(Kind of...)The Best of the Rest! June 5th edition.

Hey hey, X popping in with a quick post.  A REALLY quick post!  So yeah, as I said in the last post, I've been staying away from the blog and just reading comics for fun again.  Crazy, no?  It's nice to have a little summer vacation again, I definitely need the time to recharge the old batteries.  Anyway, enough bellyaching from me, hows about I talk comics now?

-Age of Ultron #9 was horrible, as expected.  Two fucking Wolverines...  No thank you, one is enough!  The Wolvies and Sue told Pym about Ultron, and wanted him to put some sort of program in Ultron to prevent him from destroying the world or something equally dumb.  So yeah, sucktacular.  I'm still holding out hope that the aftermath will make this whole ugly experience worthwhile...  5 out of 10.

-X-Factor #257 was okay, I guess.  It was all about Layla Miller trying to wrangle Demon Madrox.  Spoiler: she does.  But he's still a demon.  Supposedly this series is ending soon, which sucks.  I'm sure PAD will bring the big guns as we get closer to the finale.  5 1/2 out of 10.

-All New X-Men #12.  What the hell, Bendis?  Seriously, what the hell?!  This series just keeps spiraling down the Bendis spiral of crap.  We get a lot of talking, Jean acting like a bitch, more talking, and Jean acting like a bitch some more.  You'd thing the first meeting between the O5 X-Men and the Avengers would be better, but nope.  Jean is still randomly reading minds, in this case Wanda's, which leads to her throwing a tantrum and then crying...  So basically Bendis has made me hate Jean, who was my favorite female X-Men.  Kudos, Bendis!  4 out of 10.

-Thanos Rising #3 finally gave me a good comic to read.  It showed us Thanos after he left Titan and gathered his pirates.  It also explained Nebula's creation, which was something I wondered about from as far back as the Infinity Gauntlet story.  So again, really good stuff here.  8 out of 10.

-Superior Spider-Man #11.  I know people like to dump on this series, but I'm still enjoying it.  A lot.  Spidey is tasked with making sure that Alistair Smythe is executed, and does his best to outsmart Smythe, but can't account for The Revenge of the Villains Spidey Brutalized!!  I'm definitely looking forward to the angry villains getting their hands(or wings) on Spidey next issue.  8 out of 10.

-I didn't read Ultimates #25 or Iron Man #11 or Stormwatch #21 yet, so I've got nothing to say about them.

-I have been reading a ton of back issues, and most of them are SO MUCH better than the new stuff!  I've been enjoying some Iron Man action from the mid-1980's, back when Tony was a drunk living in the gutter and Rhodey was taking care of business, Iron Man style.  I also finished off Christos Gage's Absolution series from 2009, and it was GREAT.  It was Brubaker good!  See, it's great comics like that which remind me why I love comics so much.  Anyway, I have some Maximum Carnage comics calling my name.  Until Next time, X out.

Superior Spider-Man #10

Hey blog readers and true believers, JT here with my first review of the week, and keeping up the trend, It's Superior Spider-Man! In the last issue we saw a battle of the minds, literally, between Peter Parker, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Otto Octavius, The Superior Spider-Man. Now that we have a clear winner for the battle of Peter's body, let's see how things go from here.

Superior Spider-Man #10

Summary: This issue starts off with Doc Parker waking up and ready to start his day with no further interruptions from Peter's consciousness, now that he's purged his memories. He then goes onto stop a gang war between The Owl and White Dragon and their respective thugs. It turns out Owl and White Dragon are two of the six bosses of the main gangs of New York, and while taking down the bosses, some of the thugs escape and are led to safety by thugs wearing a Green Goblin insignia. Interesting. From there we see Doc Parker heading to class when he runs into Mary Jane, but since he doesn't know how Peter would act, considering he no longer has his memories, he avoids her and says he's busy, which makes MJ even more suspicious. While this is going on, Carlie Cooper and Capt. Watanabe, who has returned from leave, questions the officers on duty about Spider-Man shooting Massacre, but they all cover for him and say they weren't looking, but Carlie reveals to the Captain that she did the autopsy and Massacre was killed from point blank range, not a stray shot like the officers claimed, so Carlie will have to find another way to prove her theory about Spider-Man. We eventually see The Green Goblin (!) rewire the tech in a Spider-Bot which makes it not pick up on him and his thugs as a threat, and uses this to send some of his goons to MJ's nightclub to burn it to the ground. While this happens, MJ is trying to remain calm, certain that Spider-Man will be there to save her and her employees, but Spidey is across town, having just stopped my main man, The Tombstone, and his gang, saying that the fire across town seemed beneath him so he dispatched it to the fire department, who manage to save MJ and her employees. The issue comes to a close as Superior Spider-Man reflects to himself that everything is under control and everything else is beneath him, unknowing to him, we see The Green Goblin surrounded by an army of thugs as he proclaims himself "The Goblin King!"

