(w) Dan Slott
(a) Giuseppi Camuncoli (pencils) John Dell (inks) Antonio Fabella(colors)
After three issues spent setting up Spider-Man's new, somewhat more brutal status quo, writer Dan Slott (sort of) wades into the decidedly murkier question of how far Spider-Man is ready to go to take down criminals. This arc sees the return of Massacre, a villain whose sole power over Spider-Man is his utter lack of human compunction, who breaks out of Ravencroft the mental institution in which he is confined, and in fact kills someone who has been a pretty important supporting character in the last several years. Otto Octavius/Spider-Man tracks him down with the help of one of his fellow employees at Horizon Labs, child prodigy Uatu Jackson who has developed facial recognition software which Otto then plugs into his spider-bots. Massacre, meanwhile, has made a deal with a software magnate to kill while wearing the logo of the company's rival, all for a fee, of course. The stage is set for a very bloody showdown that will put the new Spider-Man's moral compass to the ultimate test.
What makes Spider-Man's new adventures so engaging to read these days is Otto Octavius' markedly different approach to fighting crime from the one Peter employed, which is, in many respects, better. It's a tad more devious in some respects, but thinking about it, Otto's using his resources at work to make robotic spiders isn't any less ethical than Peter's using his employer's tech to build himself spider-armor, especially considering that they both serve the same purpose: to fight crime. There's more to Otto's methods than just thinking like a bad guy; he is actually more pragmatic in several respects than Peter ever was, and the fun is in noticing these little details so I won't spoil them for anyone who may yet read this book. Apart from the fact that, as a Spider-Man fan for the better part of three decades, I can attest that Peter has never adopted these methods, I have noticed that Slott seems to be very good with his Spider-Man lore, so I can more or less take him at his word that this is all very new for Spidey.
This is actually why I found myself disappointed with how the story panned out.
It's been quite clearly established in the first few issues that the current status quo, however long it may last, is ultimately a temporary one. One may argue that this was done to reassure fans that their beloved Peter Parker will be back swinging webs eventually. The reason I'm on board for this is I want to see how Slott is able to develop Otto as he walks the proverbial mile in Peter's shoes, and I have, save for a few niggles here and there, actually been pretty happy with the balance Slott has struck between Otto's egomania and villainous tendencies and his redeeming qualities, which could not have been the easiest stuff to write. It would really have been interesting to see him develop as a character before having to confront the really heavy stuff, such as the question of whether Otto is capable of killing in the name of crime fighting, something Peter was never willing to do.
How Otto makes his decision is something I will not spoil, and to be perfectly clear it is not even 100% clear how the story turns out, but suffice it to say the fact that he was confronted with the situation so early in his tenure as Spider-Man was what disappointed me, and to make the catalyst for this event a villain as dull as Massacre, who is basically a one-trick pony, makes the narrative decision all the more grating.
What was surprisingly easy on the eyes, though, was Camuncoli's art. The only other time I've ever seen Camuncoli was when did some last minute subbing for Steve McNiven over on Captain America last year, and I have to say I was not thrilled. I kind of groaned when I saw his name on the previews, but he turned in some rather solid work here. He's also got a pretty good handle on how to draw Spider-Man. Also, his cleaner line work, abetted by John Dell's inks, is a welcome break from Ryan Stegman's scratchy work over the last three issues.
What ultimately irks me about these two issues is that it feels like Slott is peaking way too soon here. He could have had Otto-Spidey dish out his slightly edgier brand of crime-fighting for a few issues more before tackling the deeper, stickier issue of how far he is prepared to go, which would have made for some pretty interesting reading down the line. As of now, he has put him on a collision course with several of his fellow heroes, something which Marvel has already been hyping for months. Sales on this title have been good, so really,I don't see any reason for Marvel to go rushing back to their former status quo just yet. I honestly hope Slott has more up his sleeve, and will take his time with the current situation.
To be quite fair, though, for all their flaws, the issues were still pretty readable.
3.5/5
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