Superior Spider-Man #8

[cyberghostface]

The Avengers manage to subdue Spidey but as far as they can tell he's not an impostor or mind-controlled, so they let him go. What they don't notice -- but what Ock does -- is a brief anomaly on the brain. Ock decides to investigate this further.

SpOck manages to track down Cardiac, who stole one of Octavius's inventions -- a "neurolotic scanner". SpOck finds out that Cardiac is working at a hospital and the device is on a sick child.







SpOck realizes that Cardiac is doing good and offers to give his help if he needs it. Cardiac lets him borrow the scanner.

Comments

[damar148]

Seriously? They let him go?

[darkknightjrk]

They were able to confirm that he wasn't a Skrull, nor was he under the control of their usual mind-controlling enemies, and Black Widow figured that the changes that Peter was going through was due to the traumatic experience that the two went through in Ends of the Earth and tries to help him, which is part of what inspires Ock to save the girl's life. He has a lot of blood on his ledger, and he's going to start making up for it.

[chrisdv]

Right, because Peter would show up on a scan.
*Facepalm*

[coldfury]

We're in the realm of two people having swapped minds due to techno-wizardry, and a brain scan is where you lose your suspension of disbelief? :)

[freezer]

You don't think having two different conciousnesses in the same brain wouldn't show up on SOMETHING?

[chrisdv]

Oh no, that happened when Dan Slott thought Freaky Friday was a story that he absolutely had to emulate with Spider-Man.

But the idea that he'd show up like a brain tumour?
*Facepalm*

[zechs80]

Well Spock does say that he would have been busted and screwed if Hank Pym or Tony Stark were there. Which begs the question.. if Cap and the other Avengers are using that gear not have them on hand?

...

I fully blame this on Tony and the Illuminati. Obviously, what they did to Cap has caused some mental damage up there on his noggin.

[coldfury]

Pfft, that would mean Hank Pym would be useful in a book that he doesn't feature in, and *that* doesn't happen.

[zechs80]

He was useful in Daredevil.

[silicondream]

Not having read this issue, this scene sounds hilarious. The Avengers all poking at some Possess-O-Meter and squinting at the output in bafflement, Cap shouting "COMPUTER! IS. IT. MESMERO? MESMERO, COMPUTER?...I guess it's not Mesmero. Peter, you're fine. Let's stop now, these numbers hurt my brain. "

[mrstatham]

I liked it up until the moment the term 'Parkerectomy' was used. No amount of Picard Facepalms can express how fucking goofy that is.

[darkknightjrk]

I almost lost it at the dramatic "THE DIE IS CAST!" panel, personally.

[silicondream]

Well, if this means Otto won't have all Peter's memories of his loved ones anymore, that's a bit of progress toward making the whole thing less skeevy, so...yay for parkerectomies?

Man, the Avengers are carrying an idiot ball made of pure neutronium at this point.

[mrstatham]

It really doesn't make things less skeevy, because he'll still be Otto Octavius in Peter's body, and he'll still know he's Otto Octavius in Peter Parker's body. And somehow, just because he's threatening to remove Peter, I get the feeling he's not going to wipe those memories.

[silicondream]

Well, assuming he does remove them, that means he can't keep violating the privacy of all of Peter's exes by using them as porn. Small step, but I'll take what I can get.

If he doesn't remove them, well...well.

[stillanerd]

Okay, this is just my gut-reaction so I'm sure I might have a different outlook on this issue than I do now, but I had so many problems with this.

First of all, the scene with Carlie. I won't go too much into it as I pretty much explained how I felt about it when the preview came out but if Carlie is willing to let this as-of-yet unknown person in on her investigation, why in the world is she not telling Mary Jane what she knows? Especially given that MJ actually knows people within the superhero community who can help them and how she was almost a victim of Doc Ock taking advantage of her.

Then there's the "resolution" with the Avengers. Good grief! There's a huge difference between characters not knowing what the reader knows and characters acting completely dumb for the sake of the plot. Granted, we know why Iron Man and Reed Richards aren't available, but Hank Pym wasn't there because "he's too busy playing with his toys"? Come on! But even if you buy that, why wouldn't the Avengers ask for Beast, who is not only a scientist but is also, like his buddy Wolverine, an Avenger as well as an X-Man? Or better yet, why not bring in Dr. Bruce Banner, who is also now a full-time member of the Avengers? They've got Rachel Summers and Dr. Strange on call as well.