Thoughts: I am SO happy the Green Goblin is back. He popped up a few issues back but seeing him here and outwitting Superior Spider-Man was great. I'm excited for a few meeting with Superior Spider-Man and Goblin is right up there with Venom and Scarlet Spider-Man, both of which are coming up in the year. I really enjoyed him basically building an army while Spider-Man preoccupies himself with other people, and Goblin is really keeping a step ahead of him. I also like that the women in Spider-Man's life were featured here, with Carlie and Watanabe investigating him, MJ starting to realize something was wrong, Aunt May being proud of him about to become a doctor, and his date with Anna which ended in a kiss before he was called back to action. Add in a brief appearance by Tombstone, and I'm a happy camper. While I enjoyed this issue, the thing with the dude named Pedro who looked like Peter seemed a bit blah for me, as did Mary Jane's wait-and-see approach. I know Spidey always saves her but she could at least TRY to get out instead of waiting around for him. That annoyed me, especially when it wasn't just her life on the line but her employees as well. But besides those things, I enjoyed this issue and I'm excited to see what both Doc and Gobby have up their sleeves. 

Score: 8/10

Superior Spider-Man #9

Happy Iron Man release day! JT here with my first review of the week and it's a big one, Superior Spider-Man #9! With Doc Ock aware that Peter's still in his head somewhere, he sets out to remove the lingering remnants of Peter Parker.

Superior Spider-Man #9

Summary: This issue starts off with Ock getting ready to erase the remaining brain waves of Peter Parker, but first tells his pet robot to erase Peter's remaining memories from the Gold Ockbot that we all remember from ASM #700. He tries to erase Peter's memories remotely but Peter fights back, so Doc decides to go into his mind, where we see Peter and Otto face off. Peter uses his memories of MJ, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, Gwen Stacy, Captain Stacy, Jameson and his other friends and family to fight Otto, but Otto uses what he knows of Peter's villains and insecurities to combat them. He even has a burglar shoot Uncle Ben, which causes Peter to forget his name, and others as those memories are killed. An enrages Peter rips his face away to reveal Spider-Man, and takes Doc down. He cites that a hero would have given Peter his life back, the hero Doc promised he'd be, but his first reaction was to get rid of Peter when he found his consciousness, as well as killing enemies. Otto, down but not out, rips his face away as we see the Superior Spider-Man, and the two Spidey's fight one another. Dock says Peter's no saint, as Doc's been cleaning up his messes. He notes that if Peter had killed Massacre, he wouldn't have hurt the people he did when he got out of prison, if he'd done away with Vulture, he wouldn't have used kids to do his bidding. Lastly, he mentions that Peter's interference almost stopped him from saving a small girl during that surgery and asks Peter why he did it. Peter said he was afraid Doc would mess up, but he tells him he can see his thoughts and to stop lying. Peter says he knew Doc would find him and dispose of him if he got the helmet and he couldn't have that. Doc says Peter is no hero and no one to lecture him, and he defeats Peter, then his world comes crashing down around him as Peter forgets everything, even his name, the suddenly it's just blackness. The issue ends with Doc Ock once again in Peter's body, saying that he's free.

Thoughts: I REALLY enjoyed this issue. I know some people didn't but I loved seeing Peter lose, because for one, it's far from over, and for two, we get what we expected from issue one, Doc Ock is Spider-Man now, simple as that. I'm interested in seeing what happens when he runs into Green Goblin now. Most importantly, this causes two questions, one, with Peter's memories gone, is this Doc's downfall? Does he remember anything of Peter's now that he didn't already know? Because if so, this could lead to him messing up in the near future. Secondly, how does Peter come back? His thoughts aren't in his body any more, and the Ock-Bot was supposedly erased, so how will he come back? Slott obviously has a plan up his sleeve, and unless he's in the robot now, I have no idea what it could be. All in all, I enjoyed this issue and I look forward to seeing what Doc Parker will do now that he has 100% control of his actions.

Score: 9/10

Superior Spider-Man #8

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with my first review of the comic week, the always entertaining Spectacular Spider-Man. This is going to be a pretty brief review due to the fact Injustice and comic books have consumed my life even more. So, let's get to it!

Superior Spider-Man #8

Summary: In this issue we see the Avengers take Spidey down long enough to do some tests on him, and much to Peter's dismay, they clear Superior Spider-Man, saying he's not a Skrull. Apparently that's all they searched for, but Doc notices something off with his brain patterns and asks for the scans. Black Widow pulls Spidey aside and says she knows he's probably feeling bad about Silver Sable's death and that's pushed him over the edge, so they bond a bit about how your first kill changes you. She offers Spidey an ear if he needs to talk, and Peter takes advantage of Ock's distraction to write a crude drawing of an Octopus pointing at Spidey, but Widow dismisses it as random scribbles. We also see that Carlie Cooper has brought someone else into the fold to investigate if Spidey is who he claims, but we don't see who it is just yet. From there, Doc Parker decides to head after Cardiac to get his device back, but finds out Cardiac needs it to help cure a girl that was hurt during Ends of the Earth. Ock feels terrible about this and offers to help the girl, doing the surgery himself since only he can understand Dr. Octopus' designs. Doc manages to help cure the girl, causing her to give him her favorite toy, which warms Doc's heart. Back at his lab, he uses the helmet on himself and while being taunted by Peter he let's him know (referring to it as Peter's memories taking a life of their own) that he's aware he's there now, and he plans on removing them once and for all.

