Superior Spider-Man #2

Ah, so that’s how Dan Slott is going to dodge the Doc Ock/MJ issue. Unlike Peter Parker, Doc Ock is smart enough to simplify Peter’s love life. I sure hope this isn’t the last word on the subject, but for now, it’s a great dodge to keep from straying into too “icky” of territory with a Doc Ock-controlled Peter Parker.

Even more than the romantic developments, I was shocked at Peter Parker’s presence in the book. Rather than just popping up at vital moments, Peter Parker is constantly riding shotgun in Doc Ock’s consciousness. So much so that when Ock-Spidey is webbing down the street, Peter is in-costume webbing along beside him. Now that’s weird! It keeps our lead front and center in this book. As crazy as the Ock situation is, we readers are still getting our Peter Parker fix.

I do worry a LITTLE about Parker’s ability to comment on the developments on the printed page. When Doc Ock is coming on to MJ using villain-dialogue, that is already obvious, I’m not sure we need Peter yelling out “He’s using villain-speak!” or whatever to make sure we get it. It’s funny, yes, but I wonder if the Peter pop-up video is going to detract from the madness of the core concept.

This issue spends most of its time tackling Peter’s love life, with a few more sprinklings of Doc Ock’s “improvements.” Some weird little Vulture dudes show up, but there aren’t a lot of super-heroics happening. I am intrigued about the Carlie Cooper subplot, though. Surely she knows something is up.

Ryan Stegman is proving to be a solid Spider-Man penciller. I’ve liked his other work, but this is my first time seeing him do Spidey. His J. Scott Campbell-influenced style works nicely on Spidey, and it looks fantastic on MJ and Carlie Cooper.

Good