The Superior Spider-Man # 31/ The Amazing Spider-Man # 1

By Mark Rodriguez

Doc Ock's final act before dying was switching bodies with Spider-Man, starting a whole new life as a young and energetic Peter Parker, while his foe died in his aging diseased body. Now as the Superior Spider-Man, Otto went out fighting crime his way, murdering people like Massacre and gravely injuring others like the Vulture and Boomerang, which affected his status as a member of the Avengers. He also earned a Doctorate, opened Parker Industries and has a new girlfriend named Anna Maria. But along came the Green Goblin, who's been amassing a massive army underground all along. Not only did he discover that Otto was Spider-Man, he also attacked all the people he cared about. With his beloved Anna Maria's life at stake, Otto admits that Parker was the better Spider-Man and erases his memories, bringing back the original Peter Parker. Now back in the classic red and blue, The Amazing Spider-Man has to save the day.... and also adjust to all the new changes in his life while he was 'away'.

Let's take a look at the end of the Superior Spider-Man series... and the first issue of the return of the Amazing Spider-Man, just in time for the movie!

Superior Spider-Man # 31 opens with Anna Maria being woken up by the Green Goblin, who shows off how he turned New York into his 'Goblin Nation'. Elsewhere, Peter finds out that Carlie was infected by the Goblin Formula, but as Otto managed to cure her. He leaves Sajani to make more while he talks to Carlie alone. Carlie Cooper had already figured out that Otto was in Peter's body and he convinces her that he's back to normal. She explains that was Otto was in control, he covered the city in spider robots to help him fight crime, but the Goblin hacked them to be blind to anything wearing a Goblin mask or logo.

As Spidey swings out throughout the city, he calls Aunt May to make sure that she, and everyone else is alright. Spider-Man arrives at the Empire State University and helps Spider-Man 2099 defeat the last of the Spider-Slayers. Unlike Otto, Pete does recognize Miguel O'Hara and enlists his help. They both arrive at mid-town and help the Avengers take down the Hobgoblin. Captain America appreciates the helps but says he thought Spider-Man quit the Avengers. Spidey considers it nonsense, and goes off with the future Spider-Man. They finally found the place the spider-robots' signal is coming from... Oscorp.

Spidey is confused that Oscorp is now Alchemax, and Spidey 2099 reminds him that it's the evil corporation that runs Nuevo York in his era. Just then another goblin attacks the Spiders. Menace seems sure that Spidey will abandon Spidey 2099 to find the Goblin King, but is surprised when our classic hero sticks around.. and sticks him with the antidote to the Goblin formula. They hear laughter from the other side of a door and check out the room.

They see Normie, looking evil and admiring that the city will be his someday. Liz and Stone are there and Spider-Man tells her not to trust him. Stone activates a jammer that knocks Spider-Man down, and Spidey 2099 socks Stone out. Liz tells them that the building is wired for explosives and that the Goblin is on top of the building. Pete leaves Miguel to watch the others while he goes to save the day.

The Green Goblin arrives and taunts 'Otto' for pretending to be a hero and asks him what he'll have left after he dies trying to save the girl. Spidey says at least he'll have the dignity of never having use a man-purse. With a wisecrack like that, Goblin knows the real Spider-Man is back and flies off, but our hero won't let him get away that easily. Goblin says he would never leave Anna Maria to die, but Spidey points out that she can take care of herself, as she's already using one of the Goblin's blades to cut herself free.

Spidey tries to inject Goblin with the antidote, but the villain slaps his hand away. Spidey yanks off the mask.. and doesn't recognize the guy. Norman Osborn says it IS him, but he had to change his face since he is so well recognized already. He wants to make Alchemax a legacy for his grandson. Spidey asks why he's bombing it, and he says it can't be the only building not attacked by the Goblins, so it will be collateral damage. Spidey points out that without the Goblin mask on, now all the Spider-bots he brought with him are attacking and biting Osborn. Each spider bite is loaded with Goblin cure.

Anna Maria leaps off the building and Spidey manages to catch her in time. He also catches the Goblin who now falls off the glider since he lost his strength. Spidey hands walks back to Liza with 'Mason Banks' on hand, and she 'accidentaly' pressed the spider-jammer again that affects Spider-Man long enough for Norman to get away. Spidey 2099 accuses her, but Spidey knows she's an old friend and didn't mean it... though he will keep an eye on her and her weird kid.

