Well here we are the first issue of “The Superior Spider-Man” and well Otto’s not off to a good start in his quest to be a better man.
The issue opens with Otto at his own grave saying au revoir to his old life, which must be a bit weird. However things are looking good at first, Otto stands over his grave thinking how his previous life “was wasted on villainy and failed schemes”. Is this Otto showing some self-awareness? I mean the man was a certifiable genius. As he stands over his own grave, is the former super villain realising all the good he potentially could have done? Has the whole experience of living through Peter’s highs and lows affected him? It’s conceivable and in Amazing Spider-Man #700 Otto seemed genuinely shocked when he realised the depth of Peter’s heroism and altruism, especially when he saw that Peter didn’t regret saving Otto despite it leading to his own demise. So is Otto finally getting some perspective on his old life? Well probably not but we’ll get to that later.
Anyway Otto is interrupted from his musings by his police scanner and he swings into action. Once again we’re shown that Otto seems to be taking the Spider-Man gig very seriously he hears that people are in danger and he rushes in to help people. Or so it seems. Upon arriving at the crime scene Otto is appalled to see the most pathetic incarnation of the Sinister Six ever. Otto is gob smacked at this group of wieners calling themselves the “Sinister Six”, declaring that there use of the name is “unbelievable” and that they’re “letting anyone call themselves the sinister six these days”. Now at this point I’ve got to take issue, as Otto swiftly dispatches the New sinister six he insults them as “jokes” and “pathetic” the issue I have with this is that Otto is clearly still proud of his days with the sinister six. He’s annoyed at a group of losers using the name especially because we know that Ock has a huge ego and that he was the original founder of the Sinister Six it’s like he doesn’t want them tainting his brand. But surely if he’s turned over a new leaf and dedicated himself to being a “superior Spider-Man” he shouldn’t really have any attachment to his old team name and yet he does, it’s a red flag to me especially as he later declares them “unworthy of the sinister six!”
So where was I, Oh yeah. So Otto fights “The New Sinister Six” handily defeating a third of them in 6 panels (I love that boomerang shouts ELECTRO-RANG! as he throws it) and genuinely making them look like buffoons. Otto’s smug until Speed Demon blindsides him, hitting Otto more times than he’s been hit in his entire life, which is hilarious when you consider how his old body died. So Otto’s had the snot beaten out of him when he has had enough. However unlike the usual scene of heroic resolve and defeating a superior enemy Otto just runs away thinking to himself “Can’t believe Parker put up with this. The man must have been insane.” So here we are, if it comes down to his own personal discomfort or pain Otto isn’t willing to put up with it, he knows Peter would have and he walks away. I’ll go into how Otto will legitimise these decisions later but as I say Otto’s not doing enough to live up to the man he thinks he’s superior too. Any way Otto had better watch his back because Boomerang has thrown a NITRO-RANG!! Boomerang needs his own title.
Otto deftly dodges the NITRO-RANG!! when it flies at a nearby policeman. Otto throws himself into the path of the boomerang and saves the cop. Great Otto’s finally started being selfless it looked a bit wobbly there, what with the running away a minute ago but major brownie points there Otto. And then he speaks, ”Why on Earth did I do that?” I’m presuming that anyone reading the blog ( I don’t think anyone will be reading) reads the book but just in case spoilers ahead. You see this is a problem because Otto admits that he had no intention of saving the cop, he only did it because of the influence of Ghost Peter. If he had actually meant to do it he wouldn’t be questioning himself. I know it’s open to interpretation how much control Ghost Peter has but we know later that he can influence Otto’s decisions and stop his movements so I don’t think it’s completely out of the realm of speculation that he made Otto save that man. Regardless, Spidey saves the police man and boomerang capitalises on Otto’s injury by pouncing on him. However poor poor boomerang, Otto uses his newly installed claws to rip deep gouges in his chest and inject him with his new nano tracers and the Sinister Six flee.
