Ten best series of 2012

It's December 31st, which means RETROSPECTIVE DAY. Let's all work together and make that a thing, okay?

Anyway, these are my choices for the ten best books of 2012. They're in alphabetical order because thinking about which year-long book rates higher than another year-long book is HARD and I don't get paid to do things that are HARD. Or get paid to do things.

Captain America
Honestly, when I was forming this list, I wasn't sure Cap was going to make it. Steve Rogers is my favorite character in the Marvel Universe and Ed Brubaker has done wonders for the character and for the story and for the Marvel Universe in general. That said, this year was probably my least favorite year for Cap. It wasn't particularly bad, but I felt like the last couple arcs just really dragged on. Still, this makes the list for Brubaker's last issue, which was tough to get through. Not because it's bad, not because it's disturbing or anything, just because it was hard. End of an era.




Captain Marvel
You want to win me over on a new book/a new design for an old character? Have Jamie McKelvie design the costume. I was already onboard when I heard it was Kelly Sue DeConnick and the stuff I'd seen from Dexter Soy was good, but McKelvie killed it with the costume design. There was a huge need for a solo book featuring a woman lead in the Marvel Universe (FUN FACT: There still is) and this book is a fantastic base. Good stories, good characters, engaging dialogue, it's all there. You want to read a good book starring a true superhero? Captain Marvel is it. You want to try to get more female role models in comics to share with women or girls in your life? Captain Marvel is it.


Daredevil

Mark Waid's run on Daredevil had me a little nervous before it started. I like DD quite a bit and I was curious to see, when I started hearing interviews, how exactly Waid planned to ignore Daredevil's recent trend towards the Shadowland arc. Well, not ignore, but...okay, ignore, but not in that way. How Murdock was going to play it like it never happened, just come right back and do what he does. Waid did a great job in his first year of the book to sell me on his new take. This year started to get into that Shadowland-twisted mind and the effects it's having on Matt's regular life. Good to see it all working.



Hawkeye
My vote for best new book of the year. The writing is fun and fresh. The enemies are equal parts threatening and not overly menacing (the issue with a Hawkeye book is remembering that he's not really high-powered, so you can't stick him up against regular Avengers villains with regularity because he probably wouldn't win). Still, I think Hawkeye is a reasonable fan favorite who hasn't been able to maintain that love through a full solo series. This one, written by Matt Fraction and beautifully illustrated by David Aja, has that potential. It's been great through six issues, here's hoping it can keep it up (I feel confident).



Journey into Mystery

I think all of Tumblr would agree with me when I say that Journey into Mystery was a fantastic book. I wasn't as into the love story as Tumblr was but I respect it. It still added layers to characters and a relationship hitherto unexamined in Marvel. I also appreciated, from the get-go, the new Thor-Loki dynamic. It was lovely without being corny or straying too far from what we know their past relationships to be. This is what Loki would be like if you stripped away all the hatred and replaced it with a child's love. He was fascinating to watch, especially with that foreboding feeling always in the back of your mind asking how long he had. Great characters and story, heartbreaking finish.

Secret Avengers
Okay, this is the problem with a 2012-review list in a year I didn't have a blog. I'm not ENTIRELY sure where Secret Avengers started the new year. I might be missing some plot-lines when thinking about my recap. This year, though, if memory serves, largely dealt with Remender's set-up in X-Force of the Father and his robot toys. It was a compelling story, especially when Ant-Man (Eric O'Grady) died and was replaced by a Descendent (THE BLACK ANT), thus infiltrating the team. You knew everything was going to break down but you weren't ever sure when. It was always worth reading and the team, in my mind, never had a real weak spot.


Ultimate X-Men

This one was a surprise to me too. Not like, the book's quality surprised me, more it surprised me when my brain was like "Right, let's put Ultimate X-Men on the list." It wasn't ever a bad book, I just didn't expect it to be on this list, nor did I expect my brain to not make any counter-arguments against putting it on this list. I never really considered myself too involved in the Ultimate Universe, preferring the regular 616 Universe. Still, I kept up with all the books and tried to remember as much of the chronology as I could because GUYS, I love comics. When I said I couldn't point to one aspect of the book that would counter its inclusion on this list, that kind of goes both ways. I also can't really point to one aspect that keeps me reading the book. It's compelling enough to keep me coming back every week and to look forward to reading it. I think they've got a lot of irons in the fire. I'm excited. That's really what it comes down to.

