The Superior Spider-Man # 1

 By Mark Rodriguez

Back in 2013, Marvel did the shocking story in which Doc Ock was finally succumbing to a life full of injuries during his constant battles against Spider-Man. With Otto Octavius upon his final hours, Spider-Man rushes against time to see his foe one last time. However, the final page of that issue revealed that there has been a mind switch, Peter Parker is stuck in Otto's body as he dies, leaving one of his greatest foes to live on in the body of the wall crawler. This ended the Spider-Man series for a while and would continue on in The Superior Spider-Man run. Let's check it out.

"Hero or Menace" opens with Otto in Parker's body setting flowers down on the grave of his old body. He contemplates that he wasted his life with villainy and failed schemes. His only victory had been cheating death by switching his body with that of his greatest enemy. From now on, Otto is Peter Parker. He then hears from an earpiece that officers are down near Empire State University and they are under fire. He says he is also now Spider-Man.

At the science building, the combined forces of Boomerang, Speed Demon, Shocker, The Living Brain and a new female Beetle are robbing a device called the Barometric Oscillator. Overdrive shows up to take it so they can all get away. Boomerang considers this to be the first of many victories for the newest incarnation of the Sinister Six. Just then a voice calls out saying that is blasphemy.

Spider-Man swings in and  says he guesses anybody can call themselves the Sinister Six nowadays. Spider-Man calls Overdrive pathetic, says the Boomerang and Shocker are jokes, calls the Living Brain archaic and notes the Beetle is a new and random element, as he jumpkicks her in the face. Shocker and Beetle fire blasts at Spider-Man and Boomerang tosses an Electro-Rang. Otto gets out of the way, letting the Living Brain take all the attacks. The machine asks why it was built with pain receptors. 

Speed Demon runs over to Spider-Man, being faster than his spider-sense could warn him and starts raining hundreds of punches all over him. Otto decided he has had enough and swings away saying he's done here. He says he can't believe Parker put up with this, thinking he must have been insane. The villains are surprised that Spider-Man is actually leaving the fight and Boomerang tosses a 'Nitro-Rang' at him.

As he swings away, Otto ponders that Spider-Man's powers are good enough to avoid most threats, but he's not about to risk his life. As Spider-Man dodges the Nitro-Rang, it turns and swings towards one of the cops. Spider-Man leaps in and tackles the cop out of the way, taking the exploding boomerang across the back. As he wonders why he just did that, Boomerang steps up wanting to take him out personally. 

Boomerang gets his Razorang around Spider-Man's neck, hoping to slice his head off. As Spider-Man struggles, he retracts small claws from his gloves. Spider-Man slices Boomerang across the chest. Boomerang is surprised since Spider-Man never did this sort of thing before. Just then more police arrive, so the villains get away on Overdrive's giant wheel, leaving the Living Brain behind. The police officer is relieved that Spider-Man saved his life. 

The police say they are grateful for everything Spidey has done, and say if he needs anything, to just ask. Spider-Man says he wants the robot the bad guys left behind, and he wants it delivered to Horizon Labs. He says he has an associate there that can put it to good use. 

At Horizon Labs, Otto inspects the Living Brain which impresses one of his co-workers who calls it 'the Super Nintendo of robots'. Otto accesses Peter's memories to recall that this fellow is Grady Scraps, one of his co-workers whose prone to mistakes. He wheels the robot off to work on him himself. Max comes in and asks Grady if Peter really is on site, and he tells him he's working on the Living Brain.

Otto inspects the robot to find any strengths and weaknesses of the new Sinister Six. Max steps in and tells him that while Peter is making things for Spider-Man, he's concerned about the kind of things he's been creating. Peter tells him that the greatest advancements in technology are created during wartime. Max agrees but mentions the items he's been requesting could be used to create explosives and biological agents and weapons of mass destruction. Peter says he wouldn't do those things and shows him some of the peaceful applications he has for those items he's exploring for Horizon Labs. Max is impressed and calls them revolutionary. 

Max tells him to carry on, if he can pull this off, this will be a big win for Horizon Labs and another feather in Parker's cap. Once alone, Otto angrily laments the fact that from now on all of his great accomplishments would be credited to Peter Parker instead of Otto Octavius. He remembers that he is now Peter Parker, and must accept that his victories are now his. Just then he gets a call from Mary Jane. She wants to make sure they're still on for their date tonight. Parker smiles evilly and says they're on.

