An Amazing Run for Superior Spider-Man
By Avery Jordan
So much has transpired in the world of Spider-Man since the end of the The Amazing Spider-Man. Although the controversial decision to theoretically kill off Peter Parker in the final issue of ASM, the followup title The Superior Spider-Man has been thriving. The adventures of Otto Octavius inside of Peter Parker’s mind have left audiences guessing after literally every issue.
Taking a look back at the ASM title, there was a considerable amount of predictability as compared to SSM. The added element of Octavius living Peter Parker’s life has left readers (and even other characters in the Marvel universe) baffled literally after every issue. Writer Dan Slott reflects on the Superior title:
"We could have kept this going for ages, but we stuck with the plan that was always there. There were times we’d be talking about it at Marvel before there’d been any fan reaction, and they’d ask, “Can you keep this up all the way to the movie?” Remember, we’re a double-shipping book. “Maybe you can keep this up for six months. Nine months. Ten months. A year.” I’m like, no, no, no — there are 30-plus issues of this. We can do this.”Once the reaction came in for the very first issue, and the thing went back to press three times, we were like, “OK, it’s got legs. We’re good.” We knew back in January, after the first issue, that people were going to stay along for the ride.It’s been a success and not only in the main title, but spawning the “Superior” brand on several other titles at Marvel.I think it’s very neat, where you had other books where Spider-Man was going to appear, and other teams would ask “Do we have to use Superior Spider-Man? Can we set our stories before the switch?” Then after you had books like “Daredevil” and “Journey Into Mystery” using Superior, and everything worked out great, then it was all, “Can we use Superior?” It’s weird to me, to watch this all happen, because it’s a story I’ve wanted to tell since “Amazing Spider-Man” #600."
Brief look at some artwork for the upcoming ASM #1 in April
As for the Peter Parker comeback, the writers have set the story up to have more than enough problems for him to deal with upon his return. Lingering effects of the Superior era will likely make for an interesting read, especially since it has been noted in a previous issue of SSM that Peter will only have a finite number of memories to work with upon regaining control of his mind. What kind of Peter Parker will we expect to see? Octavius has claimed to have kept the most defining moments in Peter Parker’s/Spider-Man’s life, so we may see a completely righteous and pure Spider-Man. Here are some of Slott’s thoughts on how they will handle the upcoming drama:
"Untangle? It’s Peter Parker. It might get tanglier! You don’t know. It’s fun, because I see people guessing this and that and the other thing, and they’re wrong. People haven’t nailed it yet. There are surprises coming, and that’s going to be the fun of it. It’s that old Chinese curse – “may you live in interesting times.” That’s what you want from your character. Is it going to be all bad? Is it going to be all good? What’s it going to be? What’s going to be this world that he wakes up into? And how is he going to deal with it? And how is he going to be changed from having been dead for a year? What kind of Peter Parker are we going to meet?"
With this in mind, there will be many people and experiences Peter may not remember (including possibly the events of the aftermath of the Marvel Civil War, and what he had to do in order for the entire world to forget his identity as Spider-Man). How will this affect things moving forward? Will Slott expand on this, or will this just be another lost subplot? The interview with Dan Slott certain leaves a lot of questions that still need answering, but of course, he will be keeping all his juicy secrets to himself. He already tortured the entire Spider-Man fan base for an entire year keeping quiet about Peter Parker’s eventual return, so to continue to ask for answers will most likely prove fruitless. The return of The Amazing Spider-Man is set for early April of 2014.