Thoughts: I was conflicted about this issue. I enjoyed it, especially the end since it seems like Doc may be around longer than some of us expected after Peter's return in issue one. I also enjoyed the scene with the little girl giving Ock her toy, it was very sweet and helped show that he's not a total heel. Hell, I enjoyed most of this issue but the thing that annoyed me was how stupid the Avengers came off here. Spidey's acting weird so all you do is see if he's a Skrull? You don't bring in Strange or a Telepath or anything to even see if he's a clone or something? They explained it by saying Pym and Stark weren't there, so the rest of the team didn't notice Doc's brain anomaly but it still seemed odd to me. I mean, if you're willing to fight him to make sure he's who he says, giving him the Skrull test only didn't seem like enough.

Score: 7.5/10

Doc Parker: Ready my equipment. I'm going to perform a Parker-Ectomy.

Superior Spider-Man #7

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with my first review of the week, Superior Spider-Man! The Avengers are setting out to kick Spider-Man out of the group, so let's see how the Superior Spider-Man reacts to Earth's Mightiest Heroes firing him.

Superior Spider-Man #7

Summary: We kick things off with Dr. Elias Wirtham, a.k.a. Cardiac, as he's using his power suit to do good by helping patients that can't afford it with his team of Doctors. When he finds out one of his patients, a young girl with brain damage needs a device that will save her, he heads out to steal it. With Peter, we see he's able to control his hand slightly while Ock is asleep, and tries to write a note but Doc's awaken by his patrol app before Peter can do anything. The Superior Spider-Man heads after Cardiac to stop him, unaware that he's a modern day Robin Hood, and plans on ending him once he sees that Cardiac is trying to steal a device Doc Ock created. An enraged Ock is ready to attack but is stopped by Peter who manages to take control for a sec, but this alerts Doc that something is amiss and Cardiac uses his distraction to escape with the Neruolitic scanner he came for. Doc Parker heads to Horizon and is working on something, presumably to fight Peter's influence, but he's interrupted by his Avengers I.D. card with a priority alert. He head to meet with the Avengers, thinking they need him as a savior but walks into an intervention. Cap and the team tell Spidey he's acting weird, and their giving him mental and physical tests to prove who he is. Superior Spidey doesn't like to suffer fools though, so he tells them he's leaving, but Cap says he wasn't asking. Spidey takes Cap down and the Avengers get battle ready, telling Spidey he's not leaving. The issue comes to a close as the Superior Spider-Man gets ready to take on Earth's Mightiest Heroes as Peter's consciousness cheers on.

Thoughts: Man this issue flew by! This was actually my introduction to Cardiac but I enjoyed him here, hopefully he shows up more in the future.I also liked that Peter was getting control of his body back, but the fact Ock is aware of that may not bode well for him. I don't know how Ock is going to get out of this fight with the Avengers without everyone knowing Spidey's not Spidey, but I am interested in the fight. Let's not forget that Ock was able to form a plan to take out the Avengers during Ends of the Earth, and he used Peter's inventions... so now that he IS Spider-Man, he may have a contingency plan to take on the Avengers. I am eager to see what happens afterwards though, because the odds are not in Peter's favor now that Doc Ock knows he's still kicking around in there. Anyway, for this issue, although it flew by, I enjoyed it. I'm really excited to see how Spidey fares against Cap and company in the next issue though.

Score: 7.5/10

Thor: Whoever thou art, stand down! Or face the wrath of the Mighty Avengers!

Superior Spider-Man #6.1 (Age of Ultron Tie-In)

Hey X-Maniacs, JT here with my first review of the week, Superior Spider-Man! This issue was written by my boy Christos Gage, so I'm expecting great things for this Age of Ultron related Spidey issue, so let's get to it.

Superior Spider-Man #6.1

Summary: (Hey all, X here to chip in on the review!  Wherever you see red?  That's me.  Hit it, JT!)We start this issue by finding out that Doc Ock is still Peter Parker, and has just been putting on a good act(too good an act if ya ask me...), which actually works for continuity. Ock is looking at the destruction, something he'd dreamed of causing in the past, but now he's mourning Mary Jane and May, since he wasn't there to save them. He blames Peter, saying he was so tired from cleaning up his mess of a life that he slept through it when people needed him most(I loved Doc's self-righteousness here, and the way he blamed Peter). Doc's anger is put on pause, as he's approached by Tony Stark(Ock battled Tony in an issue of Iron Man during Matt Fraction's run.  It was really good!) with a Hail Mary plan to dispatch of Ultron, using a device that can move an entire area to the Negative Zone, but they need Negative Zone Tech, which is supposedly at Horizon Labs, which is where Spidey comes in, since Peter worked there(That was the LONGEST sentence in the history of humanity!  Damn, JT!!). Stark sends Ock and Quicksilver to Horizon, and Quicksilver goes to place the devices around Ultron's location. Doc Parker decides he's not going to listen to Alcohol-damaged brain of Tony Stark(HA!!), and instead heads to his lab. He then uses his Spider-Bots to take over a few Ultron Droids, giving him control of them and takes the fight to Ultron's Central Intelligence, only to discover that it isn't Ultron's main body. Having failed and now having Ultron know of his location, the Ultron droids quickly close in on Superior Spider-Man. Doc heads after the tech that Stark sent him to get but it's destroyed by a droid, the droids then blow Horizon labs to smithereens, but Doc manages to escape through the sewers. When he arrives back at the hero hideout, he tells Stark he failed, but Stark said he must not have had enough time to charge the device. Doc, clearly ashamed, says that Stark is right, although the device would have had time to charge if he'd followed Stark's original plan. Stark tells him not to beat himself up, and it probably wouldn't have worked by Doc tells him it would have worked, which is a big gesture from Doc(I guess Tony's alcohol-damaged brain worked after all!). Stark says it doesn't matter now, maybe Luke and She-Hulk will be able to come through, and joins the rest of the heroes. Doc watches on, thinking how he always treated his teammates as lackeys, beings that only made him weaker, but this is different. The issue comes to a close as the Superior Spider-Man joins with his fallen comrades, no longer just looking out for himself.

