Superior Spider-Man 12
Slott and Gage (w) and Camuncoli, Dell, and Pallot (a) and Fabela (c)
Spider-Man has taken the necessary precautions to keep both Alistair Smythe from escaping and his potential hostages (those there to oversee his execution) from being undefended. His spider-bots surround the civilians and create a forcefield around them, giving only enough time and warning for J. Jonah Jameson to break free before the forcefield closes on them. He decides to go after Smythe himself, to ensure that justice is served. He meets with Spider-Man, who reprimands him for breaking out but Jameson waves him off. Jameson gives Spidey explicit permission to do whatever it takes to make sure that Smythe doesn't escape then sets him on his way. Of course, Smythe isn't alone now, as he's enhanced Boomerang, Scorpion, and Vulture to aid him in his fight. The three split up, with Scorpion tracking Jameson, Vulture going after the hostages, and Boomerang keeping Spidey busy. Before long, though, Spidey tires of Boomerang and causes his bomberangs (a thing Boomerang has) to explode in his own face, quite possibly killing him. Meanwhile, Smythe has determined that Spidey's defenses are all linked to the generators and has decided to shut those off to give himself the upper hand. Of course, this just plays into Spidey's hands, who has his defenses backed up several times through and whose leading Smythe to the generators simply served to help Spidey locate the criminal. The generators going down did knock out non-Spidey stuff in the prison, though, meaning that Lizard, the only remaining prisoner, has escaped his cell. Smythe still feels confident he'll win the day as Spidey will have to choose to save either Jameson from Scorpion or the people from Vulture. Spider-Man refuses, instead announcing that he's only going to go after Smythe.
Another solid, action-packed issue as we get a sense of what's important to Doc Ock in these scenarios. Is he letting Scorpion and Vulture go because he firmly believes that his defenses will hold against them or that Jameson would rather let Scorpion kill him than be saved by Spider-Man at the expense of Smythe finding a way out? Or is he dedicated to the job Jameson has given him and will follow it through to the end, even if it means losing a handful of lives in the process? My guess, considering Doc's ego, is the former but he also has a score to settle with Smythe and the consent and direction of Jameson to go after Smythe at all costs. Doc Ock is very much an "at all costs" kind of guy where Peter was far more a "I have to help people and I'll be mad if the villain gets away but it's not the worst thing that could have happened, I guess" kind of guy. All these little differences are worth noting as we keep pressing forward. Still a very compelling series.
Morbius the Living Vampire 6
Keatinge (w) and De Landro (a) and Fabela (c)
A quick note at the start here: Marvel has officially decided to cancel Morbius the Living Vampire after issue nine. So we'll have this and a few more to try to win me over and prove that was a bad decision instead of me thinking it was a weird decision to start this book in the first place. On to the review. Morbius is now moving his way through Brownsville and trying to shut down as much crime as he can, with the sometimes help of new "sidekick" Becky. It's not long, though, before Spider-Man tracks him down and brings him to New York again to meet with Morbius' friend and former employer Max Modell of Horizon Laboratories. Max informs Morbius that he thinks they can work together to try to recreate the formula that would have taken the vampirism out of Morbius but he needs something from Max first. Someone broke into his old lab and possibly stolen something. His team hasn't had time to catalogue everything in there so he wants Morbius to take a look around and see what he can find. Spider-Man and Max go with him to the old storage area and a mysterious super-powered woman crashes through the wall, controlling some of Spider-Man's spider-bots as she comes. The spider-bots send Spider-Man spiraling as they set off his spider sense something fierce and she easily dispatches him. She threatens Max and Morbius comes to his aid, only to be similarly put down. She throws out a whole lot of villain banter then leaves, bringing her results to the Rose. It seems the Rose is in the market for an Ultimate Nullifier and it's possible she's brought him what he needs to get it.
This tends to be a formula at Marvel, and for seemingly good reason. If a book isn't doing well and there's any excuse to bring in a major character, bring him/her in. Actually, mostly just him, there are very few hers that Marvel views as having that kind of weight. The biggest appearances come from Spider-Man and Wolverine (speaking of, I hope that Scarlet Spider is selling well). In this case, it's Spider-Man, of course, who comes to join Morbius in his doomed book. On the plus side, Spidey seems integral to the plot and not just a piece of the scenery. Okay, he's a little bit that here but he seems to at least have enough of a reason to be involved in the story. We'll have to see as we move on. The story has enough going for it to keep it interesting but, and maybe this is just me, I have some trouble seeing Morbius as a compelling crime fighter or as a snarky superhero, both of which they're trying to force him into. It's still not totally fitting right.
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