“And call me ‘Doctor.’”
To paraphrase the lyrics of “Without Me” by rap artist Eminem: “Guess who’s back? Back again? SpOck is back—tell a friend!”
“Edge of Spider-Verse”
PLOT: Dan Slott
SCRIPT: Christos Gage
PENCILS: Giuseppe Camuncoli
INKS: John Dell
COLOR: Antonio Fabela
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
“The Spider-Sanction”
WRITER: Christos Gage
ARTIST: Adam Kubert
COLORIST: Rain Beredo
LETTERER: Chris Eliopoulos
VARIANT COVER: Skottie Young
ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Ellie Pyle
EDITOR: Nick Lowe
STORY #1: Taking place directly after the time implosion at Horizon Labs from Superior Spider-Man #19, SpOck is catapulted through time into the year 2099. It doesn’t take long for his presence to be altered by the Public Eye, but SpOck is able to make quick work of them just before Miquel O’Hara’s younger half-brother, Gabriel picks up him, having also been told of his arrival by an informant. Assuming SpOck is still Peter Parker, Gabe takes him back to Miquel’s apartment and introduces him to Miquel’s holographic assistant, which, because Miquel downloaded Lyja into his suit, has reverted back to it’s “factory default.” After SpOck gets Gabe to leave, SpOck requests the holo-agent brief him on “the best technology to facilitate temporal and/or dimensional travel,” and although told such devices are banned, their components are stored at both Stark/Fujikawa and Alchemax. Thus SpOck is able to raid both mega-corporations in spite of heavy resistance not just from the Public Eye, but also Spider-Man 2099 villains Specialist and Venture.
Within a short time, SpOck is able to build his very own time-portal. He has also re-programed the holo-agent with the appearance and personality of Anna Maria Marconi, and as downloaded her into his suit. But when SpOck attempts to return to his own time, he instead finds himself in a world where Spider-Man joined the Fantastic Four (From What If? #1) only to discover they’ve been murdered. Traveling to other parallel worlds, SpOck finds those alternate versions of Spider-Man–one from House of M; another who never left Iron Man’s side during Civil War; and another wearing the armored costume as seen in Web of Spider-Man #100 and by an alternate Spidey from the two-part finale of the 1990’s Spider-Man animated series–are also dead. An analysis by SpOck and the Anna-Maria holo-agent also show that each Spider-Man were killed with the same two-puncture wound and by energy not corresponding to their respective dimensions. Using this information, SpOck tracks the killer to the world of Spider-Man: India, where he finds Pavitr Prabhakar being pursued by a mysterious figure wearing 17th century clothing and a diving helmet style mask, and who is armed with a two-pronged energy spear. SpOck is able to rescue Pavitr just before the mysterious figure can stab him, and takes him back to 2099. SpOck explains to Pavitr that he’s on a quest to gather together an army of Spider-Men to stop the assassin, and Pavitr expresses his thanks, assuming he’s the first of SpOck’s recruits. However, SpOck shows Pavitr that he’s already gathered various Spider-Men and Women for his army, which so far includes Man-Spider from Mutant X, Ashley Barton from Wolverine: Old Man Logan, the Spider-Man from What If? Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1, Spider-Monkey from Marvel Apes, and Spider-Man Noir.
STORY #2: After a recap of the events from What If? Spider-Man vs. Wolverine #1, the assassin from the first story is engaged in a battle with that world’s Spider-Man and Wolverine, the later who is killed by the assassin’s energy spear. Alex, who is Spidey’s girlfriend in that universe, shoots at the assassin to distract him, but Spidey, not wanting the woman he loves to be in danger, knocks her out with a web-ball and goads the assassin to follow him. Spidey attempts to electrocute the assassin by tricking him into stabbing a Shi’ar generator, but it has no effect. But just as the assassin is about to kill Spidey, SpOck arrives and uses his webbing to fling a tree at the assassin, knocking him over a cliff. Not caring who SpOck is or where he’s from, Spidey aims his wrist-gun at him, explaining how he’s no longer the “friendly neighborhood Spider-Man anymore,” and that he plans to finish the assassin off himself. SpOck reassures Spidey that’s what he has planned as well, that he needs someone resourceful to get the job done, but that they also need the other Spider-Men from other dimensions for help. He also says that if Spidey wants to protect and save Alex, he’s better off joining him than striking out on his own. This convinces Spidey, and SpOck takes him back to 2099, promising that “[the assassin] will die…or they all will.”