And maybe this is going to sound heartless, but I thought SpOck's "Uncle Ben" moment with the little girl rang completely false. Yes, I get the fact that this is supposed to be a redemptive moment for Otto, and that casualties are no longer just anonymous statistics when you see the results first-hand, but the whole time I kept thinking "Doc Ock's been a super-villain for at least a decade Marvel-time, and he's only realizing NOW that little kids could be hurt and killed because what he did?" Plus, I don't buy the notion that Doc Ock didn't understand the consequences of what he was doing during Ends of the Earth because his entire goal in that story was to intentionally kill billions of people, including innocent children, which he stated he calculated down to the last decimal point. (BTW, when Doc Ock reacted to the Vulture using children to commit crimes in Superior Spider-Man #3, I could totally understand why Doc Ock felt the way he did, and it's true that what he felt there could be applied in this instance as well. And at the time, the idea that Doc Ock never considered he was harming innocent children in Ends of the Earth, while problematic, wasn't a deal-breaker for me. But not that Ends of the Earth has been directly brought up in this issue to highlight the consequences of Doc Ock's actions, it actually underscores the problem, IMO.)

Finally, I do think that the implication that Ghost Peter is not actually the real Peter Parker means that his presence is no longer a cop-out, which is a plus. That being said, I can't help but compare this to when Marvel had Peter go through his "I am the Spider" phase in order to prop up Ben Reilly as the "real Spider-Man," in that, even though Ghost Peter is not actually the real Peter, it now definitely feels like real Peter ended up being trashed for the sake of showing what a "better hero" Doc Ock is, which really rubs me the wrong way to say the least.

Again, this is just my visceral gut-reaction towards the issue, so I could feel differently towards it, but right now I just think this was on par with Superior Spider-Man #2 in terms of my disappointment.

[cyberghostface]

Well they did make a big deal about how Ock absorbed Peter's principles and desire to do good.

Although IMO Doc Ock committing genocide on a global scale is more OOC than being upset over a child being used or hurt, given that Doc Ock has shown similar shades of decency in the past. I can see him ransoming the world's safety but not actually trying to wipe everyone out. As much as I like SSM I don't know why Slott would have his last Doc Ock story be something like Ends of the Earth if this was the direction he wanted to take the character.

[wizardru]

Yeah, I'd agree with that. Doc Ock was always incredibly arrogant and desiring of approval, but he wasn't some genocidal madman. I'm reminded of the time he fought the con man who duplicated his armor during the JMS run. During the fight, Ock helped Spidey rescue civilians from the rubble (but left Spidey to die).

His ego is monumental and he generally lacks empathy on a grand scale (or rather lets his ego and vindictiveness get the better of him), but he's intervened on the small scale before (including his fondness for Aunt May, who he has rescued occasionally). Ock isn't totally lacking empathy, just usually perspective.

[hazmat]

This is the same man who was going to poison five million New Yorkers just to prove himself a badass.

The same man who got into a huge many-issue arc conflict with the Owl and Black Cat and Spidey over a radioactive McGuffin that he was (at least according to BC) going to use to nuke Manhatten.

The same man who once decided to deal with his crippling phobia of Spider-Man by, yes, nuking Manhatten.

Otto Octavius is a genius and, above all else, an egotist. Seriously, the man's ego rival's Doom's. He does have some moral boundaries; he can be a gentleman and clearly he can form attachments to specific individuals, but slaughter a giant faceless population to further his own goals? Absolutely. Murder in cold blood? Definitely.

The only thing I've found OOC in this whole arc has been his pervy skeeving over MJ. :P

[dr_archeville]

I'm going to predict that by the end of this, Parker's back in his body, and Octavius's mind is stuck in that clunky robot.

[beyondthefringe]

I'm still bothered, quite a lot, by the fact that Spider-Man can get away with cold-blooded murder in front of numerous witnesses, and everyone just nods and goes, "Yeah cool."