As Norman escapes, he feels his mind clearer than it's been in years. The madness of the Goblin is gone and he can think clearly. He swears to return with a new face and with a new plan, and they'll never see him coming.

Spider-Man makes sure that Anna Maria is alright, and she was very concerned about Peter. Spidey swears Peter is safe and she is so relieved. Spidey sees that she really did love Otto... and feels bad that he had to die for him to come back.

The next story 'Actions have Consequences' deals with the aftermath of the series. Peter hugs his Aunt May  and is glad she's alright. He also apologizes for how he treated her (as Otto he yelled at her after she acted awkward around Anna Maria being a little person) and says he quit working for Spider-Man and will devote himself to Parker Industries. MJ tells him she has to live her own life without him, since she's always being dragged into whatever evil plans the villains have for him. Peter sees Jameson on TV and remembers that Otto was blackmailing him, so he goes to set things right.

Carlie overheard the convo with MJ and shows her the Goblin eyes left behind from when she was a Goblin. She's moving out of town while her body fully recovers. MJ says she wants to live her own life, but Carlie reminds her that even if she's seeing Pete or not, the bad guys will still come after her.

The only problem is, despite everything, the bad guys will still come to you to get to Spidey. Live your live if you want... but please stay the hell away from bridges and other high areas....

Spidey tells Jameson he shouldn't have to take the rap for Goblin hacking the Spider-Slayers and using them against the police. He also tells him he won't blackmail him anymore and wasn't going to follow through on his threat anyway. After he leaves, Jameson reveals he had just resigned as Mayor a half hour ago, so he couldn't stay even if he wanted.

Now that Spidey defeated the Goblin and ended the Goblin Nation storyline... let's continue with The Amazing Spider-Man # 1 and see Pete's first official day back on the job as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

The comic starts with..... one of the stupid retcon things that comics always use.... Remember how that radioactive spider bit Peter and died shortly afterwards.... Well it looks like a split second after it bit Pete, it also crawled on some girl's ankle and bit her too... and then it died. It's like 'I'm radioactive and dying anyway, might as well take as many of these humans with me that I can before I go!'. Douchey spider. But also stupid retcon.

"If I'm gonna die, I'm taking you with me!!!"

Present day and we see some rookie villains, the White Rabbit with a Panda and Hippo themed villain  as they run through the crowds of people. She bumps into a guy carrying a baby and he's about to fall over and land on his baby... but Spider-Man catches him with a web. Rabbit girl is surprised that Spider-Man is still after them, and he webs her up. The Hippo tries to throw a car at Spidey, while the web-slinger tosses wisecracks. The crowd is happy to see Spider-Man back to his jokey self, but are also surprised that he's basically naked, only wearing his mask and webs around his privates.

Four hours before all of this happened, we see Pete holding a press conference explaining that he will stop all connections with Spider-Man and will focus more on running Parker Industries. Aunt May and her husband are proud, and Pete is happy to see Aunt May walking again due to Otto's technology. Elsewhere, Anna Maria arrives at the apartment, looking for Pete and finds an engagement ring that Otto was planning to surprise her with.

Jameson watches TV as he sees headlines of Electro destroying a prison and the Avengers talking down the last of the Goblin followers and Spider-Slayers. Jameson feels bad after watching himself resign from his position as mayor... and decides he can always return to the Daily Bugle and run it again.

At Parker Industries, Sajani is showing Pete all the specs of 'his' latest creations, and he feels completely lost since Otto was the cybernetics genius... not him. He considers accessing Otto's memories... but stops himself not wanting to risk another mind-swap. Sajani shows him all the Spider-Man costumes that were also being made and she says it all has to go. Pete is also surprised that the Living Brain is his robot butler... and that it keeps calling him 'Doctor'. He tells him to stop that until he sees his Doctorate on the wall and realizes he IS a doctor now.

Probably my favorite line/sceme in this issue.