Uncanny X-Force
Obviously this is on my list. I don't know if you need me to talk more about it after this, this, and, most of all, this, but I certainly could. I won't for now. Just suffice it to say that I adored this book and I'm very upset it's over. I'm also going to really miss these covers. I never really talked about the art in all of these reviews because I tend to be so taken by the writing, but the art always impressed, no matter the artist. Just some wonderful renderings, not to mention the new X-Force costumes everyone got. GRANTED, not all of this was this year, but it's still a great series. I hope the two new X-Force books hold up even half as well.


Winter Soldier

After Cap, because I'm a sucker for Cap, Bucky Barnes has got to be at least far in the running for number two favorite in the Universe. I think he's developed so well from a character that was, after being reintroduced by Brubaker a few years ago, already exciting and thought-provoking. The Winter Soldier book really played to Brubaker's noir strengths, so you kind of already knew going in it was going to be something special. A good character, a good writer who really developed the character, the setting, the low-down avoidance of the rest of the Marvel Universe...it was all there, all prime for a good book. I also love the Bucky-Black Widow relationship, so another way to examine that is certainly welcomed. It's been gripping all the way through. Brubaker's leaving the book in early 2013 and handing the reins to Jason Letour. I hope it continues to flourish.





X-Factor

I love this book. Like Ultimate X-Men, I can't really point to what I love or to things I don't love. It ranks higher in my book than Ultimate X-Men, but it's that same feeling of "if someone asked me why I should read this book, I wouldn't have a real answer." Maybe that's not the right way to review something, but doesn't that still say something? If I did have to choose something to point to, it's the idea that this team really acts like a family. The X-Men have always prided themselves on that, but there's always been some amount of dilution, especially as the brands succeeded on their own. I don't think anyone on X-Factor is particularly loved (or needed) outside of their little corner in the Universe, yet together they all act like a family or bicker like a family or love one another like a family. It feels good. I'm excited for this book going forward, too, as the one character I really couldn't bring myself to care about (Rahne, sorry anyone who loves her, I really did try) is off the team, at least for a bit. Also, I really like Madrox.


TOMORROW: My most looked-forward to books as we enter 2013.

X-Force post-game: part three

CHARACTER DAYYYYYYY

Okay, so I'm a pretty big fan of good characters. I really would read a book that was just well-written and well-rounded characters sitting about and enjoying themselves. Okay, maybe I would do that. I don't know. I probably have done that. Whenever the Illuminati appears, it seems like they're doing that (or launching Hulk into space or whatever) but I like them well enough (NOT YOU, REED).

Look, the point is I prefer good characters to good story. This book had both in great amounts. LET'S TALK ABOUT THE CHARACTERS THOUGH.

Wolverine-
Wolverine, in many ways, had the most static arc of anyone in the book. I think this might come from the fact that he has, I would hazard to guess, appeared the most times in the Marvel Universe. He's not older than everyone (looking at you, Angel), but he's certainly been the most popular of the team for the longest time (I'd say Deadpool has recently challenged him to some extent in popularity, but he's not really reliable "favorite character" material, normally). He still goes through some big events, if not huge changes. Uncanny X-Force 9 features a stand-alone book where he aids Magneto (who has just discovered their existence) by hunting down and killing a former Nazi, highlighting his "used as a weapon" background. He goes through some big parental events with Daken and, I would say, is probably the one most taken out of the fights. That was always interesting to me, watching as Wolverine quickly gets thrown from the plot by fielding the biggest attacks. It says something about Remender's confidence in the team that he'd toss his biggest character to the sidelines when certain big stories came through. Otherwise, Wolverine played the hotheaded leader of the team and filled the role aptly. It's hard to say Wolverine is a weak character because, when written well (as I think he was in this series), even weaker appearances are stronger. That said, he felt a bit weaker than the typically very strong rest of the team. I did like the challenges he occasionally struggled with when realizing that the team felt very much like an excuse to let his animal side out. Nice to see heroes question their own motivations.

