Current Events with Spider-Man

The "Spider-verse" prelude began last Wednesday, in Superior Spider-Man 32.

Wait. Wasn't Superior Spider-Man finished, and Amazing Spider-Man (with the real Peter Parker returned) already started?

Yes, yes it was.

Superior Spider-Man takes place while Doc Ock (as Peter Parker and Spider-Man) was displaced in time at the Horizon Labs explosion (in Superior Spider-Man #19, I believe). Apparently it wasn't just a quick jaunt through time -- he wound up in the year 2099, and we're finally seeing what happened.

When he attempted to make his way back home, he kept encountering alternate universe... all of which featured recently murdered Spider-Men, all of which were killed by the same dual-forked weapon. It's not clear if these are all Spider-Men we've met in different dimensions (we see the Armored Spider-Man, which was an alternate costume to 616 Peter and ALSO an alternate dimension where Peter was wealthy instead of poor. It could have been another altogether, however...)

You know, this guy.

In this rather expansive issue, Doc Ock decides that the menace must be faced and that the best way to do so would be to recruit as big an army of Spider-Men as possible, from across all the dimensions. Not, you know, an army of Hulks or something. But whatever. The end of the issues shows him having already begun his army, which will prove to be interesting...

I'm excited for this event, though this one issues seems to have covered a ton of ground, and it's only a prelude! It was a good read, though, and I like the idea that Superior Spider-Man may meet the revived 616 Amazing Spider-Man due to this time/dimension hopping. It may even give more insight as to why Ock makes the sacrifice in the "last" issue of Superior.

Also, as a side note on why I love the issue, I've recently been getting into the Skottie Young Variant covers, which depict marvel characters as babies. I have a few already, though mostly by accident, but now that I have a little girl, it's a great way to bring nerd-dom into her room. I grabbed two copies of this variant, which is only half of the Skottie Young Spider-verse spread, the second of which will come with Amazing Spider-Man #9. I want one set for my daughter's wall and one for my basement!

Love this!

Now, back in the current Amazing Spider-Man issues, I'm not liking the story much at all. I dislike that Black Cat will be a villain (I've said this before), and I really don't enjoy the backstory they're giving Silk, the new female spider-character (this one having been bit at the same spider that bit Peter). It was a bit too easy and includes her actively being locked away for years and years, the secret of her location only being found due to a story element from the Original Sin event.

... Also, the... relationship between Silk and Spider-Man doesn't really have any background for where they immediately go with it, but I suppose this isn't the first time Spidey's run on instinct. The issue itself seemed poorly written, however, where elements were repeated so much that I pictured the writer speaking to a two year old when actually planning this issue. Meh. I've really not been impressed with the return of Amazing Spider-Man, yet managed to love the most recent issue of Superior. Wonder if they're purposefully trying to tank the main title and character.

Oh well.

Still looking forward to seeing "every Spider-Man ever" during the Spider-verse event! It's yet another opportunity where they could, possibly, bring back Ben Reilly! ...I've said this before, haven't I?

Bring Ben Back!