Given, the nature of life and death is different in a comic book universe.
Given, superhumans die and come back to life a lot.
Given, there are as many exceptions to the rules as there are characters.
But still, it defies belief that a super-hero--heck, anyone, can basically execute a man and walk away clean. The police, the authorities, the Avengers, should be all over that. Remember when the Avengers actually had a code against killing, and Hawkeye had to go through an internal tribunal when he -accidentally- killed Egghead?

But, you say, Captain America and Wolverine and Black Widow and Spider-Woman and Thor all have copious amounts of blood on their hands! Yes, but most of the time, it's either sanctioned by one government or another, or SHIELD, or some other agency. Or it takes place in another dimension, or another time, or by other rules, or out of public view so who's going to care or notice?

Hell, Cap had to account for killing those terrorists on the plane, way back in the day.

Times change, but I just can't accept that everyone is okay with open murder.

[silverhammerman]

Eh, this doesn't look terrible, but it's definitely annoying that the Avengers don't think to have a telepath check Spidey out. Like, they know telepaths, they must have access to at least a few who would be on their side, so it's really incredibly stupid for them not to go a little deeper. I feel like it's a case of the story coming at the expense of logic, and while I understand it I don't like it.

[an_idol_mind]

Am I supposed to feel that Doc Ock is more heroic than Spidey? Because if I could sign up to have this be the long-term status quo, I think I would.

[cyberghostface]

Well he's more heroic than he's been since 2007 at least.

[glprime]

"...Mr. Pinky Penguin"




*sniff* Excuse me, I have to go watch Predator, Tombstone and Man On Fire back-to-back.

[blunderbuss]

I know, right? That was my exact reaction. "ARGH, MY FEELS!"

[silverzeo]

... you know Doc, having a robot to literally wipe the manifested thoughts/memories of Peter from your mind... kinda seems like the "dumb step" in science that can only lead to more problems than solutions... like making a suit that converts your body into lava, energy, or even a rhino. Most of the times, your body becomes trap in those forms or you can't remove the suit all... just saying that someone like you should know by now...

Wait... he manage to ignore Peter for THAT long before doing something about it?

[zapbiffpow]

"All of Peter's memories I kept in this head, taking on a life of their own."

That sounds really creepy. What if the real real Peter Parker is still chillin' in the afterlife, and this is just, I dunno, memory residue?

[blunderbuss]

Y'know, this general story arc really does have its little gems. This scene here, where a super-villain sees first hand the unintended consequences of his actions and starts learning to think outside of himself. It's a superb little scene.

And that bit where she gives him her penguin because now she has a little Spiderman doll? AAAAHHH, MY FEELINGS. (Also I want a plushie like that.)

[captainbellman]

*Checkin' In*

Welp, this still sucks. Back to Bedlam, Locke & Key, Saga, and Chew - the last of which had a new issue out today.

*Checkin' Out*

[nyadnar17]

Am I the only one rooting for Doc Oct here? I mean his misteps aside I am really loving this Superior Spiderman.

[hazmat]

I'm an unapologetic Doc Ock fangirl, so I've been enjoying the heck out of both this and Avenging Spider-Man. And even if I don't agree with EVERYTHING Slott has done, I will forever be happy with the fact that of all of Spidey's Rogues Gallery, my favorite tentacled terror got to take center stage for a while. B)

[maseiken]

I have to say, at first I thought this looked storyline looked really awful an now... Well it still wasn't necessarily the best idea in the first place but I kinda like what I see here. Parker-ectomy is of particular delight.

[fearoftheunknown]

Me, I too find myself torn between the rampant weirdness and "okay, but why" nature of this storyline, and the interesting ways you get Doc Ock trying to use his personal talents and world view for good.

Frankly, I think the downsides could have been minimized while keeping what's worked in the story by reversing Peter and Ock's positions in his body. Peter is still driving, so to speak, but he's got Doc Ock... merged into his personality or Doc Ock is some weird pseudo-shoulder angel. You get him trying to do good without, you know, pretending to be someone else and co-opting his life. I dunno, some obvious problems to work out anyway, but... whatever. Just a passing thought.

Frankly, I'm still not entirely sure why this even became a thing.