Pete swings through the city, happy to be Spider-Man again... and notices the citizens hate him now. He's sure he can regain their favor after Otto tarnished his image. He then hears an alarm go off, as the White Rabbit leads Hippo, Pandamania and Gypsy Moth on a crime spree. Spider-Man shows off and Gypsy Moth uses her powers to control threads and fabrics to unravel his costume. Spidey manages to sock her out before he could lose his mask.... but now the crowds are taking pics of him and tweeting it.

The Avengers watch this on TV and Spider-Woman tells the Cap that Parker is back to normal cause stuff like this only happens to him. Spidey tries to cover up for the cameras telling them he doesn't need his friends and family to see this, especially the Human Torch. Too late Pete, Johnny is already laughing his ass off. Mary Jane also watches this on her laptop and calls him an idiot.

Really Spidey.... the Marvel Universe is laughing with you.... not at you.... right?

Spidey ties up Pandamania, and with that wraps up this caper. The audience is far from pleased. One lady asks if kids should be watching 'a half-naked man in a mask trying up a woman in a fuzzy animal suit' and another old lady says he's acting as indecent as Miley Cyrus. Spidey wants to leave a 'courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man' notes but the people just want him to cover up and leave already.

Spidey returns to the apartment and is surprised to see Anna Maria there... since she has a key. She asks him why he never told her he was Spider-Man. Pete says it could be anybody since the guy on the video still has a mask on. Anna Maria recognizes his body and Peter realizes that as Otto, they've seen each other naked. He finds himself at a loss and Anna Maria asks him again.

Totally busted... though this opens a whole line of questions....

The rest of the issue has smaller stories, the main ones are one about Electro and the Black Cat... it seems Otto experimented on him to mess with his powers... and when he tried to free people from a prison, he accidentaly blew it up and killed everyone inside. This ruins his reputation since people would think he killed everyone ruthlessly due to his super villain stature... and he now wants revenge on Spider-Man.

Geez, even his teeth are electric???? The funny thing is, Spidey faces Electro in 'The Amazing Spider-Man # 2.

 As for Black Cat, she manages to escape during Electro's attack, and reminds the readers about her little run in with the Superior Spider-Man, which if you read the last article basically had Otto just sock her out and arrest her like a bitch since he was completely unaware of the little Catwoman/Batman thing she has going on with Spidey. Now she wants revenge on him as well... but after she plays with his heart a little....

There was also a more cartoonish and cutesy story about Spidey explaining how his web-shooters and powers work. And we also have a short story about Miguel Morales, now trapped in present day, so yeah, pick up his new series. LOL.

My Opinions:

Superior Spider-Man # 31-

Not much to say about this issue except it's good to see Spidey back and clean house. There were a few funny moments, like Pete's family thinking he's a scizo due to the sudden mood swing... and the extra story with Spidey having a talk with Jameson... after he already resigned.... and I love when Miguel grabbed Peter and said 'you left me to fight the Slayers along just so you could change costumes???'

In the end, the Doc's biggest fault was his supreme arrogance in everything he did. He became so obsessed with ending all crime, and making sure that HE took all the credit for it, he almost became Batman. One person he never mistreated was Anna Maria. I guess I kinda see what's going on... he never grew up with Aunt May the way Pete, he's just not as attached to her. She was part of Peter's life not his.... But Anna Maria is someone new he met during his college studies and he loved her so much more because it was someone he on his own and she did not in love with him only because he was Parker or Spider-Man.

This issue was fun, but the real thrills come next issue as Spidey adjusts to his life after Otto tinkered with it.

The Amazing Spider-Man # 1 2014-

It was fun yo see good ol Peter Parker back in the saddle and taking down the bad guys. The White Rabbit and her cheesey goons were perfect for this one. I did like how 'Gypsy Moth wanted to change her name to Skien' and the Rabbit refused because it would ruin the animal theme they want to go for.

Besides everything else that was evident... I want to bring up two major points in this issue. First off we have the case of Anna Maria, in love with Otto... not knowing that he was using the body of Peter Parker and now he's back again.  was discussing this with one of the Bent Wookie guys and we agreed that now the shoe is on the other foot. Back when Superior Spider-Man # 2 came out, it was all about Otto trying to seduce MJ. The fans raged hard due to the fact that had MJ slept with Otto-Pete it would count as a form of rape since she was tricked and only consented into doing so because she thought she was sleeping with Peter Parker... not Dr. Octopus. Soooo now that Anna Maria doesn't know that the man she really loved as Doc Ock and he's gone.... Peter can't touch her because it would also count as a form of rape. What's going to happen? Anna Maria is a great supporting character, it would be a shame to see her go, but how long can Pete keep this up before he has to tell the truth?