Thoughts: This issue really worked in my opinion. Christos Gage (one of my favorite writers)(Mine too!!) really understood what made Doc Parker tick here, and did a great job of showing a ton of different emotions for him in the span of this issue(That's a good point...). The funny thing is this issue probably wouldn't even have happened if Spidey wasn't Superior Spider-Man right now. The situation of Ock as Peter choosing to disobey orders from a supposed man of lesser intelligence like Tony Stark for the sake of trying his own plan, partly because he wanted to be the hero, then failing, not only himself but his fellow heroes as well, then having to live with the knowledge that Stark's plan probably would have worked and being humbled(Heh, you said "humbled"...) by that fact was great(Dude, what is up with you and the run-on sentences today?!). Every action here made sense, the way he blamed Peter for his failings, the anger at not being able to save May or Mary Jane, the quiet shame of letting down everyone when he returned to Tony, knowing he may have cost everyone a chance at beating Ultron, and realizing that Peter being an Avenger didn't make him dependent, it just strengthened a powerful individual even more(Damn, you were poetic here, JT!  Nice!).

Score: 8/10

Superior Spider-Man: I beat death... But Death, it seems... does not like being cheated.

Superior Spider-Man #6

Hey True Believers, JT here, imitating Stan "The Man" Lee, with my first review of the week. Today's comic is the most recent issue of Superior Spider-Man. After Spidey took a life in the last issue of Superior, I can only imagine what's going to happen in this issue.

Superior Spider-Man #6

Summary: Things start off with Mayor Jameson announcing he's shutting down The Raft, since so many criminals break out of there anyway. His press conference is cut short when Screwball and Jester, who are basically villains who are inspired by the show Punk'd, show up and use their speed and wacky exploits to pie and pants Mayor Jameson like an old Three Stooges episode. We see Norah, Phil Urich, and others laughing when it goes viral, including Peter, but his laugh is cut short when Spider-Man receives a message from Jameson asking him to meet him. Spidey meets with Jameson and after a bit of back and forth, Doc agrees to help Jameson by apprehending Jester and Screwball. from there we see the Avengers deciding that they may have to cut Spidey loose, considering how brutal he's been and the fact he recently killed a man, but surprisingly, Wolverine sticks up for him, saying everyone there has blood on their hands and it doesn't seem right to ditch Spidey when he may need them the most, so the Avengers agree to keep an eye on the Web-crawler and play the waiting game. As Doc arrives at college and notices some idiots making fun of his newest friend, Anna Maria, for being a little person, Doc thinks about when he was bullied as a kid. This causes Peter Parker, who has been absent for this issue so far since he's going through Doc's mind to try to find a way to get his body back, to go along for the ride, as every time Doc remembers a memory, Peter sees it too. Anna Maria keeps Doc Parker from beating up the goons and says she invited him to talk to his professor and apologize for the "Schnoz" comment. While their having coffee, Jester and Screwball are spotted by a Spider-Bot so Ock excuses himself and heads after them.Turns out everytime someone links to the video Screwball and Jester did with Jameson, their programs phish through their security systems for passwords and credit card info, which is a genius plan. Spidey engages the duo and they go live, with Spidey being temporarily distracted after punching Screwball in the boob.... well, I laughed, which also led to Spidey being hit in the crotch by a slingshot, which also made me laugh, because I am a child apparently. They blast Spidey with balloons filled with paint which blinds him, causing him to rip the lenses off of his glasses, and Jester steps on them, which pisses him off because in the flashback from earlier, a kid stomped his glasses. Spidey goes wild and beats Jester and Screwball senseless, repeatedly slashing with his claws as Jameson watches on smiling, Mary Jane watches in disbelief, and Wolverine admits that the Avengers will have to act. Peter finally comes top-side to see the aftermath, as Screwball and Jester are left a bloody mess with Superior Spider-Man towering over them.