Otto is on his date with Mary Jane and he ponders that Parker's life isn't so bad after all. He has a good life and a good paying job, and he gets to admire Mary Jane's finer qualities. She asks if he has to wear the headset even while having dinner. She asks if there's an emergency on the police radio. He says he's listening in on the Sinister Six. When he scratched Boomerang earlier on, he actually injected him with 80 nano-spider-trackers. He knows where they are and what they're planning. Mary Jane asks why he doesn't go after them now. He says he has the tactical advantage and he knows what he's doing as he pours some champagne. Mary Jane is surprised he's drinking and Peter says the night is still young and asks her to continue telling him about her day. 

At dawn the Sinister Six rob an Atmospheric Condenser when they notice that their escape route is covered in webs. Boomerang says they were in and out in ten seconds, but Spidey had his webbed up blockade done in nine. He says he has the proportionate speed of a spider, which always struck him as unfair. Speed Demon says he'll be the one striking him as he rushes towards him. 

Spider-Man call out for 'Plan Omega Three' as the floor Speed Demon is running on is slick due to being covered in a frictionless substance. This was something Parker mopped all over the pavement the night before. Speed Demon slides out of control, unable to stop himself and getting clotheslined into a webline across the throat. Boomerang says that could have taken his head off. Spider-Man says he'll live as long as he's smart enough to stay down. 

Spider-Man activated the lights in the area and reveal they've been upgraded to have a power dampener. Beetle, who was carrying the Atmospheric Condenser with her suit's enhanced strength, is now unable to hold its weight. Likewise, Shocker's gauntlets no longer work. Spider-Man says that their weapons are now useless, as Beetle's wings give out and she falls to the ground. The web-slinger then throws his webs and yanks Overdrive over to them. With his Big Wheel vehicle now affected by the power dampener, it falls over Shocker. 

The media is filming everything and Boomerang is surprised they're already there. Spider-Man called them half an hour ago. Spider-Man tells him that a Barometric Oscillator and the Atmospheric Condenser were the first two pieces of a weather machine. He asked if they were planning to blackmail the city with a tornado. Boomerang angrily tosses a boomerang at him and says it was a good plan. Spider-Man says it was an uninspired plan not worthy of the Sinister Six. 

Boomerang gives up and says Spider-Man wins. Spider-Man says he gets to win and starts punching the hell of out him. He wants everyone to know what happens to those that cross Spider-Man as Boomerang begs for his life. Spider-Man gets ready to deliver the killing blow when something grabs his hand and stops him.

The police congratulate Spider-Man and will take things from here. Otto is confused as he was ready to kill Boomerang but something held him back. Peter Parker's spirit is standing beside him, despite Otto being unaware of his presence. Parker says he won't let him kill. He doesn't know how, but he's still in the fight and he swears to find a way back to his body. 

My Opinions- 

One thing I remembered the most about Superior Spider-Man was the big fan blacklash about the concept that Marvel was going to kill off one of their biggest heroes and have him be replaced by Doctor Octopus. I was just confused as to why these people actually thought this was going to be a permanent change. Around that general time, we had just gotten past a period where Batman was presumed dead and Dick Grayson took over as Batman. Bruce came back and Dick went back to being Nightwing, so I knew comics did these sort of major changes all the time before going back to a more familiar status quo. So my mindset was, just enjoy the ride until Parker comes back, which the last page already showed he was still somewhere in the story.

The best part of this story is getting to see more of how Otto conducts himself whenever he's not making evil plans or fighting Spider-Man. I liked seeing Parker act a lot more arrogant and smug, making faces you'd normally never see him make. Otto can't fully shake his super villain tendencies, dressing up in a full lab coat as Peter and calling the people that help him 'oafs' and 'dolts' as if they were his hired henchmen. Even though he tries to tone it down as Parker, he still acts like he always has to be the smartest guy in the room.

Doc Ock always had such a big ego and always wanted to be recognized for his genius. It's only fitting he'd be flipping out over the fact that everything he does from now on would get credited under Parker's name. We're going to get see a lot of this sort of thing during this run.

Another thing that angered some of the fans after the issue came out was Otto potentially dating Mary Jane as Peter. It's all sorts of wrong considering that Mary Jane would be unaware she's actually getting close with Otto Octavius of all people. Luckily the series won't go there. 

We'll see what else happens to Otto as The Superior Spider-Man as well as some crossover events and such. They really went all in on this, even Boomerang and his buddies got a spin-off comic called 'The Superior Foes of Spider-Man'. 2013 was an interesting year for Spider-Man, regardless of who's behind the wheel. 

Also gotta love how Otto kept scoffing at the Sinister Six and continued to call them 'so-called' seeing as he was the founder of the original Sinister Six. 

I do have to ask.... what the hell was Otto thinking of when he considered killing Boomerang on live TV??? Especially since Spider-Man isn't known for killing his enemies. He was going to ruin his reputation before he even started.