The second thing is the kind of stupid 'was always there since day one, but we never knew about it' retcon. This like TMNT New Mutation saying there were always 5 Turtles in the Ooze all along... they just lost one.... or the 80's cartoon saying there was a gecko mutating along with them all along. Or saying that Dick Grayson was hand-picked to be a Talon since he was a kid, and that his grandfather was always one. Now we have this comic saying that on that fateful day, the same radioactive spider that bit Pete also bit someone else before it died. So now we have a mysterious female Spider-Man (not Jessica Drew, I do believe her powers work differently despite being called Spider-Woman). Of course the mystery lies in asking who was this woman he bit, and how will this effect present day? It is intriguing but grrr... I still hate those tacked-on day-one retcons that went and made what you saw before untrue.

Anyways...we'll see what happens. Oh and hey, for more Spider-Fun, here's our review of the Amazing Spider-Man 2. guest starring Fatima, a fellow Yotuber I collabed with before. The movie's been out for a while but I still wanr you it will be long and might compare spoilers.

New 52 Justice League # 3

By Mark Rodriguez

Well by now, Justice League War has already been released, and I'm sure most of you DC fans have seen it by now. I did my review on it and honestly I could have babbled for hours on the differences between the comics and the animated version. In fact, it will be difficult to do this review without saying 'this was in the movie' and 'that part's changed', and we didn't even get to the issue where Aquaman debuts. I kinda regret not getting into this back when the blog was new... but I guess for whatever reason it was interesting to talk about the WTF-ery of Batman The Dark Knight and all the pointless Justice League cameos. LOL Anyways let's continue as this issue throws Wonder Woman into the mix.

Issue 3 opens in Washington DC as Steve Trevor sees some guards watching several TV screen, most of them arguing about how violent Wonder Woman is, or how she dresses. The soldiers tell him she started arguing with the TV screens as if they could hear her and then left when she saw a news report about a winged monster attack people downtown. Trevor asks them why they didn't stop her. They point to the hole in the brick wall she made as she escaped and ask him if he's kidding.

Wonder Woman wanders around downtown looking for a Harpy (which is what she considers the winged monster to be) and asks anyone if they've seen it so she can chop off its head. Everyone is too scared of the warrior woman waving a big sword around. Everyone except a little girl with some ice cream that think she's cool. Wonder Woman never saw ice cream before, and after the girl drops hers, she gets some for both her and the girl. The amazon loves it and tells the ice cream vendor that he should be proud of accomplishing such an achievement.

My favorite scene of the entire issue. Wonder Woman is so adorable here!

Trevor finds her and tells her she should return to the Pentagon. Wonder Woman tells him that she's been treated like a child all her life on Paradise Island, and now that she's no longer there and an adult, she's done with people telling her what to do. Trevor expresses his concerns, when just then they spot the Parademon. Just then a portal opens and lots of them jump up, which leaves Wonder Woman anxious for battle.

Elsewhere the Parademons are appearing in portals all over the world, kidnapping people while the general populus blame the super heroes for this. The scientists at STAR Labs are also worried, but Dr. Stone won't leave his son behind. He said he already saw Victor's mother die, he won't watch him die too.

Superman, Batman, The Flash and Green Lantern are fighting off an army of Parademons. Flash tells the others that this is happening worldwide and they're getting blamed for it. Batman tells Lantern to focus so his constructs don't break so easily. Lantern tells him to worry about himself since he doesn't have any powers. Flash is surprised to hear this and thought Batman was a vampire or something. Batman says there are too many for them to just barrel through, Flash says he should tell that to Superman. Superman takes out several demons by swinging a gas truck around.

This pic was taken seconds before... well.... keep on reading....

Meanwhile, Dr. Stone and his assistant takes what's left of Victor to 'the Red Room' and set him down. Elsewhere the fighting continues as the heroes start to wonder where the demons are taking all the people they're capturing. Just then Wonder Woman shows up to kick some ass (I guess they were close to Washington DC?). Superman is impressed and remarks that she's strong. She says she knows.

lust at first sight?