Archangel-

Archangel came in with the most exterior problems and left with the fewest about halfway through the book's run. He struggles with keeping Apocalypse's form down in his head, an eventually insurmountable task originally given to Psylocke. I would say that the strengths of Archangel's characters were usually depicted either through his few memories or through other characters talking to or dealing with him. There are some endearing moments when we see his history with the first class X-Men and when he meets Betsy for the first time. Most everything else was hidden from us and he was largely the quietest member of a team consisting of Deadpool and Fantomex. When he appeared, it usually wasn't bad (well, in terms of his character. Sometimes he was really bad, like destroy Montana bad, but you get what I'm saying), but he wasn't a particular favorite. He also had less time to develop in the series and has a well-defined history already in the Marvel Universe.

Psylocke-
I hadn't seen too too much of Psylocke prior to this series. I was familiar with her abilities and a tiny bit of her history (especially as it pertained to Captain Britain), but it was largely through X-Men and as a minor part at that. It was certainly nice to see her here. She was one of the more complicated characters contained to the book (I'd put it between her and Fantomex. Deadpool ranks really high there too, but largely owing to his existence outside of this book but WE'LL GET TO THAT) and we saw her, at various times, love Angel, hate Archangel, hate Fantomex, love Fantomex, depowered, repowered, power-boosted, as a future dictator, without sorrow, with family, against family, and many other with/against emotions. She was the one most ready to point out Wolverine's brutality obsession leaking through in the team and the one often least happy with the missions or the outcomes or the costs. It makes her more interesting, then, that she appears to be leading the new X-Force book by Sam Humphries on its way. Her stories in Otherworld and with her brother Brian always seemed to be the most interesting to me. There were many parts of her story in X-Force that I loved and I think she would have been a strong contender for favorite character in the series if not for the next two.

Fantomex-
Fantomex was the least known commodity in this book. I had gone back to find his appearances in New X-Men and I had seen him originally in his Dark Reign appearance. I remembered liking him there, though being completely unfamiliar with him. He has since pretty easily transformed into one of my favorite characters in the whole of the Universe. A very complicated character by his very existence, Fantomex had three brains, including one of a Sentinel programmed to hunt mutants. He battled against it through the entirety of the series and was largely flippant and witty with the team. I liked him already, but the watershed moment was in X-Force 19, pictured to the left. On the exterior, I absolutely loved him throwing the beer can at Wolverine. Just an amazing moment. But it was the explanation of cloning Apocalypse, the "I needed to know if there was hope for me," that sold me one hundred percent. Everyone loves a redemption story and it was nice to see one had been developing behind our very backs. He was always well-written, always strong, always acted the way you understood he'd act, and throw beer cans at Wolverine's head every 19 issues or so. If he's not a favorite of yours, you're not doing comics right (sorry).

Deadpool-
Despite my adoration of Fantomex, Deadpool was the happiest surprise for me. A relatively new character being good is exciting, sure. But an already established and major player in the Marvel Universe (at least in terms of units sold) acting within character but so far outside of it at the same time? Brilliant. My favorite moments with Deadpool have always been the surprise serious moments, like when he admits to Cable that he's not just picking up anti-Registration heroes for their bounties (as he'd let on), he believes in what he's doing. This series had its share of Deadpool being off-the-hook crazy, for sure, but he had more character-defining moments like that than I've ever seen. Not to say they got old because they never did. They were always refreshing, they were always heart-wrenching, and they were always as much a part of him as any crazy thing he spoke. I'm not sure how Remender was able to keep so true to Deadpool's character while also defining him so emotionally, but I hope if I ever have an opportunity to write a character with those insane tendencies, I'll be able to treat him half as well as Remender treated Deadpool. His scene I mentioned in this post, walking out of a meeting he called to talk about their actions, was the first and earliest sign that this book was for real. Like, more for real than killing a kid for shock value. Deadpool, one of the most deranged and deadly characters in the Marvel U, was suddenly the conscience of the team. It defined him, it defined the team, it defined the series. Throughout the series, he grappled with low self-esteem, working on a team, tough moral choices, morals at all, plenty of things I hadn't seen Deadpool deal with before, but Remender handled them all beautifully. I think Daniel Way was a really good writer for Deadpool's solo series in the way Remender was for his team series. I'm excited to see Way handle him with the Thunderbolts. So far, I'm very unimpressed by Deadpool's new solo series, so we'll see where that goes. The point is that I think Deadpool is a hard character to write well. I credit Way with a good run at a hard time for the character, but I think Remender's run added more layers in 35 issues than most writers add in twice that, especially on a team book (I don't know any layers that were added on to anyone in either of Bendis' Avengers titles that just ended).