Thoughts: Man.... this was a pretty awesome issue. This issue revolved around bullying as the central theme, with Spidey helping Jameson due to Spidey's past-bullying, the idiots bullying Anna Maria, and Spidey snapping and beating down Jester and Screwball because he was just taking out years being bullied on them now that he's in a position if power, as seen by Peter popping up and saying how Doc's memories were jumping around. The stuff with Screwball/Jester and Jameson was fun, and it made sense he'd call in his new buddy Spider-Man to deal with them. I also enjoyed the stuff with The Avengers debating about Spider-Man, but his actions pretty much making them have to get involved. I'm also surprised at how likable Slott has manages to make Anna Maria after only two appearances. I think the best thing here was keeping Peter to a minimum, because if he's searching Doc's thoughts it allows Doc to get away with more since Peter isn't influencing his conscious. Overall, I really enjoyed this comic, there was a bit of humor, some action, storyline development with The Avengers, Anna Maria, MJ's brief appearance and Phil Urich's at the beginning of the issue. Overall this was a good issue and made me very excited for the next one.

Score: 8.5/10

Superior Spider-Man: You're not laughing now?! ARE YOU?!

Superior Spider-Man #5

Hey guys and gals, today's a JT day, so you know what that means, an awesome review by the Superior blogger about the Superior Spider-Man. So let's get to it, because this intro is just for show!

Superior Spider-Man #5

Summary: This issue starts things off with the C.E.O. of Phizzy Cola, the parent company of Burger Town, dealing with all of the backlash of the murders by Massacre. Surprisingly, she's then approached by Massacre, as he'd gotten past her security by kidnapping the guard's family. He surprisingly offers his services to her, to kill a bunch of people while wearing a shirt of the competition, Mocha Cola, for a mere million dollars. That's a killer bargain! Yep...I went there. Back with the Superior Spider-Man, he's using Uatu Jackson's facial recognition software to find Massacre the next time he pops up in public. From there, Doc Parker heads off to meet the person that gave him a card for tutoring in the last issue. Turns out, she's a little person named Anna Maria, they talk as she feeds him and offers him tutoring, but he proves he's not just the pretty face Anna thought he was. They then eat desert, cause Doc's gonna probably end up dating a little person in Peter's body. After his dinner date with Anna Maria, Doc heads out as Spidey and his app goes off, showing that Massacre has been spotted in public. Spidey calls the cops and tells them where Massacre is and to keep him busy until he gets there, which Peter admits is pretty clever as he'd never thought to do that. On the way there, Doc accesses Peter's memories and remembers that Massacre likes to hold hostages in other places wired with explosives which he detonates remotely, and tracks the frequency and finds the hostages. Spidey frees the hostages and heads to stop Massacre, meanwhile Massacre is already opening fire on police officers and hostages. Spidey saves a kid that's almost shot by Massacre, thanks to Peter's urging, but is then upset he gave up his tactical advantage. Spidey gets close enough to subdue Massacre, while not even trying to save some bystanders that got shot in the process, which is seriously irking Peter. Spidey walks up to Massacre and Massacre tries to use his ace in the hole by saying he has hostages, but Spidey says he's already saved them, as Massacre pressed the detonator and nothing happens. He then picks up Massacre's gun and shoots him in the shoulder, then stomps his hand. Spider-Man asks Massacre what he should do with him, turn him in so he can break out and kill more people, or end him now...when one of the former hostages yells that Spidey should kill him. Massacre suddenly starts crying and says he's afraid, it's the first emotion he's felt in years. Peter tries to tell Doc that this means there's a chance he can be cured and that's why they don't kill, cause there's always hope. But Spider-Man says this means nothing, he's a killer and the killer will always hide inside him, so there's one solution, and Superior Spider-Man kills Massacre. The aftermath is some citizens are happy Spidey did it, as is Mayor Jameson. We also see Ms. Pullman is confronted by Spider-Man, who says he knows she paid Massacre to kill those people for publicity, and now she can tell the authorities everything or answer to him, as her apartment fills with Spider-Bots that crawl towards her. The issue ends with The Superior Spider-Man stating that it's now his job to watch over everyone and judge them all.

Thoughts: When I started this issue, I figured I wouldn't like it. Massacre killing for money seemed weird, and so did Spidey's little chat with Uatu, and I can't say I cared much about Doc's little date with Anna Maria, although I do like her character already. The thing that saved this issue for me was the really strong ending. Now, I love the Massacre character. He's got no emotions, he's ruthless, and he's kinda the James Gordon Jr. of Spider-Man, and I don't know who came first, plus I'm too lazy to look to see if Slott or Snyder did it first, but whatever. Point being, I'm a fan of the character and I'm sad to see him go. What I loved here was the symbolism, as Spidey killed a villain that murdered people, something many people wish Spidey or Batman would do, kill. It makes sense, but the symbolism is that Spidey would never kill, because he believes people can change...in doing so, he didn't kill Doctor Octopus, and that decision came back and bit him in the ass because Doc took his body and killed him. Even then, Spidey put his hope into Ock, hoping he'd do the right thing, and Doctor Octopus killed Massacre because he said that he'd still be a villain and a killer deep down, which is exactly what Otto is, even as Spider-Man. That logic, on top of Spider-Man using a gun and basically becoming big brother, is kind of reminiscent of Batman during the whole Brother Eye thing. So I'll say this, I'm excited to see what happens now, especially how people who know Spidey is Peter, like Carlie and MJ and the AVENGERS will react to him killing a man, as well as the reaction of the villains and citizens of New York.

