Superior Spider-Man #21 Review
This issue basically shows Otto got lucky that the universe seems to love him at the moment…
Yeah, this issue has a string of coincidences that saves Otto and hands the bad guys even more ammunition, but I liked it.
The story starts Stunner attacking the Daily Bugle for information on how to find Spider-Man so she can break his face in for killing Otto, who she loved. Yes, the irony is delicious given Otto is Spider-Man. Once it is pointed out that the spider-bots are worse than N.S.A and lets him track crimes-in-progress, she gets the idea to commit a crime in progress with the one currently staring her in the face.
Back with Otto, he’s trying to save his skin from the claims of plagiarizing the works of Otto Octavius since he’s wearing Peter’s body as a meat suit. He suits up when he receives word on Stunner and goes to handle this personally since she’s kinda of his problem at the moment. She states she regained her consciousness the moment Spider-Man killed Otto, and attacks. Again, irony.
We then skip to Carlie at the grave of Otto Octavius, where Peter was buried in his body. She mourns for him, thinking that she should have listened to him after everything they went through when they broke up and vowed to rat Otto out. Unfortunately for her the powers that be decided against this since the grave was booby-trapped and Otto’s body exhumed by someone, leaving her captured.
Back to Stunner vs Otto, she explained that after he was killed by Kaine once she gave up her life to bring him back in a ritual, which put her in the coma, only to wake once he died and have nothing left but her pain and hologram. Otto quickly traps her in new webbing since he’s pressed for time, while having something akin to pity and respect for the woman who he does owe a lot to, sending his bots to remotely shut down her VR program while he pays a little visit to Lamaze for screwing him over back at the campus.
He finds Anna Marie defending him, once again showing that she’s too good for Otto. Stunner decides to interrupt that by tossing a bus at him filled with innocent people that heads straight for her once it misses him. It’s not intentional, but she was this close to offing her main competitor for Love Interest until Otto saves them. Unfortunately it leaves his hands filled as Stunner beats him over the head, demanding the last words he utter be Otto’s name.
He can’t fight since Lamaze pushes Anna down under the bus to get away, douche-bag, and Otto was begging Stunner to stop so she didn’t get hurt. He was this close to confessing his identity to save Anna when those spider-bots shut her down. The day is saved and so are the girls, but to ensure that Stunner’s not a problem Otto steals her VR equipment and meets her in an avatar of his old body before it broke down.
He breaks her heart, surprisingly gently, before paying Lamaze a little visit. While we get an outline of what was said, we do know he withdrew his complaint about Peter the next day. In other words, Otto gets away with everything he’s done. But what should have been a happy ending (for him) is spoiled when we learn that Carlie was kidnapped by a goblin that claims to be her sister and they have her evidence she was going to present to the Avengers, meaning things have gotten worse in the long run.
Okay, issue looked good and the story progressed. We have Otto acting as somewhat less of a douche, always a bonus, but the show stealer was Anna Marie and her influence on him. She’s one of the best characters in Superior Spider-Man and makes him want to be a better person. I’m actually afraid for her once the Goblin Nation arc kicks off.But first Venom and Mania are coming next issue, sweet! Issue gets a 4 out of 5.
Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1 Review
They’re screwed.
Well, the end is nigh in the Ultimate Universe. At least that’s what some people think anyway and I can’t blame them. As Galactus from the 616 Universe runs rampant on the extremely under-prepared world, I’ll be covering what’s happening in Miles’ corner of the event rather than the Ultimates’ Last Stand or the X-Men. With that said, let’s get into Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1, shall we?
It starts out with Jessica Drew asking if she was fired for the raid on Roxxon with the Ultimates, who just now learns she’s a clone of Peter Parker since it was apparently classified. Whoops. Captain America thinks she just did her job bringing in bad people doing bad things, while the director states that they had defense contracts with them and says this wasn’t her doing, but Nick Fury’s since she inherited it from him. The discussion comes full circle with Jessica wanting to lead an investigation into Roxxon.
We then skip to Miles sleeping in class, angering the teacher who asks him the usual question that he should only know the answer to if he wasn’t sleeping or she would call his father. He actually gets it right and saves himself. We then skip to Lana, who broke parole by using her powers before she turned eighteen. She states she didn’t want to follow her mother’s footsteps but being a hero felt good, before she runs away from the parole office.
Back to Miles in costume, he ends up breaking up a fight when he gets hit by a beer bottle. Apparently people doubted it was him, claiming the costume was still in bad taste until he webs up the entrance. Webs are the ultimate proof. The police show up and actually hugs him, claiming it was good to have him back. Miles is as confused as we are since the last time he saw them they were shooting at him, but I guess a year off the clock made them fond of the costume.
Tandy and Tyrone are alone in the meantime, with him telling her that their parents gave up on them. She insists he takes her home, where they discover that it was abandoned. Heartbroken, and with no where else to go, we have another case of them discovering that heroics feels good and wondering how they go full time. It’s then that Galactus shows up and the issue ends.
Okay, so great art as usual. That goes without saying, and the plot is moving along nicely.
We’ve learned a bit more about Lana since her absence from the series, namely that she was on a super-power parole and she wasn’t raised to know that being good feels good. Given her mother’s lengthy jail sentence prior to her birth and after it should come as no surprise. And she’s cleaned up her language a lot.
Tandy and Tyrone have come to terms with the fact that their parents abandoned them, at least at the moment, and have decided to make the hero thing a part of their life. Great timing, since the end of the world is upon them. Here’s hoping for the best.
Issue gets a 4 out of 5.
Twilit Dreams Circle 