Superior Spider-Man 24
Slott and Gage (w) and Ramos and Olazaba (a) and Delgado, Fabela, and Gandini (c)
The Venom symbiote has jumped on to Spider-Man and Flash tries to call it back, hoping he can coax it back to familiar territory before Spider-Man loses control. Doc Ock, though, assures everyone he can control it and attacks anyone who thinks otherwise, namely Cardiac. He points out that, if he couldn't control the symbiote, Cardiac would be dead instead of just seriously wounded. Sound logic. He decides to show the world his control of the symbiote by tracking down some crimes and brutally and efficiently stopping them. In the midst of doing this, Anna Maria calls him and he hurries to her, where she's upset that she's damaged his relationship with Aunt May. He vows to take care of it and storms to May and Jay's, where he immediately begins yelling at her for bombarding Anna Maria with questions. She relents but things get crazier as MJ, trying to obey Carlie's wishes on her voicemail, goes to warn May and Jay to stay away from Peter and also gets screamed at by Peter, who reveals the Venom symbiote and leaves. MJ contacts the Avengers as Carlier, deep underground with the Goblins, gets sprayed with the goblin serum.
There's almost too much happening here. There's not and it actually works pretty well as a coherent storyline and as a good example of Doc teaming with Venom but, for someone trying to summarize, there's almost too much happening here. Still, the majority of this issue is dedicated to showing Doc Ock with the Venom symbiote and the effects it's had on him. Though he swears he can control it and loves the additional power it grants him, it's clear that he's extremely unbalanced with the symbiote. Well, more so than usual. He's at everyone's throat and his rage is bubbling at the slightest provocation. Calling the Avengers in on him is certainly going to shake things up as they'll be tasked with taking down Spider-Man, already a worthy foe, powered up by the symbiote, a worthy foe in its own right. Interesting storyline and one that lets us see a slightly different side of Doc Ock, or perhaps an amplified side of him. I'd like to, before I wrap this review up, thank my incredibly aggressive autocorrect for not trying even once to correct the word "symbiote," even though its repeated use is clearly driving autocorrect nuts.
Scarlet Spider 25
Yost (w) and Baldeon (a) and Sotomayor (c)
The final issue of SCARLET SPIDER fluctuates between showing us the immediate aftermath of the explosion in Kaine's hotel and his new life in Mexico with Aracely. He was forced to flee Houston after saving the lives of everyone in the hotel room and below by webbing them all up and webbing up the falling debris on its way to Earth. When he hit the ground, he was attacked by Shathra, the Spider-Wasp that has had run-ins in the past with Peter but who was posing most recently as Annabelle to get close to Kaine. She's seemingly unstoppable and ready to kill anyone in between her and Kaine, namely Wally who tries to step up and protect him. Kaine refuses to let it happen and unleashes Prey, who dispatches Shathra quickly and extremely brutally. Everyone is horrified and Wally tells Kaine he has to leave, promising to take care of the police in Houston but that he cannot stay. So began Kaine and Aracely's journey into Mexico on the hunt for her parents. Kaine is back to where he started, albeit with the addition of Aracely and a world of now painful memories. He doesn't consider himself a hero and he doesn't believe he can get a happy ending. Fortunately, it's not entirely an ending for him as he'll pop up again in Chris Yost's NEW WARRIORS.
Fitting end to a really surprising series. Yost has really nailed down Kaine's character through the course of this book and has been sure to never stray too far from it. He had given Kaine friends and relationships and grudging amounts of friendship but he'd never allowed the darkness in Kaine to leave him or for him to feel fully comfortable in his new life. There was always the chance that Kaine would pick up and leave Houston at any given second but there was also always the chance that he'd stay forever, making his eventual forced exit all the more painful. Even still, in a somewhat depressing final note for the series, there are fun moments here and there, including a moment where Kaine, in Houston, yells that he's not a superhero before watching his Scarlet Spider costume, still impervious to the flames that are hanging around it, float down to him. There's a lot to really like about this series as a character study for Kaine and the book ends in exactly the sort of fashion it should. You like your superhero books to typically end on an up-note, telling us that the hero has done may worthwhile things and has learned from them and made a better world for everyone else, but this book would have felt a little wrong if it ended that way. The truth is Kaine ended up being pretty right. Maybe he's not a hero. Maybe he can't have a normal life. Maybe the evil clone of Spider-Man was never meant to do more. Good series, solid ending.
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up 8
Yost (w) and Sliney (a) and Fabela (c)
Fresh off the disappointment of losing control of his reformed Sinister Six and the fact that his arrogance nearly caused the death of millions, Spider-Man is in a bit of a more somber mood than we've found him since the death of Peter Parker. After examining himself and being thrust into self-doubt (wondering how Doc thought he could have done any better than Peter, who constantly beat him, among so many others), he's decided he's going to go to the Avengers and hand himself in, explain everything, and hope that they can reverse it still somehow (which would be the absolute cleanest way to get Peter back). On his way to Avengers Tower, he comes across Namor, hunted by invisible-to-the-naked-eye Hatut Zeraze in the war between Atlantis and Wakanda. Despite his negative feelings for Namor, Spider-Man jumps into the fight (able to see the Hatut Zaraze with his lenses) and gets the injured and protesting Namor out of harm's way. They bicker for a bit but eventually sit for a spell under the Brooklyn Bridge where Spider-Man reveals his doubts to Namor and Namor laughs at them, reminding Spider-Man that they are always more important and more powerful than the sheep they protect. The Hatut Zeraze show up there and Spider-Man again dispatches them but quickly learns that these aren't actually Hatut Zeraze, or at least not authorized by T'Challa or Shuri; these ones have been sent by some coward wishing to use the war as a way to attack Namor. These fighters are actually robots with self-destruct options inside, options that will destroy the bridge if they go off. Namor doesn't really care, saying that the perpetrators will face justice at some point, but Spider-Man wills himself to stop the bomb, reminding himself of the promise he made a dying Peter. Namor shares a moment with Spider-Man, telling him that he's shown true bravery and that his display here was superiority. Spider-Man punches him and tells him not to come back to his city, emboldened by his recent victory and even by Namor's words.
Okay, of the three books here, this shouldn't have been the longest summary. I do tend to slip into longer summaries when I'm excited about a book or when I get really interested in a book. This was just such a case as I found just about every beat of this issue to be delightful and a really well-thought out look into Ock's mind. Take Doctor Octopus, a crazy megalomaniac who believes himself to be the smartest person in any room. Now give him morals somewhat based on Peter Parker's unflinchingly good guy mentality. Now make that ego solely responsible for nearly destroying New York City. It wracks Ock with guilt and doubt and it's absolutely a perfect and logical step. However, it also means that Yost may have dug himself a hole because how do you make anyone break out of that? Who out there can both be considered a hero and can support the way the Superior Spider-Man parades himself? Who can have that same sort of ego and talk him out of his perceived inferiority? Well, Namor, of course. It's a great issue with a great premise and near perfect dialogue throughout. It's a much deeper look into this character than we're thus used to and, maybe, than we've had so far. Even the ending, which could very well have just copped out and had Spider-Man swinging away while Namor flies away as grudging allies, is pitch perfect as Spider-Man retakes his pride and punches Namor before demanding that he leave the city. Great issue, solid art and writing and character.