THOUGHTS: In the Howard Stern biographical film, Private Parts (1997), there is a scene in which WNBC programming director, Kenny “Pig Vomit” Rushton (Paul Giamatti) is being given the latest Nielsen Ratings for the Howard Stern Show, and to his utter shock, the show is listed as number 1 for its time slot. Even more baffling, compared to the average Stern fan who listened to the show for an hour and twenty minutes a day, those who hated Stern listened to the show for an average two and a half hours a day. So why did those who hated the show still tune in and listen to it longer? For the same reason those who professed to love the show: “I want to see what he’ll say next.”
For his Superior Spider-Man series, Dan Slott tapped into a similar, contradictory dynamic. Because for as much as some hated the very notion that Doctor Octopus could successfully kill and taking over the body of Peter Parker (myself included), there was no denying that both fans and detractors of the series had this insatiable need to know what sort of crazy, controversial, outrageous twist-up-his-sleeve Dan Slott was going to pull next with Dr. Otto Octavious as Spider-Man, along with when and how Peter could ever hope to get his body back. There was also one other element involved, in the series, one which is also present in The Superior Spider-Man #32: enthusiasm.
From the moment SpOck arrives in the year 2099 and throughout all the time he spends there, Slott and co-writer Christos Gage are able to create an irresistible, non-stop level of exuberance and fun. In a subversion of the “fish-out-of-water” and “Rip Van Winkle” scenarios, SpOck has no difficulty whatsoever adapting his current circumstances, taking Miquel O’Hara’s supporting characters like Gabe and Tyler Stone off-guard as SpOck did with Peter’s supporting cast throughout Superior Spider-Man’s run. And it’s Slott and Gage’s characterization of Otto, and the humor which arises from his own self-importance, over-confidence, and his nonchalance towards a technologically advanced future which he even acknowledges is “well over a century ahead of its time,” that carries and holds the main story together, making for a rather unexpectedly entertaining read.
Not that it’s an entirely perfect comic, mind you. One glaring misstep Slott and Gage make is by having Otto convert the default holo-agent into a facsimile of Anna Maria. I suppose the intention was to show a sweet and tender example of Otto’s growing love and devotion for her, while also providing added motive for wanting to return to his own time. For me, however, it was just plain creepy. Also, once SpOck is able to complete time machine and begins hoping into other dimensions, the story takes a downward turn.
Various comic book news websites like Comic Book Resources and Newsarama have reported Slott first envisioned “Spider-Verse” as a story for The Superior Spider-Man until his editors convinced him it needed to be a Peter Parker story. Having now read Superior Spider-Man #32 and what I presume was intended to be the original plot for Superior Spider-Man #20, it’s very easy to see why his colleagues balked at Slott’s original pitch. Because for a story involving an army of various Spider-Men and Women from across time, space, and reality, it feels fundamentally wrong for such an army to be organized and lead by one of Spider-Man’s greatest enemies. Sure, it’s consistent given Doctor Octopus’ history, being that he has always been someone who recognized strength in numbers, if not considering them to be no different than pawns on a chess board; and there is irony to be had that the person who caused the temporary death of the original Spider-Man should wind up being in charge of a group of various Spider-Man doppelgangers and counterparts. Also, since “Spider-Verse” will now be an Amazing Spider-Man story, it’s likely Slott will use SpOck initially gathering the Spider-Army to set them up for defeat, thus raising the stakes for Peter and the other surviving Spider-Men and Women in the upcoming event. Even so, this comic shows that if Slott hadn’t changed his mind, “Spider-Verse” would have been, to borrow his own analogy, akin to a group of Sherlock Holmes’ being led by Professor Moriarty.
Furthermore, if there were those who were still not convinced that “Spider-Verse” would be an excuse to get rid of various alternative and “redundant” Spider-characters, then this comic outright confirms it. Some readers may already be aware of Peter Parquagh from Marvel 1602 being killed off in the back-up feature for the Guardians of the Galaxy Free Comic Book Day Special, but here we already have four dead Spider-Men within a span of three pages. And given the state SpOck was in when we saw him return to his own time, it’s safe to assume that the ragtag group he’s gathered together by issue’s end might suffer a similar fate. Which, given how the interactions between SpOck and the other Spider-Men, would be a real shame, as this comic demonstrates the potential these characters still have.
