Rating: 4/5 – Continuing Doc Ock’s reign of “heroism”
In his ongoing quest to become the Superior Spider-Man, Doc Ock continues to do things beyond anything Peter Parker ever did. This issue has our hero taking down the Kingpin of crime and his Shadowland headquarters.
We see Spider-Man sporting a new costume very similar to the old Ben Reilly outfit from the Clone Saga. It has a much darker vibe to it than we are used to and more reflective of our current Spider-Man’s personality. We also have an army of Spider-Minions. Now I admit, when I saw this, I figured they would be henchmen but they seem like a patrol force and nothing seems sinister about them.
Dan Slott continues to weave his web of Spider-Man gaining more ground in New York and favor among its citizens while alienating his former allies. Even J. Jonah Jameson is seeing Spidey as a menace yet again. But with the people on his side and blackmail threats against the mayor plus a new base of operations, Spider-Man is making good on his claim of being the Superior Spider-Man.
Art duties for this issue go back to longtime Spider-Man penciler Humberto Ramos and as always, it looks amazing. Between him and the regular artist, Ryan Stegman, we are getting a top notch looking book every time.
I think the most interesting part of this book is waiting to see where it is going to go next. We have had the Goblin popping up with his underground army for a few issues now and I’m anxious to see where that goes. His army is expanding due to refugee henchmen from other villains that Spider-Man has taken down. Plus the Spider-Bots have been programmed not to recognize any Goblin activity.
In my opinion, Spider-Man is currently one of the best books Marvel is putting out right now and it shows no signs of slowing down.
Reviewed by: Chris Stark – chris@comicspectrum.com
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Agree with your review. I’ve reviewed this book in the past and agree that it’s a great book. I was worried when they announced this change, but couldn’t be more happier with the direction this book is going. I hope Ock sticks around for the foreseeable future.