Marvel’s Spider-Month! Fans guessing about Spider-Man’s future

Marvel’s branding July “Superior Spider-Month” and it’s been a wild ride in 2013 for poor old Peter Parker and an exhilarating opportunity for the resilient Doctor Octopus in the title Superior Spider-Man.

Superior replaced Amazing Spider-Man following the latter’s final, 700th issue in December, as part of the Marvel Now! relaunch. In short order, Superior Spider-Man has become one of the most controversial mainstream books, based on the shocking premise that Peter Parker essentially “dies” and his body is taken over by his nemesis Otto Octavius, who proceeds to make the most of the opportunity to exploit his newfound powers as Spider-Man.

The catch, of course, is that Peter’s ghostly presence is still present in their shared body/brain and is determined to make himself heard, trying to prevent Ock from taking his new role too far into brutal vigilantism.

To say that controversy has followed this book is a massive understatement; it’s been a constant source of argument, and even rage, from fans on comics websites and especially on Twitter where writer Dan Slott has been fielding angry attacks with remarkable patience since before the series even appeared in shops.

Some of the most outrageous reactions surfaced early on in the wake of announcements leading up to New York Comic Con 2012, when Slott confessed to receiving bizarre death threats for killing Peter off and rubbing salt into the readers’ wounds by elevating his super-nemesis to take over. And the most emotional outcry was driven by the possibility that Doc Ock, in Parker’s body, might well make a move on the iconic girl next door, Mary Jane Watson. Marvel Comics has always kept fans riveted through soap-operatic drama, and you can’t get more soapy than this love triangle.

It was one of the most daring moves in Spider-Man’s 51-year history, and the storm hasn’t really abated during the 13 issues that have appeared thus far. But like all persistent controversies, it has attracted readership. Even those who speak out against the storyline and agonize over whether Peter Parker will ever be “back” as a living character in his own body are sneaking a peak at the books every month, and often show detailed knowledge of the comic in their complaints.

Much of the speculation and furor over the series has focused on whether the Superior series will end, and when, which might herald Parker’s return. This month’s release of the new ongoing series The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and some of editor Steve Wacker’s comments in The Superior Spider-Man #13 have clarified that it ain’t over till it’s over and there’s still a long way to go down this villain-infested road.

Wacker clarified in a letters column in this week’s Superior Spidey #13 that there’s going to be an ongoing series this October titled Peter Parker: Spider-Man, but rather than bring Peter back to his rightful place as Spider-Man, for the time being the series will consist only of “flashbacks” to the time before his exile from his own body. So, fans will get Parker back, but not the resolution some are clamoring for.

The new series The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, however, has some interesting elements to add to the themes and storylines that Superior Spidey has been pursuing. There’s plenty to suggest that Superior Spidey has never been entirely about drumming up scandal for the Spider-Man legacy at Marvel. In fact, it’s an exploration of some pretty heavy questions and suggests some equally heavy truths about the role of superheroes, and their villainous counterparts.

As Doc Ock inhabits the lives of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, he wrestles with the responsibilities and expectations already in place, trying to keep others from figuring out that he’s not who he seems to be. It changes his perspective on crime-fighting, and his own past as a supervillain, and it might even change him as a person, deep down.

The series poses a very big question: Placed in a position of great responsibility, can even a supervillain rise to the challenge? Doc Ock takes to the role of Spidey with gusto, bringing in efficient mechanical, stream-lining to make his rounds of the city more effective, and he even develops a copacetic relationship with Mayor J. Jonah Jameson. His personal life is more problematic, since he lacks Peter’s charm, though he makes up that with his decisiveness.

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man series, written by Nick Spencer and drawn by Steve Lieber, looks like it’s going to take some of these questions and run with them, but in a more workaday vein.

The B-list villains who get trounced by Superior Spidey get their own chance to tell their stories, starting off with Boomerang, who gets beaten to a pulp early in the Superior Spider-Man series.

You’d expect the perspective of a career criminal to be defensive and rationalized, but there’s something pretty compelling about hearing how relentlessly unsuccessful Boomerang has been in his life and how little turning points have led him down the dreary path of his current role.

B-list villains routinely get the brunt of sarcasm, and punch-ups in superhero comics, but readers rarely consider how low their morale must be, and Superior Foes actually humanizes them without making their lives seem glamorous.

Readers also get blunt commentary on how low-level supervillain teams operate, often taking advantage of each other in a dog-eat-dog world. While Superior Spider-Man makes us rethink what makes a supervillain and the ethics of heroic behavior, Superior Foes reminds us that these lackluster villains with gimmicky names also labor under the weight of their choices in life.

In all, the Superior comics help fill out a sense of realism in Spider-Man’s world if readers are interested in finding out more about the darker side of the conflicts that create the hero stories we love to read.

Hot on the heels of Superior Foes, Marvel’s planning to release Superior Carnage #1 and even a Superior Spider-Man Team-Up comic, so this Superior kick of looking into the hearts of villains isn’t letting up any time soon.

For fans waiting to see Peter Parker back on top of the heap, it’s going to be intense.

(Ed.: Guest blogger Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for Trip City (welcometotripcity.com) and sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.)

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