And then there’s the mysterious villain killing off the alternative Spider-Men. The solicitation for Superior Spider-Man #33 states that his name is Karn, but you would never know this from reading this issue. Not only do we not know who Karn is, we don’t know where he comes from, why he’s killing the other Spider-Men, what his connection is with Morlun who we’ve been told is main antagonist in “Spider-Verse,” whether he’s Morlun from another dimension, other whether he’s Morlun in a new identity. It’s somewhat difficult to understand the nature of the threat to the Spider-Men and Women if you don’t exactly know what the threat beyond just his ability to kill them.
I will say, though, it’s great to see Giuseppe Camuncoli back doing art for a Spider-Man comic again, even if has just been for four months. Like Humberto Ramos’, Camuncoli knows how to make a static panel feel vibrant and kinetic, but unlike Ramos, he has a naturalism to his style and better handling of perspective and proportion. What’s more, it’s clear what is going on within a scene at all times, with just the right amount of detail to make it complex, but not overwhelmingly so. It was also a pleasant surprise to see the great Adam Kubert doing the art for the back-up story, and I believe this is the first time since Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine…ironically for a story featuring a different version of Spider-Man and Wolverine. If I do have one critique, however, it’s that his doing his own inking for the story makes everything look a bit too sketchy and unpolished.
All-in-all, I was surprised over how I found myself enjoying this comic, and in a strange and perverse way, I was actually missing Otto as Spider-Man by the time I finished. If that was the main goal Slott and Gage wanted from their audience with Superior Spider-Man #32, then I’d say it was successful. Or should I say too successful.
By showcasing SpOck and characterizing him so well, Slott and Gage unfortunately highlight a major problem that’s been present ever since Peter’s return. For all of his arrogance, egotism, and propensity to blame others for his own failures, Otto is presented as more proactive and decisive, someone willing to do the unexpected, and therefore, comes across as as far more intriguing character than how Peter is being portrayed right now in the relaunched Amazing Spider-Man. I couldn’t help but wonder where the exuberance, zeal, and passion Slott and Gage were showing in this story has been, and it made me come an uncomfortable conclusion—Slott, and by extension Marvel, may actually be bored with Peter Parker. Or rather the character Peter Parker has become. And for a character who is supposed to be Marvel’s most famous and signature superhero, this shouldn’t be the case at all.
Perhaps this is also why Superior Spider-Man was such a success for Marvel. Maybe it’s because, as much as we wanted Peter Parker to come back, and how much we wanted to see Doc Ock pay for what he did, we were getting a Spider-Man we were actively engaged with in spite of our condemnation and against our better judgement. And just how peculiar, disconcerting, and fascinating is that?
B+
NERDY NITPICKS:
- Being that Dr. Otto Octavious isn’t the most reliable or unbiased of narrators, you might not have recalled why SpOck was “building off the flawed work of Peter Parker” to defuse Horizon Labs’ “temporal energy meltdown.” That’s because he had erased all but thirty-one of Peter’s memories—including the formula to stabilize Sajani Jaffrey’s artificial vibranium, which was the essential element SpOck needed to stop the meltdown. Sure, it’s still obvious what happened is not Peter’s fault, but it helps to have a bit of context.
- So even the folks of 2099 have been taking “stupid pills” when it comes to their not realizing “Spider-Man” is actually Doctor Octopus instead of Peter Parker. That being said, the fact that Gabe is able to recall that the Spider-Man of the “Heroic Age” was named “Peter something-or-other” and didn’t recollect anything about Doc Ock taking over Peter’s body during that time, this probably should’ve tipped SpOck off that, maybe, he didn’t completely erase Peter like he thought. Then again, how much what’s going to happen in this comic and the next will SpOck even remember?
- Apart from being able to download a hologram with artificial intelligence from the future, SpOck wrist device is also able to convert the Anna Maria holo-agent’s color scheme from yellow to pink? Does that mean that wrist device is somehow able to detect the sex differences between holograms, complete with a stereotypical “blue is boys, pink is for girls” setting?
- If you’re wondering why isn’t Susan Storm also dead along with Reed Richards, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and Spidey, it’s complicated. In the universe of “What if Spider-Man Joined the Fantastic Four?,” Susan ended up marrying Namor the Sub-Mariner, becoming Queen of Atlantis, and giving birth to his son, Leonard, as shown in What If? #21. However, as depicted in What If? Vol. 2 #35, Susan divorced Namor and married Reed, giving birth to their son, Franklin. So, to answer to question about why Susan isn’t dead with the rest of the Fantastic Five? I don’t know. And neither, apparently, does this comic.