Nightcrawler-

I think I said all I really needed to say about AoA Nightcrawler in this post, so I won't say much here (especially after Deadpool's really long entry. GUYS, I have more to say so LET ME KNOW WHO WANTS TO HEAR IT). I loved the idea behind him and I'm sad we couldn't see more of him. His inevitable eventual betrayal of the team for his own needs (he always said as much) was still fairly shocking, though not completely unexpected (as I said, it was inevitable). Still, it was a very different Nightcrawler than the one in the main universe while still keeping some of the heroic tendencies of ours. A nice look.

Deathlok-

He was kind of on the team for a little bit? We didn't see much of him, but when we did (and when he wasn't reverted back to his psychopathic serial killer host), he was always hilarious. Deadpool's love for him was great. Magneto holding him in the air after breaking in with him explaining to the team "I attempted to eject him but I am at a...disadvantage" was pretty great. He's good dude, Deathlok.

EVA-
Was fine. Never got a huge grip on her. She was Fantomex's nervous system. Some stuff happened. She became a full body. She didn't have a huge role after that. I had no beef.

Ultimaton-
Just...whatever. He hung around in the World, guarding Fantomex's lab. It was...cool? Sure. It was cool.

LOOK, it was a great book, you should read it, I might do another post or two about it because I still have a few days until new comics come out and MAYBE I shouldn't have started this blog on a week where only two new comics were released but I had stuff to say about ASM 700 and they certainly weren't to wait around in my brain for a week and my plan overall is to update this near everyday so I MIGHT AS WELL START NOW. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

X-Force post-game: part two

When we left off (and we only left off because I figured if I kept going, I'd never stop. I still might not), Fantomex had cloned Apocalypse in the world, without the rest of the team knowing. He quickly gets embroiled in a caper (death-caper) with Deathlok units from the future intent on capturing the World and ushering in a new age of evolved robotics. Fantomex barely escapes after a totally rad fight with a bunch of Deathlok versions of heroes from Marvel's present timeline. The original/normal Deathlok shows up (he can feel love, unlike his fellow units) to aid Fantomex and attempt to protect the World. After an unnerving sighting of the X-Force team as Deathlok units, Fantomex is finally aided by the real team who, Deadpool informs him, were very close to not coming for him. This story ends up leading very much into Remender's run on Secret Avengers (winding down as I write this) and asks more questions about whether X-Force (and heroes and general) are going too far in our world.

Little bloodier than our Nightcrawler

Okay, I don't really want to get into every arc for review here (OKAY, I totally do, but I don't want it to be so long and make it feel like anyone who is curious about the series can't go in and read it). I'll speed ahead. Archangel goes bad, like they knew he would, they visit the Age of Apocalypse timeline (one timeline around the same point of its history as Marvel but where Charles Xavier was killed before forming the X-Men, leaving Magneto to do so, and Apocalypse has all but wiped out humanity) and come away with a new teammate in AoA Nightcrawler. This Nightcrawler is almost absurdly interesting, though I think a flaw of having so many irons in the fire in this book and only a few places to then..deposit...that iron...look, this metaphor kind of fell apart somewhere but WHATEVER, a flaw of the series is not being able to really get too much into AoA Nightcrawler. We still see a lot of him, certainly enough to ascertain a bit of his character, and it might just be my adoration of Nightcrawler peeking in here, but there's a great tense atmosphere developed that I think had to be rushed a little to fit everything. In our team's universe, Nightcrawler was a paragon of virtue and, despite that, Wolverine's best friend. In the AoA universe, Wolverine became the next incarnation of Apocalypse and ruined everyone's lives. Deadpool, too, was a traitor to mutants and Nightcrawler had killed him (less a paragon of virtue in that world). ANYWAY, they get into it here and there, but I think I loved the idea so much that anything short of 20 issues dedicated just to that would have been a disappointment to me.

