Comic Picks By The Glick

Even with Peter Parker’s (inevitable) return announced, this title refuses to feel like a lame duck.  We knew it was coming all along, but there’s still the matter of how they’re going to do it and the upcoming confrontation with the Green Goblin and his criminal empire to build momentum and suspense along the way.  That’s not to say the route is an entirely smooth, as the re-introduction of Miguel O’Hara -- the Spider-Man of 2099 -- falls somewhat flat as it reads like a blatant and not-particularly-compelling setup for a new ongoing title for the character.  More interesting, yet no less obvious, is the way that writer Dan Slott is going about the figurative and literal “cratering” the character’s life as we know it here.

The personality of Otto Octavius was always a bad fit for the life of Peter Parker no matter how hard he tried to make it work, and we get plenty of evidence for that here.  The end of Horizon Labs, his slipping contact with Aunt May and Mary Jane, and an encounter with the Black Cat that is no doubt going to involve some very painful consequences are just a few such examples.  Yet, they still feel like an inevitable outcome from the character’s actions even as they’re also  meant to set up the new status quo for when Peter returns.  We even get some interesting developments in the opposite direction as Otto furthers his romance with Anna, completes Peter’s doctorate, starts up a new business, and -- most surprisingly -- throws key parts of his previous life under the bus as he commits to this current one.  You can see how he really wants to do good and make this all work, but it’s all going to inevitably end in tragedy for the former supervillain.  This volume is a particularly compelling read for these reasons and I find myself eagerly awaiting the further turning of the screws in the upcoming final two volumes.

Jason Glick