- In Spider-Man: House of M, Peter Parker had faked his death, retired from being Spidey, and went off in hiding with his wife, Gwen Stacy, and their son at the end of that story. But if the House of M Spidey is now dead, does that mean Superior Spider-Man #32 retconned Mark Waid and Tom Peyer’s five-part tie-in? Or does this mean that there’s a third House of M universe now?
- “All three of those dead Spider-Men were Peter Parker.” Um…Otto? There were actually four dead Spider-Men whose bodies you found, remember?
- On a similar point, SpOck tells Pavitr Prabhakar that he’s been tracking Karn through “across twelve different dimensions.” Through some simple math, we know he’s found four dead Spider-Men and rescued six others, including Pavitr. That comes to a total of ten. Which means we have at least two Spider-Men killed off panel. And that also raises the question about who those two other Spider-Men were? Maybe it was two of those Spider-Men Marvel are not legally allowed to use?
- Wait a minute, I just remembered! In What If? Spider-Man vs. Wolverine, Peter becomes so well-trained as a mercenary that his spider-sense develops to the point where it allows him to foresee his opponents’ every move before they even make them. So then how did Karn nearly kill this version of Spidey again?
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@35 – Is the Spider-Man from the Disney Ultimate Spider-Man series going to be in Spider-Verse?
Nicholas Hammond is probably relieved to know his life is safe.
@#33 AndrewRoebuck — Actually, Andrew, Wikipedia has surprisingly extensive list of the various Spider-Men and Women Marvel has published in their comics over the years, which include the What If? and Exiles versions, so that’s a good place to start. Another good place to study up on the alternative versions with occasionally far more detailed write-ups is the Marvel Database. Here are the links for both:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternative_versions_of_Spider-Man
http://marvel.wikia.com/Spider-Man
@#34 Kleaners — I recognized all those alternate Spider-Men straight from memory, and only did research for the sake of getting more accurate detail. For example, I knew that the “Fantastic Five Spidey” was from an issue of What If? but didn’t remember which one. Also, as I discussed in the above comments, I’m not sure if there was a What If? or not showing a Spider-Man who didn’t leave Tony Stark/Iron Man’s side during Civil War or not.
As to Spider-Man Marvel are not legally allowed to use, Dan Slott at this year’s Comic Con stated that, for Spider-Verse, there are at least 8 versions of the character they’re not allowed to show in the comics because Marvel doesn’t hold the full rights to them. This includes:
*Any Spider-Man made by Sony, which includes the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire films, the Marc Webb/Andrew Garfield Amazing Spider-Man reboot films, the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, and the CGI Spider-Man series that was shown on MTV.
*The Amazing Spider-Man CBS tv show from the 1970s staring Nicholas Hammond.
*Maybe the Lego Marvel Spider-Man.
How did you know who each Spider-Man was? Did you read this somewhere or do you just have a greater knowledge of Spider-man than I do?
Also – Maybe it was two of those Spider-Men Marvel are not legally allowed to use?
And they are….?
Does anyone have or now of a place in which I can find a list of all the alternate Spider-Men that have appeared in comics? I know most of the big ones, but narrowing down which issues of “What If” and which issues of Exiles are important to read to study up on my Alternate Spidey Knowledge would be helpful .
@31 – Thank you very much. That is good to know. I don’t really read news, so at times I guess i feel stupid. But I feel happy now.
@30 – “I hope will pique the interest of Spider-Man fans enough to demand a return of Spider-Man Noir, not just in the “Spider-Verse” event but in his own right. So from my own point of view this book is also my pitch to bring back the Noir.” – David Hine in the Spider-Verse CBR interview.
I’m holding out hope that Noir’s not going to die. I don’t see why Hine would write a revival pitch if the character is going to die in Spider-Verse.
As a general rule, if this series kills Spider-Man Noir, I will be very, VERY pissed. He is honestly the only of the alternate Spider-men that I have any emotional investment in, and want to see more of. I want another Spider-Man Noir Mini damn it!
Also I will probably be mad at killing of May Day, but I am pretty confident she is in that safe zone of not likely to die. I am not confident that Noir is in that safe zone.
He wrote two, both pencilled by Miller. #15 was a tad better, and the one that made it to my Top 100, good eye!
