On "Superior Spider-Man" #30

This is a major transition issue for the comic, which probably bears some discussion (or bloviating, at least).  SPOILERS for those who haven't read it (and who care about such things).

SPOILERS, I tell you! SPOILERS!

So … back in January 2013, Everything About Spider-Man Changed. Dan Slott, the writer of the main Spider-Man title, started what was supposed to be a brief arc, but instead turned into a year and a half plus some spin-off series, concerning the character.

Long story short — Otto Octavious, a/k/a "Doctor Octopus" a/k/a "Doc Ock," one of Spider-Man's longest and most bitter foes, died. But before he did, he managed to swap minds with Peter Parker (Spider-Man, natch), so when Otto's body died, that was Parker dying, with Otto having a final triumph over his nemesis, living on and ready to commit unspeakable evil and …

… ah, but the catch was that, immersed in Peter's memories, Otto changes. He's still an arrogant SOB with a perfunctory care for the law, but now he was obsessed, not with being a villain, but in demonstrating that he could be a far better hero than Peter Parker ever was — smarter, more effective, and, in a word, "superior."

Fans howled. Fans screamed. Fans wanted Dan Slott's head on a pike.

Me? It was the first time in years I had any desire (after sampling one) to read a Spider-Man title. Because, honestly, Peter Parker's tale, with few exceptions, has been in a holding pattern since the early 70s or so. Cast members have come and gone. Writers have come and gone. But very few things made a significant difference in the arc of the character, and those that did (marriage, being outed in "Civil War") were, inevitably, clawed back and retconned by Marvel Editorial, who know a cash spider cow when they have one.

Sigh.

But with Superior, we had something different.  We have everything different.  Where Peter was polite, Otto was arrogant. Where Peter was flummoxed by priorities and ethical constraints and wanting to be a nice guy, Otto was efficient, effective, brutal. Where Peter was largely a solo act, Otto assembled a gang of minions, an island fortress, a swarm of spider-bots crawling NYC and watching for trouble. Where Peter would help anyone who needed it, Otto would prioritize, triage, and go for what he found interesting or reputation-enhancing, or most important (usually calling in other crimes for his goons or the police to deal with). Where Peter was liked, Otto went out of his way to insult and drive off friends and colleagues.  

But it worked (in comics terms).  Otto was, in many ways, a much more effective Spider-Man. Crime was down. His genius was focused on the problem, vs. Peter (at least as smart) was always letting his be frittered away by personal issues and the need to be the personal hero to everyone.  Heck, Otto was even showing signs of an unlikely but touching romantic involvement. 

It wasn't all good, of course. He bent or broke enough rules that, as of this issue, the Avengers have decided (albeit for a rather flimsy immediate case) that Spider-Man needs to be arrested. He managed to drive off all his previous friends and family. His collaborators and allies were all (through various crises) ready to give him up as bad news. And, ultimately, his arrogance, his need to be the one in charge, handling things, demonstrating that he was, in fact superior, blinded him (literally and figuratively) to a huge problem that (the rest of the Marvel Universe obliviously aside) threatens to destroy New York.

And … so … Otto has stepped down.

Turns out (handwave, handwave) that elements of Peter have still been lurking around in Otto's brain. They've been (apparently) destroyed a few times, but the got better. Whatever. In the end, Otto became aware of Peter still lurking, and realized that, no, Peter was the better hero, and the only one who could save the city. So he reversed the technical gimcrackery that had theoretically destroyed the Peter personality and used it to eliminate his own.

Which leaves Peter holding the bag to save the city and deal with everyone who now hates and fears him for what a creep he was the last year and a half. Business as usual.

And that, to me, is the problem. It is business as usual. Peter is back to being unliked and unloved and unjustly put upon. Even the professional ties he had built over the past several years with groups like the Avengers have been wiped out.  And, inevitably, his claim that Doc Ock was behind it all — or, worse, for some reason or another he'll feel that he can't tell anyone about it because (lame, handwaving excuse).  Etc.

Superior Spider-Man was a bravura example of super-villain "reform" as a storyline.  Otto as Spider-Man was deeply flawed but he was trying to attain some ideal of heroism. He was keeping secrets, but for a good cause. He deserved to be slapped down, but I can't help thinking he also deserved to continue.

I liked reading about Otto. I wanted to read more. But Slott (and Editorial, I suspect), having already seen a small story arc turn into a year-plus event, had to bring things back to normal. And that meant what felt like an untoward rush to have Otto decide he needed to not only stop being Spider-Man, but stop existing.  It was, in many ways, a weak issue for just that — the change in Otto's personality to recognize that he wasn't (in the present case, at least) the best Spider-Man for the job felt too easy, to smooth a way to be done with him.

Of course, he's not really gone. At some point in time, someone will figure out how to bring Doc Ock back, ho-hum, in his traditional villainous mode. Reboot, reset, ready Player 1, the profitable status quo is restored.

I, for one, am sorry to see Spider-Man stop being Superior, and simply go back to the hum-drum not-really-Amazing he's been for so long.