Amazing Spider-Man 700

This is just a gorgeous variant. I really like the normal cover, but this is beautiful.

I follow Dan Slott on Twitter. I'm not sure if he receives more hate-tweets than anyone I've seen or if he just responds to it more. That's not a dig at him, I just think he cares about keeping Spider-Man fans happy. That's similarly not a dig at him. He's not selling his creative integrity or his artistic license off to make money. He cares about keeping Spider-Man fans happy because he knows what it is to be a Spider-Man fan. I think the people who write the best books write them well because they understand the characters to a degree other, even maybe better, writers can't. Rick Remender's stunning Uncanny X-Force book ran so perfectly for simply that reason. He said in his final wrap-up that he started by just writing where each character came from, where they were, and where they would end up. It's that sort of dedication to character that drives a book. Those kinds of books can live without huge action scenes or universe-spanning stories. This is exactly why Dan Slott is a near perfect Spider-Man writer.

Amazing Spider-Man 700 wraps up 50 years of Peter Parker. In the last arc of the series, genius and longtime Spider-Man foe Doctor Octopus has switched his mind with Peter's, inheriting Peter's memories and physical abilities while leaving stranded in Doc Ock's dying body with his disturbing and sometimes disgusting memories. While Peter works tirelessly to team up with villains to break himself out of prison and fix all of this, Doc Ock revels in the chance to ruin Spider-Man's legacy and Peter's life. He knows Peter's extensive supporting cast through all of Peter's memories, but has none of the attachments Peter has to any of them. While this seems an obvious plot point, 700 makes it the crux of the issue and the story as a whole. The issue ends, after much back-and-forthing between Peter and Doc Ock, with Peter unable to switch his mind back into his own body, but able to impart his full history, emotions and all, onto Ock, making him capable of understanding the true import of Spider-Man. Peter, still trapped in Doc Ock's body, dies in Spider-Man's arms.

I understand why people were nervous about this arc and why they were furious at Dan Slott. I'm not, but I understand the impulse. Peter Parker, after 50 years of being a Marvel mainstay and one of the most likable and relatable characters in comics, appears dead (this is comics, after all, where we do have to add the "appears" modifier to every death). It's not so easy to swallow. To blame Slott, though, is not to understand Spider-Man, or Peter Parker. Slott does.

Batman is Batman because his parents were murdered. Captain America is Captain America because Steve Rogers could never not be. Iron Man is Iron Man because of his guilt and probably a complex. Superman is Superman because what else is he going to do? (I admittedly don't pay much attention to Superman, but that seems like a pretty good origin). Spider-Man, though, is Spider-Man because the people in his life meant so much to him that he was able to transfer that love to everyone in the world and use it to defend and save them, even if they were ungrateful or scared or undeserving. Peter Parker was, throughout his run, inextricably tied to his alter ego like no other hero could be. Dan Slott knows this. That's why this final arc brought everyone in Peter's life back to him, through various means. That's why Uncle Ben was able to talk him into surviving the first time Ock's body brought him to death (for three minutes). That's why the memories of Spider-Man's history and his relationships were enough to make Doctor Octopus, a criminal mastermind set on erasing Spider-Man, vow to take up the mantle for good.

You don't have to love the issue's implications. You don't have to like that Peter Parker is (seemingly) dead or that Doctor Octopus is now Spider-Man. I'm sure not ready to part with Peter. But don't blame Dan Slott. The man knows Peter Parker better than probably any comic writer knows any of his or her characters. That's why this final issue is so powerful, and why Slott has constructed one of the best and most meaningful arcs of Spider-Man's rich history. Is it heart-breaking to watch Peter Parker go? Yes, absolutely. I can't be mad, though. Peter acted exactly the way he always would have in this situation.