Regarding O’Neil, I think you are up to something here that he reserved his better writing to the better artists.
I was not thinking this over until now but his best story was definitely that Annual (15 I guess?!) with none other than Frank Miller.
@23
If I keep track correctly, Slott plotted 4 stories, drawn by Martin, and 3 of them were his best ones. Not exclusive to O’Neil, saving your best shots for the right occasion. The rest of his work for Spidey has been a little touch and go, regarding the plots, but only a little and within the scope of one rating point. That’s my opinion, at least.
As for O’Neil himself, if you’ve read my Top 100, you’ll know I consider him one of the good Spider-Man writers (when he wanted).
If Peter isnt frantically preparing for Karn/Morlun in ASM (which he is not), there are two possibilities: either SpOck kills Karn, so Peter no loonger thinks of him ss a threat, or SpOck’s memory was wiped clean when he returned to present time.
@#24 Al — Yeah, while the issue doesn’t say so outright, I’m inclined to agree that the Armored Spidey SpOck found might have been one of the alternate Spidey’s from the 1990s Spider-Man episodes “Spider-Wars Chapter 1: I Really, Really Hate Clones” and “Spider-Wars Chapter 2: “Farewell, Spider-Man,” the one who built his own company, was engaged to Gwen Stacy, was beloved by everybody, had a public identity, and where Uncle Ben was still alive. Or as Hobo-Goblin put it, the “jerkass” Spidey.
Just to clarify here…the dead Spider-Man from the 1990s cartoon wasn’t THE Spider-Man from that show, he was one of the alternate versions from the last 2 episodes. As in it wasn’t the version we first meet in season 1 episode 1?
@ #22 Ozymandias —
Well, it just occurred to me there might be another reason for why there seems to be such large variation in quality, at least from my view, between Amazing Spider-Man #4 and Superior Spider-Man #32. As I said in this review, I believe that Slott’s story for Superior Spider-Man #32 was actually intended to be the story for Superior Spider-Man #20 before he was convinced to turn “Spider-Verse” into a Peter Parker story. Remember, “Darkest Hours” (the “Superior Venom” four-parter) was added in. If that’s the case, it means Slott may have wrote the treatment for Superior Spider-Man #32 months earlier and temporarily shelved it until it came time to lay the ground work for “Spider-Verse.” At least that’s my guess.
Yeah, as was discussed on the last “Spider-History,” Denny O’Neil’s take on Spidey just wasn’t on the same level compared to what he was doing with Batman, Green Lantern and Green Arrow, etc. and I think a lot of that did have to with what you said.
Agreed. And it’s especially tricky when it comes to issues that are part of a multi-part story. Because in those cases, we’re only getting a “chapter” of a larger story and thus, as each issue comes out, one doesn’t get the full context until the story is complete.
Honestly, I don’t see much difference between Cage and Slott’s scripts, if anything, I’d say the former gets a little bit repetitive, with the “idiot” routine. But that’s slim pickings. As for Camuncoli and Ramos, both artists show clear weaknesses in their work, whether you like one or the other, is rather a question of taste, more than anything else. All this brings us back to the plots, and while is obvious no one writes issues of the same quality, I’d expect variances to be small in shorts periods of time.
In all my Spider-Man reading, the only writer with a big quality inconsistency, was Dennis O’Neil, but I explain his case as one of pride. When he was paired with JRJR, he did good work, and when he wasn’t, he just didn’t care much and wrote anything make the deadline. Another notable example would be Lee himself, who rose a full two points in my ratings, over the course of his tenure. Those examples pale in comparison to the 5.5/10 difference I see here, for two comics published so close to one another.
What’s really at work here, is a choice of where to allocate granularity. If you “separate” comics which are close in quality, towards the middle of the scale, you’ll have more rating levels available for those comics (which are the majority). That has the advantage of being able to discriminate them more easily. The downside, is that you have to “compress” ratings at both ends of the spectrum, for comics which are exceptionally god or bad.
@ Stillanerd – Yeah that’s probably the case with the timescale here. I though Ghost Peter was back at this point, it’ll be interesting if Peter says anything about this story once Spider-Verse starts in ASM. Seeing as it was established in SSM #25 that he’d been watching Otto since coming back in #19. You seem to be right about the Iron Spider being from a new universe, as I can’t seem to find any existing universe where he kept that suit. The Spider-Man in the armored suit also seems to be from a new universe.
