Superior Spider-Man #19
Writer - Dan Slott
Art - Ryan Stegman, Livesay, Edgar Delgado
Get Caught Up…
Doc Ock is Spider-Man. Miguel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of 2099, has come back to the Heroic Age to save his own timeline. Spider-Ock’s behavior has started to raise the eyebrows of those close to him. Stuff’s coming to a head, real fast.
What’s Good?
I like the division Slott has employed with the arcs of Superior thus far. A few issues for one story and a few issues for another, all the while threads interconnecting them are being sewn. Slott seems to be playing a long game with Peter Parker’s story, and I’m all for it. This issue concludes the latest storyline by nicely wrapping up the main story while leaving enough threads hanging that he can pick up on them down the road. The eventual resolution of Spider-Man 2099’s part of the story even surprised me a little. I’m not sure where Slott is going with the character’s, but I’m happy to be along for the ride.
Stegman’s art fits the story well. I’ve heard he has some detractors, but he draws a fun Spider-Man and the secondary characters are all fleshed out and have their own personalities, which I find very important. Without a solid setup for a scene, I can fall out of a story fairly easily. Stegman keeps me rooted in what is going on at a given time, and I appreciate that.
What’s Not So Good?
I’m not feeling Carlie’s side-story. Of course, I’ve never been able to connect with her. I stopped reading Spider-Man before the One More Day storyline and didn’t pick back up until the end of Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man run. So, a lot of the new characters aren’t as endeared to me as they could be. I understand that her digging into Spider-Man’s funding is an important plot point, but her actions aren’t resounding with me the way I was hoping they would. It seems to be missing some gravity.
The Verdict…
This is consistently a Top 10 book for Marvel. It’s probably my favorite title from the House of Ideas at the moment. I’m looking forward to what’s next.
A Look Inside