At the Red Room, Morrow says Victor's vitals are still there but the energy that hit him is eating him from the inside out. Dr. Stone says the room is full of advanced technology they've gathered from around the world, they will save his son somehow. Morrow warns Victor's body might reject the Promethium Skin Graft, but Stone says he already injected him with nanites that should keep that from happening. They activate the nanites and Victor screams.

The Parademons start circling the water and Flash wonders what they're doing. As this happens, Victor sees visions of Darkseid, getting ready for his invasion. A big bolt of energy bursts out of the water, and it also seems to affect Victor. A structure then comes out of the ocean and the heroes wonder what it is. Just then a dead parademon drops down, being impaled by a trident. Aquaman shows up saying he was hoping they'd tell him what was going on since the parademons are in the water too. He asks who's in charge, and he already votes for himself.

My Opinions:
Trying my best to ignore the movie and draw any comparisons here.. this issue was great. The main draw is that it brought Wonder Woman into the story in all her butt-kickin glory. I still wonder why originally they were gonna give her pants but then gave her back her bikini-bottom tights in the last second... but her classic look works. I don't see all that many drastic changes in her costume, just drawn better by modern artists. I did like the scene with her and the ice cream. It brings out a bit of innocence in her that reminds us that even if she's swinging her sword around looking for battle... she still has a warm heart.

I also like the little girl's innocent view that goes beyond adults over-thinking things. While everyone else is worried about Diana's sword, dress code, and even the fact that believes in Zeus.... the girl just sees her as what she really is. A superhero.

I do admit the other heroes take a bit of a backseat, but we already saw most of their characterization in the last two issues. I did like Flash thinking Batman was 'a vampire or something'. Now we're gonna be introduced to The New 52 Aquaman, and we'll soon see what he brings to the table. Again for those that have seen the movie, you already know Shazam took Aquaman's place... so from here on out everything he does is gonna be very different than what happened in the movie.

 I'll try to get back to this story sooner than later. I figure a good way to end this review is to show my review on the movie. Of course this will have spoilers if you haven't seen it yet, or if you haven't read the rest of this storyline yet.

Extra Edit: Oh come on!!! No sooner than when I was through taking pics and put the comic away.... but a page comes off. What the flying @#$%!!! It just came off! Nothing wrong with the staples or anything, it just wore itself off as I had read this one a zillion times... even thought is probably the second or maybe third time I ever touched since I read it waaaay back then when I first bought it. Grrr... Maybe I'll re-buy it off Amazon or something... but it won't be the same book I bought back then at Velvet Underground when the New 52 was still new and exciting. Oh damn it!!!

what is this.... I don't even..... HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?????

New 52 Justice League # 2

By Mark Rodriguez

We're already seeing previews for Justice League War, which will be the animated version of the first five issues of the New 52 Justice League. The story will be rather different, especially since the original story amounts to just the heroes meeting up and defeating Darkseid in a few hours. It already looks like the animated version will expand a lot more on that. Not only that, but Aquaman was replaced by Shazam and he'll apparently be Cyborg's buddy in this one. I already covered the first issue back in September, and here's the link.
New 52 Justice League # 1 and let's follow up with issue 2. I'm not sure if I can finish the story before the movie is released, but I'll give it a try. And well, it's kinda too late to consider this spoilers, but depending on how much you're looking forward to seeing the animated version and assuming you never read the comics during the New 52 launch, you might wanna tread lightly if you don't want it spoiled for you, depending on how faithful it is to the comics that is.

The comic opens in Central City with Allen trying to solve a murder case he think he can solve, but everyone is busy wanting to figure out who the Flash is. Of course, this sucks for him since he IS the Flash.

Back to Metropolis, Batman has used sonic grenades, tear gas and tasers, and of course none of them work against the Man of Steel. Superman just walks towards him like the unstoppable juggernaut that he is and tells him that his belt is empty. Superman grabs Batman by the throat and flies him into a wall. He says he was attacked by 'someone with one of the boxes' Batman has that blew himself up and took most of the building with him.