Now we move on from the superior Spider-Man to the superior Peter Parker and we see how Ock treats Pete’s old friends and colleagues. I’ll go over this quickly because it doesn’t need much explanation. Otto is perhaps the rudest man on the planet! He won’t accept help from Grady and he’s extremely dismissive of Max Modell. Peter always treated Grady like an equal and had huge respect for Max Modell and what he had done at Horizon labs, but Otto doesn’t. Again these people are just annoyances or opportunity to Otto. Grady is “prone to mistakes” so Otto believes he has nothing offer. Meanwhile Max is the head honcho at Horizon where Otto works, so he has to keep him sweet or he’ll lose the “good pay and state of the art lab”. But Max’s interference in his work clearly exasperates Otto and his annoyance is clear when Max congratulates “Peter Parker”. Peter was many things but he wasn’t rude and he didn’t have an ego the size of a planet (Usually) once again I’m going to have to say I’m struggling to see how Otto is being a better man than Peter.
After work it’s date night for Otto and MJ, in one of the creepiest scenes ever. Now if I’m honest Peter Parker was very self-involved, he was a worrier and probably had a martyr complex. But Peter Parker genuinely loved Mary Jane and even at his worst he’d listen to MJ. But not Otto, oh no while MJ talks he’s far too busy thinking about himself and how well he’s doing now he’s got “super powers, youth and vigour”. The creepiest bit is when were treated to Otto’s perspective and he’s staring at her chest. Yeah. Well MJ and Otto talk about the sinister six attack and Otto dismisses her concerns that he knows where they are but isn’t acting because ”he knows exactly what he’s doing.” These bits particularly infuriating, Otto keeps on thinking how he’s so superior to peter but Pete would never sit by while his enemies schemed and he knows where the six are thanks to the nano tracers! Especially as the Six are about to attack peters work, the place where his friends work, but of course Otto feels these people are beneath him so he’s not concerned at all.
So the six attack Horizon labs and steal a techno whatzit but Otto’s prepared. I will say this new Spidey is much more efficient than the amazing spider-man so there’s one way in which he’s superior. However this is where the book takes its dark turn. You see using a combination of smarts and spider powers he easily defeats the sinister six. But the sadism he displays while doing so is … disturbing. When the six run into Otto he welcomes them to his “parlor” and there’s a real sense that he’s playing with the six (Ryan Stegmans art makes Otto’s web lair look particularly sinister.) Otto’s sadism is obvious when he disables the six’s’ powers and could have had them surrender but instead he crushes them under the Big Wheel, yeah the Big Wheel was there didn't I mention that? So here we have Otto seriously injuring 5 people who are no longer a threat to him and he’s still declaring himself the superior spider-man. So now it’s down to Otto and Boomerang… and boomerangs powers, by which I mean various boomerangs which he throws, aren't working. Otto mercilessly beats Boomerang until ghost peter stops him. As Otto beat him he screams “I get to win!!” and it seems obvious to me that despite how Otto seems himself he’s a petulant bully whose finally got the power to take his vengeance on a world that he feels treated him unfairly. You see as I’ve kept on saying Otto has a huge ego, a colossal one and his career as Doc Ock was less than magnanimous, Spidey always webbed up his glasses and beat him. But he’s finally got a chance to be a winner and he seizes that opportunity with both hands (no jokes about his tentacles, I was tempted) nearly killing Boomerang, and admitting he was going to. As I keep on mentioning boomerangs powers are kind of not dangerous to Otto at all, I mean he got hit by the NITRO-RANG!! And all it seemed to do was wind him, this level of brutality is totally uncalled for. So again all I’ll say is that Otto had better be a bit nicer next issue if he’s going to try and be a better Peter Parker.
As a quick aside though it occurred to me as I reread this book Otto was doomed to a slow death by the relentless punches of various super heroes. Is this how he saw the actions of the various heroes who beat him? An unfair punishment? Or even more disturbingly does Otto believe that he’s saving these people from a slow lingering death like the one he experienced at the “gentler” hands of the more moderate heroes? Is a quick death a mercy for a super villain?
Well that’s the first issue and in conclusion I think it’s pretty obvious that I don’t think Otto’s living up to his vow to be a better man. I know he’s doing it his way and he’s an unbalanced megalomaniac but its like Otto’s not even trying to be a better man, instead he’s just approaching Peter’s life the way he approached his own. He’s violent, rude and uncaring, so far the only thing he’s got going for him is that he’s managed to be a more efficient fighter. Most disturbingly though is his lingering pride and concern over the Sinister Six name and his treatment of Mary Jane. But more on that in the next article.
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