Score: 7/10

Spider-Man: You are who you are. That killer will always be hiding inside you.

Superior Spider-Man #4

Hey guys, It's your favorite blogger, The Superior JT(and your REAL favorite blogger, The Amazing X!), reviewing the Superior Spider-Man. So, hence my superiority(don't you mean MY superiority?), let's skip all this intro nonsense and get to it!(what a lazy intro... For shame...)

Superior Spider-Man #4

Summary: This issues starts off with The Superior Spider-Man saying how much better he's done than his predecessor, managing to stop even more crimes than Spidey by using his Spider-Bots and catching crimes in areas that Peter didn't patrol, as well as getting criminals to turn themselves in because their afraid of what he's done to Boomerang and Vulture. Otto does shirk his responsibilities when a fire is reported by one of his bots, he tells them to report it to the fire department, as he has somewhere to be. Peter tries to tell him to go back(why should he, it's not his job!), but instead Otto heads to Aunt May's therapy, and she's happy he's turned his life around and is showing up more(Poor Peter... His decrepit aunt likes Ock more...). He pulls a doctor to the side and asks when Aunt May will walk again but he says surgery isn't good for someone her age, and she'll use the cane for the rest of her life. Doc, obviously perturbed, heads to Horizon and invents a device that hooks up to your spine and brain, which allows the injured to walk again, and he wants to test on Aunt May. Obviously, this doesn't fly with Modell, but Parker says he's a doctor, to which after a quick mind scan he realizes he's not, as he's one credit short. A livid Parker storms off, eagerly wanting to be known as "Doctor", once again, so he heads to back to college to get his last credit! Ock's Advanced Physics class is actually taught by an old classmate of his, who he calls a buffoon(cause he is!). Meanwhile, the completely emotional sociopath known as Massacre, manages to break out of Ravencroft Asylum, leaving many dead in his wake. When the Superior Spider-Man finds out, and that it's Peter's fault for not taking him down, he heads after Massacre, while the emotionless villain continues his killing streak. Spidey heads to meet Uatu Jackson (Who I'm starting to think is Miles Morales in the 616...)(I sure hope that's not true, because JT will never let us hear the end of it if it is...) and asks to use his facial recognition software that he let the Wraith use, telling Uatu he can keep his secret. Just when things can't get even more wild, the issue comes to a close as we see someone say he can keep people safe from the Spider, as he knows all of his tricks and knows how to end him, as we see the return of The Green Goblin(YEAH!!!)!

Thoughts: Holy crap this issue was great. First things first, I love the character of Massacre. Dan Slott has done a lot with Spidey, but I think Massacre may have been one of his best ideas. His ambivalence to killing, his weird kind of sense of humor in this issue, I just love that character(Is it because you see yourself in him, JT?  Is it!?). So Massacre is always a plus in my book, but you add in Dr. Octopus being pissed he's no longer a Doctor, returning to school, and taking a CLASS while being Peter Parker... if that's not ripe for comedy (and him saving the class eventually) then I don't know what is. Now Doc making a pseudo skeleton for Aunt May, while creepy and sweet at the same time(the best kind of creepy!), was also great, especially with him wanting to test it on his Aunt, makes it look like Peter is slipping into the deep end, I can easily see Peter coming back to no job, no Avengers and... a Doctorate? Plus, Gobby is back, and Gobby vs. Superior Spidey.... words can't explain how excited I am for that. If there were any slow parts of this issue, It'd probably have been the stuff with Uatu, but everything else was so spot on, I can't complain(sure you can! I would!!).

Score: 9/10.  

Superior Spider-Man: I give you my word Jameson. I will end this man!

Superior Spider-Man #3

Hey all, first review of the night is none other than the third issue of Superior Spider-Man!  This is the first issue of this series that I've reviewed, as JT has been the resident Superior Spidey reviewer up to this point.  Here's hoping this issue is as strong as the first two were!

Superior Spider-Man #3

Summary: This issue starts with Mayor Jameson summoning Spidey with a massive Spider-Signal.  Spidey seemingly destroys it upon arriving(or does he???) since he figures it would simply tell his villains where he was...  Take THAT, Batman!  From there, Jameson tells Spidey that the Vulture was up to his old tricks again(which Spidey already knows!), and he ends up getting paired with Carlie on the case, since the two managed to bust Vulture before.  Carlie again notices that Spidey was acting... off, and thinks back to Spider-Man #700 and what Doc Ock said to her...  Spidey fixes the lenses in his mask to track down the electro-magnetic signature Vulture leaves behind and ditches Carlie.  While travelling, Spidey(and Peter) relive a moment Spidey(back when he was still Doc Ock) and Vulture had back in the day.  The gist of the flashback was that Vulture was only in the crime game for the money...  Spidey tracks Vulture down and confronts him, telling him he would give him 50 million dollars from hidden back accounts if he simply retires.  Vulture figures this was another one of Spidey's wisecracks and has his little henchmen attack.  Spidey tires of that and smashes one of the henchmen, knocking their mask off and realizing that the henchmen were actually little kids.  That causes Spidey to flashback to his own abusive childhood, and makes him decide that he had to stop Vulture...  For good.  Vulture realizes that Spidey seemed REALLY pissed and decides to take flight, but is followed by the still angry Spidey.  The two tussle in the air a bit and Spidey manages to direct Vulture over the Spider-Signal from earlier, using it to blind Vulture and then driving Vulture head-first into it, nearly killing him.  Naturally, Carlie is on the rooftop when this happens, and states that the Spider-Man she knew would never do anything like that.  Spidey explains that he couldn't allow Vulture to continue harming people like Carlie and the children, and Carlie seems to accept that, which leaves Peter feeling very worried.

