this storyline something we're interested in, nor does it mean we want Peter to become a pariah. Yet that appears to be the direction they're going in, which is even worse than forcibly depicting Peter as down on his luck and having a hard time paying the rent, as seen in the 1998 relaunch at the time Mary Jane was temporarily sent MIA in a plane flight.

This current story is also another prime example of how far Spider-Man's deviated from the down-to-earth focus that once made it such a great comic.

Labels: dreadful writers, marvel comics, Spider-Man