The Fate of Parker Industries: A Review of The Amazing Spider-Man #31

written by Dan Slott
drawn by Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger
colored by Marte Gracia

The "Secret Empire" tie-in story of this title draws to a close as Spider-Man makes a last stand against a new and improved Doctor Octopus, who is determined to take Parker Industries and all of its secrets from him. This was, after all, the empire Doc Ock had started to build while using Peter's stolen body, and Otto Octavius feels distinctly entitled to it, but he has no idea of the lengths to which Peter is willing to go to protect the world from the arch-villain's bloated ego, even if it means giving up everything.

I wonder exactly how Dan Slott would have written the conclusion to his "Peter Parker as a CEO" storyline without this whole "Secret Empire" event providing a convenient backdrop. It never felt like a long-term storyline, and personally I feel that it doesn't really suit him all that well. That said, I am glad that there was at least one writer who decided to take Peter down that road instead of having him perpetually living paycheck to paycheck. I'm still partial to the Straczynski days where Peter was a youthful schoolteacher, but I recognize that after a while that could feel stagnant as well. In any case, Slott makes good use of the storyline by having Peter make a well-intentioned, if somewhat rash decision to fight Doc Ock and HYDRA, and bring this particular storyline to a reasonably satisfying conclusion, albeit one that raises the inevitable question: what's next?

I liked how, more than some prosaic desire to "take over the world," Doc Ock was motivated more by hubris and a sense of entitlement than anything else in his drive to wrest Parker Industries from Peter. After having seen a more nuanced portrayal of the character in the best-selling Superior Spider-Man title, I wouldn't have much cared for a more traditional, two-dimensional motivation for the character. The thing is, this isn't the Ock that realized his own inadequacy and willfully ceded Peter Parker's body back to him; that one's gone for good. This Ock's consciousness was pulled from slightly earlier in the timeline thanks the time-traveling arc in Superior Spider-Man back in 2013, and later, a universe-jumping story arc in the massive Spider-Verse crossover. Confusing? I agree, but I do understand that Slott had to give the character wiggle room to still be a bad guy, or else his sacrifice and redemption in the penultimate issue of Superior Spider-Man would have gone for naught.

While Slott attempts to redeem Peter from his poor decision-making that led up to this moment, he is, in my opinion, only partly successful, as I maintain that Ock would not have gotten as far as he did, even with HYDRA's help, without Peter being ridiculously careless. After all, Peter was getting the better of Doc Ock back when he was still a kid. In any event, Slott's scripting is a step up from the last issue, and I apologize for thinking that this story was going to be artificially stretched out into four issues when, in fact, it's been nicely wrapped up in three. Nice work by Slott.

I'd be remiss at this point if I didn't mention the amazing art by Immonen, Von Grawbadger and Gracia. It's worth saying that this team has managed to deliver consistently outstanding art for nine straight issues, without fill-in artists or delayed shipping schedules. This is a feat virtually unheard of these days, and even my favorites like Chris Samnee have had to take a breather every now and then. Immonen's work here is the best I've ever seen from him, and I've been following a lot of his work since he teamed up with Warren Ellis on Ultimate Fantastic Four back in 2004. These days I find myself fantasizing about a one-shot or OGN featuring Immonen's pencils painted over by cover artist Alex Ross. That would really blow me away.

As "Legacy" draws near I find myself interested to see what plans this team has for Peter, as they supposedly involve a "different" role with the Daily Bugle. It'll be nice to bring Peter back to a familiar element of his life and I hope Slott's scripting is more sure-footed than it's been these last few issues. At any rate, as long as Immonen et al are onboard, then so am I.


7.5/10

Murdock's Turn to Shine: A Review of Daredevil #25

written by Charles Soule
drawn by Alec Morgan
colored by Matt Milla

And so "Supreme" draws to a close as Matt Murdock makes his case before the United States Supreme Court for allowing confidential superhero testimony in criminal prosecutions. It's a tense moment; the most fearsome opponent Matt faces here are Wilson Fisk's lawyer and the ten justices of the Supreme Court, and the outcome of this confrontation has the potential to change everything.

The ending of Soule's courtroom epic, while quite straightforward without any special, last-minute twists, is nonetheless everything I hoped it would be, and is basically Matt Murdock's finest moment as an attorney in the character's fifty-three year history. Even without punch-ups (though a pretty funny symbolic one takes place as Matt Murdock argues his case) the issue is genuinely exciting, and ends on an extremely high note, something not often seen in this iteration of Daredevil, which has marked a throwback to the the gritty storytelling of the 80s. There's little more I can say about this story, even though I certainly would certainly like to sing its praises, without spoiling plot points, so I'll leave it at that. Soule has written a significant milestone for this character, and he managed it without having him throw a single physical punch. It's refreshing to see storytelling that doesn't involve the hero saving the day through feats of physical derring-do, and Matt's dialogue late int he issue about the difference between his work as Daredevil and his work as a lawyer is downright inspiring: as Daredevil, he gets to save the world, but as a lawyer, he gets to change it.

While I still am not a fan of Alec Morgan, who's been drawing this story for three issues straight, I will admit that he's a good fit for this type of story, and that the issues I had with him in his past work aren't really evident here.

It's nice to know that Marvel has some pretty big plans for this character as evidenced by their advanced solicitations, because with the work Soule's been turning in, especially with this specific story, it's good know that DD will be getting his moment in the spotlight again, and not just as one of the Defenders.


8.5/10