#19 Ozymandias — Those are all very good questions, Ozy!
You do raise a salient point: how there can be a disparity between Amazing Spider-Man #4 and Superior Spider-Man #32 even though Slott plotted both of them? Well, there are a couple of factors we have take into account, in my opinion. One is that even though Slott did plot both issues, it was Christos Gage who wrote the narration and dialogue for Superior Spider-Man #32; Slott has stated quite a few times he uses the “Marvel Method,” in which he writes a outline/script treatment first, gives it to an artist to interpret, and then, after getting the completed pages, works on the script afterward. And when it comes to that third step sometimes, either because of time constraints, Slott has Gage take over in writing the script based on his plot treatment and the artwork. That’s definitely going to play a huge difference when it comes to writing style, characterization, and dialogue. In this case, I think Gage did a better job with the script based off of Slott’s plot for Superior Spider-Man #32 than Slott’s own script for Amazing Spider-Man #4. Not to mention that, just like any writer, some of Slott’s issues are going to be better than others. Case in point, I’ve been enjoying his “Learning to Crawl” more than what is going on in Amazing Spider-Man, but that’s just my personal preference. Basically, I try to look at each comic individually and judge it on a case by case basis.
Also, you’re right in saying my big problem with Amazing Spider-Man #4 was due to the plot, but it was also how the character of Silk was presented, which really feel below my expectations. And since Silk, with exception of the brief scene involving Sajani and the Black Cat, was the central narrative of the entire issue, that also really brought the grade down.
As for the question of how much a difference would the rating be if Ramos did the art, that depends because for me, Ramos is a bit hit or miss. His art style, with the way he exaggerates the characters and their sense of movement, works extremely well every time he depicts any sort of action on panel. Unfortunately, because of that same art style, it really, really suffers whenever he has a scene showing characters standing around talking. It’s then that you really notice just how inconsistent his character proportions and perspective angles really are, sometimes even between panels on the same page. Camuncoli, in my view, doesn’t have this problem, although there are times in which the way he draws the faces of different characters can be a bit too similar to each other.
Hope all of that helps, and thanks again for asking. 🙂
ASM #4 was a 2.5/10, in your opinion. Don’t you think is too much difference, between two comics plotted by the same guy? Reading both reviews, I get the impression most of your problems with ASM #4 were due to the plot. Also, it seems you prefer Camuncoli. How much of the difference in rating, would you say is due to the art?
@ #12 Ozymandias — You are correct, Ozy! Or about a 4 out of 5.
@ #13 Evan — Thanks, Evan! And yeah, I always found it strange that the Iron-Spider costume only had three metallic legs, too. And good catch on the alternate Iron Spider having four metallic legs in that panel; totally missed it the first time.
@#16 Scarlet Spider — a) Well, you have to remember considering how time is relative in these kinds of stories, but would’ve been 9 hours between the time SpOck disappeared and returned in Superior Spider-Man #19 might have actually been several hours or days from SpOck’s POV. b) Yes, Ghost Peter should still be in Otto’s body at this point. Recall that Superior Spider-Man #19 was showing him being revived when Otto was attempting to access the Parker memories. So, yeah, Ghost Peter should definitely be seeing what’s going on at this point…at least in theory. c) Good question about the alternative Iron Spider. Could be from an entirely new, never before seen universe maybe?
@#17 Cortez — Perhaps, but we’re still not sure how that can be the case. Although, the main story does imply that Karn can sense the presence of other “spiders” and that, according to SpOck, his “power levels are off the charts.” So maybe this is hinting that Karn is actually Morlun or an alternate version of him? Your guess is as good as mine.
Karn is still more powerful than Assassin Spider-Man, him being able to see his opponents moves doesn’t help him against someone like Karn.
I really enjoyed this issue. With all the different Spider-Men I kept thinking back to the finale of the 90’s show,especially when the Spider-Armour showed up.
The House of M Spider-Man bothered me, mainly because I remember liking the ending to that mini, and it sucks that it seems to have been retconned here. The timeline of when all this is happening is really confusing, Otto was only missing for nine hours in SSM #19, I can’t imagine all of this stuff is just happening in 9 hours. Also is ghost Peter also seeing this? Shouldn’t he be sharing Peter’s body with Otto at this point?
Does anyone know what universe the Iron Spider comes from? Was it a Civil War what if?