Thoughts: I enjoyed MOST of this issue thoroughly.  The stuff between Vulture and Spidey/Ock was great.  I loved the flashback, and the fact that Ock was going to simply pay Vulture money to go away since he considered Vulture something of a friend.  I also liked the fact that Spidey/Ock decided he was going to kill Vulture here...  Well, I kind of liked it...  I'd have been okay with Spidey/Ock deciding to kill Vulture because he was using children to do his bidding and that was evil.  However, we're led to believe that Spidey/Ock was SO outraged that Vulture made him strike a child, much like he himself had been struck by his father, that he snapped and wanted Vulture dead...  That kind of bugged me because Doc Ock once tried to like, oh, I don't know, destroy the world!!  Was he somehow exempting kids from his extinction plan?  Or was that different because he was dying?  Another thing that bothered me a bit was the end.  I wasn't sure if I should take it to mean Carlie realized that Ock really WAS Spidey, but was a better Spidey, or if she realized he was Spidey, or if she still thought it was Peter...  Or maybe something else entirely...  But yeah, that was a bit confusing.  However, everything besides those two quibbles?  Great.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

To be honest, I deducted a half point because the die was never cast...

Superior Spider-Man #2

Hey comic readers, JT here after a week off from the flu, with what is my first post of my official second year posting here at the X-Man Comic Blog. So, what better way to give you a post about Superior Spider-Man by the Superior Blogger? :P So let's do this.

Superior Spider-Man #2

Summary: This issue starts things off with Peter having to watch on as Superior Spidey is commended by and shakes hands with Mayor J. Jonah Jameson, as Jameson says Spidey was wrong about him and maybe he was wrong about Spidey. It was crazy-banana-pants, as Peter referred to it. Ya know what's also crazy-banana-pants? That stupid phrase. Anyway, Carlie Cooper and MJ are having a meeting of the lady Ex-Parker Pack, and MJ tells Carlie she thinks her and Peter may get back together, which surprises Carlie. From there we see multiple lunches and dates "with the Watson woman", and even though Peter's consciousness has to watch these occurrences, luckily, Doc Parker continues to strike out. One thing Peter does give Otto credit for, is after getting tired of interruptions while with MJ, Doc Parker creates a Spider-Bot that creates other Spider-Bots that go around the town on his usual routes and act as cameras, which Ock can check with his Patrol App, allowing him to see if there are crimes around without swinging around the city. On their fourth date, Doc realizes that the danger aspect may be why MJ wouldn't let him swing her way, so he decides to suit up and give her a web ride (no pun intended) home, but he's still put on ice, since MJ has a house guest, Carlie Cooper. Turns out Carlie has been staying with MJ since she was shot, so Doc Parker takes off after wishing the ladies a good night. Ock realizes he can be with MJ anytime he wants, by accessing Peter's memories, which is as disgusting as it sounds. We see Ock the next morning has slept great, so draw your own conclusions, and he decides that now that he's over MJ, he'll hit on anything that moves, including Peter's co-worker, Sajani. Doc Parker's fun is cut short when his Spiderbot picks up that there are little Vultures breaking up MJ's club, and he heads down there with Peter following close behind. On the way there, they encounter a mugging and Peter thinks they should stop, but Ock calls it a petty mugging and continues to swing towards MJ's, just in time to see her dropped by one of the Vultures, as they take off with whatever they came to steal from the Vulture's former hideout. Ock gets ready to save MJ and Peter shouts not to use a web-line, due to what happened with Gwen Stacy, and Ock, possibly hearing Peter, uses a Web-net instead, saving MJ. MJ is grateful and tries to kiss Superior Spidey but surprisingly Doc Parker stops her, saying that he realizes promised to keep her safe, and he can't do that if he's with her, so he has to move on, which surprises Peter and MJ. The issue comes to a close with MJ telling Carlie, and Carlie saying it's almost like Peter is a different person, causing her to think about when Doctor Octopus told her he was Peter Parker, and Carlie says she has a mystery to solve.

Thoughts: First things first, Mary Jane looks stunning on that cover, excellent work by the cover artist here, Edgar Delgado. Now a lot happened here, Peter being back is fine, but he's doing a lot of complaining, which makes sense but it really diminishes the point in having him there, I say have him pop up from time to time or talk less, he really takes away the attention from Ock. Now, I enjoyed seeing Ock strike out a lot, and him using Pete's memories of MJ was creepy as hell but I liked it because it gave him a way to win without winning and without people complaining about him "raping" Mary Jane. I also really enjoyed his creation of his Spider-Bots and app, which works to his advantage and really makes sense for the character. I'm also thinking that him not stopping that mugging will definitely come back to bite him in the ass. As for his first big villain being the Vulture, I'm kinda meh about that but I'm curious to see where it goes from here. And lastly, I'm glad Carlie is investigating Peter due to what Ock said, If anything I'm surprised it took her this long.

