By: Dan Slott (writer), Humberto Ramos (pencils), Victor Olazaba (inks) & Edgar Delgado (colors)
Spider Dreams by: J.M. DeMatteis (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), Sal Buscema (inks), Antonio Fabela (colors)
Date Night by: Jen Van Meter (writer) & Stephanie Buscema (art)
The Story: A dying Doc Ock swaps minds with Peter Parker. Can Peter escape before Ock’s body dies?
Review (with SPOILERS): Very mixed feelings on this issue. It’s a good story that goes very deeply into the essence of Spider-Man, but it is heavy handed and has a strong scent of change-for-change’s sake.
In the main story, the bulk of time is spent with Peter and Ock dueling with each other while in each other’s bodies. There is a cleverness to this, but it’s nothing earth-shaking. It’s just a nice little bit of super-hero comic booking that gives us a pleasant twist on a battle we’ve seen a LOT over the years. You have to mix things up somehow, right? And it’s fun to see Scorpion and Hydro-Man wondering why “Doc Ock” is so insistent that they not kill anyone or to see “Peter” saying to MJ things like, “Not now woman!”…..but it’s all in the category of the kind of fun that we expect from Slott. He’s a clever writer and has a knack for capturing little nuances of characters and playing them up. It’s fun, it’s fluffy, but nothing you’ll ever tell your grand-kids about.
When the story turns from fast-and-fun to more serious, this issue tries to soar but ultimately crashes by overdoing it. There is a flicker of a moment when Ock (in Peter’s body) uses his super-strength to maim Scorpion where you really understand just how horridly this could turn out: Ock’s brain and morals combined with Spider-Man’s strength, reflexes, etc. He could be one of the worst villains in the Marvel Universe. THIS part of the comic is great precisely because it isn’t spelled out for us in gory detail; you kinda have to figure it out for yourself. But, the moment is lost as Peter (in Ock’s body) uses his super-sad Peter memories to poison Ock’s brain with Peter’s morals. As this is going on, I could almost hear the most annoying Marvel fanboys I know waxing poetic about “how that just shows the essence of Peter Parker!” because, you know….”with great power comes great responsibility.” We know that this is Spider-Man’s motto, but it works better in a comic when it is a flavoring and wielded like a club.
The other problem with this story is that it there doesn’t seem much point. If Ock is going to be Spider-Man, but he’s about as smart as Peter Parker and he’s now infected with Peter’s memories and morals, then what is the point of the switch? Then add in that massive changes with a built-in escape pod are annoying. I mean, is there any doubt that somehow those Peter memories and morals will someone be reconstituted into a new Peter Parker? The change is not impressive when the fans can already speculate about how it will be undone.
Artwise this issue does pretty well, but it isn’t the strongest example of Humberto Ramos art I’ve ever seen. Everything is fun and dynamic, but it also has a slightly rushed feel that keeps it from being all that it could be. Considering how much of a Ramos fan I am, “it works fine” isn’t the reaction I’m hoping for when I see his name on the cover.
Of course, since this is issue #700 Marvel can’t be satisfied with just selling us a double-sized issue for $4.99 or $5.99. Nope–they run the price all the way up to $7.99 by giving us a LOT of back matter. J.M. DeMatteis and Giuseppe Camuncoli give us a full-length story of an old-guy telling his video game-obsessed great-grandson about the made-up time when he was Spider-Man. It’s a cute story but I felt like I was missing some connection this “Great-grandpa Martin” had to Spider-Man. Was he someone who wore the costume at some point in the past, or was this guy just some random New Yorker who has been touched by the webslinger? Regardless, it is an amusing tale, but not something I really wanted to pay for.
I enjoyed the other back-up with artwork by Stephanie Buscema just because Ms. Buscema has a wonderfully unique style and is someone you’ll never see in a Spider-Man comic otherwise. I’d much rather Marvel have filled all the back matter with shorter stories by artists who normally wouldn’t fit in as a regular Spidey-artist.
So, where does this leave us heading into Superior Spider-Man? Well, that series should be very good just because of the creators. Slott can be a little consistent and when his low points synced up with non-Humberto Ramos artists drawing the comic, you’d get some weak issues. But, that problem is solved because now Slott will be paired with Ramos and the super-talented Ryan Stegman. Stegman is wonderful and has only gotten stronger since he started inking his own work. It simply isn’t possible to have a bad comic with a competent writer and two bad-ass artists. So, I’ll be checking it out to see how the Ock-as-Spidey story plays our. Remember, he’s got Peter’s thoughts and memories and he told Carlie what the deal was. This won’t be the status quo forever.
Conclusion: There are some good elements here, but the plot is smashed into your brain with a club. In case you didn’t already know, “with great power comes great responsibility”. Demerits also for using non-essential back-matter to jump the price up to $7.99.
Grade: B- (Main story), C- (whole issue considering the price)
– Dean Stell
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Conclusion