Back to our story, there are some deaths, there is some killing, there is some Otherworld, there is some future travel, there are some secrets revealed (Apocalypse cloning, X-Force is a thing that exists, Apocalypse-child-now-named-Evan is going to be sent to Wolverine's school) and some people leave the team. I didn't rush through this because it's not worthy of talking about because I think I've proven to you by now that I REALLY do believe it's worth talking about; I rushed through it because I don't want to let myself blabber on too long about it. Let me know if you'd like to exchange tweets or emails or tumblrs or blog posts or long and heartfelt discussions about it.

ANYWAY, the final storyline involves Wolverine's son Daken rounding up some of the team's big villains and kidnapping Apocalypse in an attempt to undo the work Fantomex did trying to make sure he was raised right (he had loving, computer-generated parents in the World). When the team tracks them down, they have a decision to make that shares some similarities with the very first storyline. Is Evan too far gone down the path of Apocalypse? Will they have to kill him again?

I'll let you find out the answer on your own. It's too great a book to straight-up ruin it, especially where it's not even two weeks gone.

TOMORROW: The talk I've WANTED to have the last two days about character development in Uncanny X-Force. I kept trying to, then needing to talk about story. That's how you know this book is great, I'm too conflicted between great characters and great story to limit my gushing.

Uncanny X-Force post-game: part one

For some reason or another, there were only two new Marvel comics released this week. I've reviewed both of them already (Amazing Spider-Man 700 here and Avenging Spider-Man 15.1 here) so, according to the rules I'm making up, I get to review other stuff that I want to talk about. Most of the time, that's Rick Remender's run on Uncanny X-Force or, as I call it, the best Marvel book for the last two years. That's not said to slight the other books at Marvel; I've liked quite a few on their own merits and it was Ed Brubaker's last year as a regular Marvel writer so I'd normally have probably picked one of his books (which are all good, Winter Soldier exceptionally so) as my favorite or as the best book of the last couple years. Instead, my choice is X-Force. That's how much I loved this book and that's why I'm going to have to spend a few days talking about it with you, the internet.

The starting team originally consisted of the winged Archangel, ninja telepath Psylocke, short and stabby Wolverine, oft-mismanaged schizophrenic Deadpool, and the mysterious little-known Fantomex. It's a team you wouldn't think to put together yet still has a fairly deep history, especially the first three listed (the last two listed particularly have a history with Wolverine). It's also a team set to do what's "necessary" for the continued existence of the mutant race. That definition of "necessary" becomes a quiet running theme throughout the book until it begins to come to a head maybe three quarters of the way through or so. Still, the team looks less like the similarly purposed Secret Avengers (who look a little cobbled together and have fewer heroes willing to, perhaps, do what's "necessary," though they might have different definitions of what that exactly means) and more like a horribly dysfunctional family. It's a great feel, not just because that's how you want a team to feel, but because that's such a staple of the X-Men. The Avengers may become like a family, but they're really just there to team up when they need to and to hang out at Tony Stark's house. The X-Men are, and always have been, bonded by genes. Even the wild cards Deadpool and Fantomex feel more at home here than anywhere else they might have been put.

The book asks a lot of philosophical questions, some of which are certainly staples of the sort of science fiction with which comic fans are bound to be familiar. The biggest question is the nature vs. nurture debate, highlighted right from the start when the team goes to assassinate the newest incarnation of Apocalypse, the mutant who eventually rains destruction down on homo sapiens in every timeline he shows up in. Archangel and Psylocke have the most personal axe to grind (just how you like your ground axes: personal), as Archangel has been tabbed as a successor to Apocalypse, making his life, and the life of his lover and psychic trainer Psylocke, far more complicated. When they finally track down the new Apocalypse, they're bewildered to find that he's just a child. A child who is already being brainwashed, for sure, but still a child. They debate whether they can kill a child for what he might (or will, if the brainwashing is already complete) become or if they can kill a child at all. As they finally decide to take Apocalypse in and try to nurture him as best they can, Fantomex shoots the child square in the head.

Seen above: character building

I know, I'm describing too much for a review of the entire series since I haven't even begun reviewing it yet, but this is all IMPORTANT. Look, if you've already read the series, just skim through it. Or don't. Maybe you'll like what I'm saying? I'm not sure, I haven't really written it yet.

I'm not usually for killing children. In fact, I'm pretty squarely against killing children. I'm very interested in the nature-nurture debate BUT that isn't really justification for killing children. If you take one thing away from this review, make sure it's this: Tim Nicastro doesn't approve of killing children.