Score: 7.5/10

Doc Parker: No. Everything's proceeding according to plan.
Peter Parker: He's saying super villain stuff! How can no one see through this?!

Superior Spider-Man #1

Hey blog readers, JT here with my first review of the week and it's a big one to say the least. Today we're gonna see the beginning of the fallout of Spider-Man's new direction in Superior Spider-Man. With Peter Parker's dead and his body taken over by the devious Doctor Octopus, who claims he will try to be a hero, what will happen with one of Peter's worst enemies living his life? Let's find out right now!

Superior Spider-Man #1

Summary: We start things off with Peter visiting the grave of Doctor Octopus, as he bids his old life farewell. While there he overhears a police call over his bluetooth headset and heads to the scene of the crime. When the Superior Spider-Man arrives there, he's met by Boomerang, Shocker, Speed Demon, Overdrive, Beetle and The Living Brain, calling themselves the new Sinister Six, which obviously pisses of Doctor...Parker. Spidey engages in a fight with the group until he's overcome by Speed Demon, who is so fast he's faster than his Spider-Sense and manages to lay hundreds of punches on Spidey in a matter of seconds. Doc proclaims that Parker was insane and decides to just swing away, but when Boomerang throws a Nitro-Rang (Patent pending) at Spidey and misses, it comes back at a Police Officer, and Spidey surprisingly lunges forward at takes the hit, wondering why on earth he did that. When Boomerang comes up to kill him, Spidey slices his chest with his claws, as we later learn was a way to inject him with nanites that allows Spidey to hear what he says later with the Sinister Six. After defeating the Sinister Six, who hightail it out of there, Spidey asks the officers if he can have The Living Brain, and asks them to deliver it to Horizon Labs so his associate can study it. While studying at Horizon and calling people Dolts, Parker is confronted by Max Modell, who claims although he likes Peter's inventions, most can be used as weapons. Doc cuts him off at the pass and shows him plans for other, more peaceful, inventions, which Modell loves and tells Parker to carry on. After having a bit of a breakdown, realizing whatever genius ideas Octavius has will now be attributed to Parker's legacy, he calms down, remembering he's Parker now, and he has a the with the stunning Mary Jane Watson. While on their date, Doc is so caught up in his own thoughts they literally cover MJ's speech bubbles, which was pretty funny, in fact the only time Doc isn't thinking is when he's staring at MJ's lady parts. When she asks if he has to wear his headset during their date he says he's listening to the Sinister Six plot their next plan due to the nanites from earlier. MJ asks why he doesn't just go after them now but he says he's giving himself a tactical advantage. The next morning, The Sinister Six break into Horizon labs and enter Spidey's trap, as he's got greased floors, a web blockade, and a power dampening field which makes easy work of this new Sinister Six, but doesn't stop Spidey from playing rougher than necessary. Boomerang, the last to go down, is afraid of Spidey and tells him he wins, but Spidey starts to beat him to a pulp, saying he gets to win, and this is what happens when you cross this Spider-Man. Just as Doc prepares to deliver the killing blow, his arm is grabbed by none other than the ghost of Peter Parker! It seems that Peter's ghost is still around his body, and although Doc can't see or hear him, Peter says he doesn't get to kill and he doesn't know why or how he's back, but he's still in the fight and he will find a way back as this issue comes to an end.

Thoughts: Well, I wonder if eveeryone who was pissed about Peter's death enough to burn their copies of ASM #700 expected Peter back so soon. Now, I really enjoyed this issue, I loved Doc here. He's doing a horrible job as Peter though, lol, calling people Dolts? It's so out of Peter's style that it's hilarious. I enjoyed the way he brushed away Modell, when he looks to be planning something big, as well as the way he prepared for this new Sinister Six. Just seeing all the work he put into it so he could take them down with such ease was funny but also showed how clever Doc is. I liked the scenes with MJ as well, especially with him being a more cocky, drinking, Peter, unlike the original Parker. The twist ending really surprised me though, and I love it. A lot of people probably see this as a cop out or something, since they think Peter will always just stop Doc from doing something evil, but when have things ever been that easy for Peter? I can easily see him trying to stop Doc and not being able to sometimes, and I think that'll make it more interesting, sure he won't let Doc kill or makes him save civilians and stop crimes, but he won't always be able to, and Doc IS still in control, don't forget that. But I do like Peter being there, not only trying to find a way back but also trying to keep Doc on the straight and narrow, because like so many of us said, it's not going to be easy to take a villain and just make him good, but with Peter watching over him, unbeknownst to Doc Ock, it makes for a very interesting dynamic.

Score: 8.5/10

Superior Spider-Man: UNBELIEVABLE! Of all the unmitigated gall! Well I guess they're letting anyone call themselves the Sinister Six these days.