For whatever reason they decided to drastically power down and really amp up the stupidity on the What If? Spider-Man vs. Wolverine. In the comic he used his spider sense to predict and appropriately change/direct the future months in advance to set up conditions he wanted. Only explanation I can think of is if the masked man is Morlun, since if I recall correctly spidey’s spider sense didn’t work correctly in his presence(though I could be wrong and just getting that mixed up with venom). But I doubt we’ll have an explanation and he’ll probably just get powered down to fit the story better in a fitting Slot-conned way.
I gave it a 9 out of 10. Reading this issue really cemented just how much I miss SpOck. I really wish that marvel can find a way to get Ock into a cloned spiderman body…. That would be a book in my top 5 every month.
Here’s my nerdy nitpick: I always found it interesting that Iron Spider-man had only three metallic legs protruding from his back instead of four (like Otto). But the Iron Spider-man that Otto visits has four legs — had four legs. I’m sort of at a loss to explain this in a No-Prize fashion — unless that dimension’s Otto has been doing some brain jumping, too, but I don’t want to think about that.
By the way, Stillanerd, I love your reviews!
A “B+” is like an 8/10 or something like that, am I right?
@ #7 Christopher Robin — Well don’t forget, Chris, that SpOck during the period in which this comic is taking place is still unaware that the Green Goblin is building himself an army right under SpOck’s nose. And he doesn’t realize that Peter is still alive and well, albeit with partial amnesia, trapped inside SpOck’s own subconscious. Also yes, this comic is taking place within the 24 hour period SpOck went missing during Superior Spider-Man #19, but given the nature of time and inter-dimensional travel, SpOck from his perspective could have been gone for a whole lot longer. And, because this is also an event involving time-travel and “sliding,” it’s very possible that Peter Parker post-Superior Spider-Man will team-up with SpOck and his Spider-Army…that is if the Spider-Army survives in Superior Spider-Man #33. And yeah, I agree that this all a bit hard to wrap one’s head around, “wibley-wobbly, timey-whimey” and all that.
@#9 Ben — Ha! Nice one, good sir!
So wait…Doc ock went 100 years in the future, and with scientific knowledge way out of date still found the parts to build a dimensional time travel device, built the damn thing, and jumped through 12 different dimensions in the span of one comic? I guess he really was “superior”
Sue Storm was invisible, duh!
I’m guessing this guy jumped on the House of M and Fantastic Five timelines before their stories fully developed, therefore he was likely offing HOM Spidey before his retirement (no married Spidey shall stand!) and Sue was probably still with Namor by the time he killed the FF. Also, to my understanding, Age Of Ultron negates the former divergent timeline-creation-when-you-screw-up-time so unless surviving counterparts are mentioned, they’re the original universe versions, deathconned. Sniff.
I really enjoyed the story, but my head hurts trying to figure out when Spider-Verse is supposed to be taking place. I remember that Dan Slott had wanted to do this story with Superior Spider-Man, but Bendis and others convinced him that it should be a Peter Parker story. However, if SpOck is building his army after being transported to 2099 but before returning to his own time and reality then where was his army during Goblin Nation? Why didn’t SpOck just bring his army against the Goblins and get rid of Peter forever? I can’t think of a good reason why SpOck came back without the other Spiders unless Spider-Verse takes place during the 24 hours period between his disappearance and return. If that is the case, then how is this a Peter-centric story?
@#2 Adam S. —
You know something? I really like that idea, and it would be a pretty clever twist. Good theory, Adam!
@#5 Big John —
And I really like this idea as well. And what if he’s part of a rogue group of Spider-Men, as well? After all, Karn does say, after SpOck and Spider-Man: India escape “I must find them or I will have proved the others right.”
I’m wondering if Karn is another alternate Spider-Man who’s trying to “mercy kill” the others before Morlun can get to them. POtto mentions something about mystical energy in the corpses of the alt-Spideys. I wonder if Karn has found a way to “poison” them so that Morlun can’t sap their totemic energies. . .
@3: This issue takes place during Superior Spider-Man 19, Ock is still in Peter’s body.
… this may be a dumb question, but who’s body is SpOck in now?
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this, I guess I just like the idea of all these different guys and gals teaming up. I hope when the event starts in the main title it’s this satisfying.
I just had an interesting thought about Karn: What if he’s a dimension-hopping free agent, killing all these various Spider-characters so that Morlun can’t steal their life force?
I’m convinced that dead Spider-Armor Spidey was the parallel jerkass one from the 90s cartoon.