THAT SAID, in this instance, it is the most incredible story-telling technique. On top of the extremely fast character building for the shady Fantomex, it raises questions about what the team is doing, about the breaking points of these would-be killers, about how morale works on a team of assassins, about each character in turn, and about what we can expect from this series (Fantomex shot Apocalypse in issue four). Psylocke, the one most in favor of not killing Apocalypse, is increasingly unable to cope with the murder. Archangel is pointedly quiet, Wolverine is more aggressive than normal (though he claims to understand and be grateful for what Fantomex did), and Deadpool, and this is the best one, becomes the moral center of the team, trying to get everyone to talk about it to try to move forward. Deadpool, presumed to be probably the least moral coming in, walks away from this series with a complex but very real sort of moral center. When Deadpool storms out of the meeting he tried to call saying "but I never killed a kid," Wolverine tells Archangel, the team's bankroller, to cut him loose. Archangel tells him that Deadpool has never cashed a single one of his checks, despite working for him for the last year.

Fantomex, absent during this meeting, is reacting somewhat differently. He's gone into "the World," an artificially created world with a self-contained and accelerated time-stream which stores the Weapon Plus program that Fantomex has shrunk down (thanks to a convenient shrinking gun he's stolen in the past) and keeps nearby. Inside a lab only he can access, he has cloned Apocalypse from blood he took off the body of the child, unbeknownst to the rest of the team.

WILL THIS CAUSE SOME TROUBLES? MOST PROBABLY. CHECK BACK LATER FOR MORE.

Avenging Spider-Man 15.1

I'm a sucker for Christopher Yost because he wrote all (I think) the episodes of Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes and I will never be over the fact it's cancelled. Just a great show with a good sense of its characters (guys, I care about characters, okay?) and compelling plots taken from the comics. I remember constantly seeing a set-up for future episodes, like the "Madame Hydra was a skrull" reveal and the introduction of Winter Soldier, and saying "How ambitious!" (That's how I talk, normally, when addressing my television.)

So I like Christopher Yost. I also like Scarlet Spider. Let's get back to that, though. Like, another day, not in this post. Let's get back to Yost in this post (nailed it). I'm still kind of on the fence about the .1 issues. I like the idea behind them, often, but I'm not sure I've seen too many really stick to that idea without having to really babysit the reader, coddling them from point A to point B. Some just seem like previews of the next arc, which seems off-base to me. Not to say there haven't been good ones, they just tend to feel a little tacked on to me. Avenging Spider-Man 15.1 was a bit different.

It definitely had a somewhat easier time to it, I'll admit. There are massive changes in the Spider-Man universe going on this very moment. A book to quickly explain what exactly is happening seems well-worth it. This one is. It's a nice introduction to the Doc-Ock-as-Spider-Man conundrum we're all still trying to wrap our heads around. I like Yost's choice to make the plot revolve not around a battle or around other characters (which I find SO IMPORTANT to Spider-Man) but around Otto belittling (or struggling with appreciation for) Peter Parker. To have thrown in his strained relationship with anyone else in Peter's universe would have made the issue feel a little claustrophobic and would have told us what we already knew (Otto's not good with people) instead of what we need to know (how Otto is going to make this work).

Paco Medina's art certainly works well with the issue. There's nothing too over-the-top because the story's the focus here (as with any .1). There's still good and attractive art, highlighted by a nice mini-fight and some good background set pieces that tend to loom over Doc's Spidey. The issue ends with the new costume for the Superior Spider-Man, featuring smaller and more goggle-looking eyes, a sharper spider and a claw on each foot. The claw on each foot is a little weird and the goggle-eyes are perhaps more functional but something to adjust to. Still a nice issue, worth picking up, especially if...

Okay, I was going to say "especially if you're a Spidey fan" because that seemed to make sense, but maybe not? It's useful as a Spider-Man fan, sure, but it's probably more useful as someone not as into Spidey's solo books or even Avenging Spider-Man as a whole. That's why this is a successful .1. If you skipped over Amazing Spider-Man 700 (you shouldn't have) but still read Marvel comics (why are you here if you don't?), this one's worth picking up. It'll give you a look at the new Spider-Man with a short history of both Otto and Peter without delving too deeply into any of it. You know Superior Spider-Man's going to be all over the Marvel Universe, so this is as good a chance as you'll get to discover him.

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.