Green Lantern gets up, and people run from him as they notice he's 'one of them', since the world is still afraid of superheroes at this point. Superman chokes Batman and demands he talks before he 'doesn't let him'. Lantern attacks Superman with chained pistons made out of energy and tells him to drop Batman. He then chains up Superman, which doesn't amuse him and he proceeds to break free in a 2-page splash.

Superman is now pissed and Lantern is shocked he was able to shatter his construct. Batman says he's angry due to fighting someone else before they showed up. Lantern says he knows someone faster than Superman and calls the Flash as they try to escape in an energy bubble. Flash is surprised to find out Lantern met Batman and they're both in a fight against Superman. He's reluctant to help since the last they hung out, they defeated a talking gorilla (Grodd I assume?) and destroyed a natural history museum in the process, and now there's even a Flash Task Force out to stop him. Lantern says they need his help now since Superman's about to kill them... just as he shatters the energy orb they're in.

Flash appears and holds back Superman's fist and says he'll give his friends some breathing room. He spins Superman around and shoves him into a wall. Superman says he hates being attacked and tries to grab the Flash, but he's too fast for him. Flash says he thinks there's a misunderstanding and tells Superman not to bother trying to catch him since he's never been touched. Supes flicks a finger at him and sends Flash flying into a dumpster, which surprises the speedster that he was actually hit.

Batman tells Superman to stop and says they were also attacked by a monster that blew up and used one of the boxes. They figured since the box seems alien, Superman might know what it is, but he never saw anything like this before. Flash comes back and asks if they're done fighting. Since they are, he cleans up the area.

The military show up, and Superman says Luthor is behind it. Batman isn't a fan of Luthor either, and for now all the heroes have to escape to the underground. Flash complains since he doesn't want more bad publicity. Lantern asks why Batman seems extra serious now, and the Dark Knight says he's worried if there are more of those alien boxes out there.

Meanwhile in STAR labs, some scientists are studying one of the alien boxes they found in the wreckage of Superman's battle that morning. They know it's broadcasting some kind of signal, and the same kind of signal has been found in D.C, Central City and Coast City. One of the scientists tell Dr. Stone his son wants to see him, but he's too busy. He sighs and goes anyway since it sounds urgent. His son, Victor Stone was disappointed his father wasn't there to see him play football since some big time scouts were there and some were even offering full scholarships. His father says he's paying his way through college anyway and he should open his eyes. He says there's a new race of super beings now that make playing football sound like a joke. Victor asks if his dad will ever watch any of his games... and he says no.

Superman leads everyone to an abandoned printing press and tells Batman he doesn't have a base of operations. Batman asks where he hides, since he doesn't wear a mask and seem to have a secret identity to hide. Lantern tells Flash maybe they should ditch Bats and Supes and figure out the box on their own. Flash asks about the aliens behind Lantern's ring, but since the ring can't identify the box, neither can the guardians. Hal suggests Flash can quickly disassemble it to see what's inside, but the Flash doesn't want to chance it since it might be radioactive or toxic inside, and Superman can't see through it either. Flash suggests taking it for analysis for any fingerprints or DNA. Batman says he sounds like a cop, and he admits he is. Lantern warns Barry that he's exposes his identity... and Flash calls hims out for calling him 'Barry' in front of them.

Just then the box that the heroes have, as well as the one in STAR labs start making quick 'Ping' sounds and explode. The explosions bring forth more monsters yelling out 'for Darkseid!!!'. At the labs, the explosions vaporizes some scientists, but it also nearly fries Victor Stone to death.

My Opinions:

Man, does this bring back memories of back then when the New 52 was new and was all the rage. I did like the classic DC Universe, mostly Batman's history with all the Robins and Batgirls, and I remember things like The Death of Superman and such, but the fresh new reboot was exciting and I was excited to 'be there' for the modern re-telling of the formation of the Justice League. I loved this issue now for the same reason I loved it then, mostly the interactions and introductions of the heroes. They're still knowing each other and their abilities, so Batman doesn't know a taser won't affect Superman, nor does he know that he does have a secret identity even if he doesn't wear a mask. Flash and Lantern play off each other well, and it's interesting to see they already knew each other beforehand. Flash is more serious and Lantern just seems to get everybody he knows into trouble.

Of course we all know what will happen to Victor Stone. I wonder how the animated version will fit both his origin story and Shazam's. In this story his is the only origin we see. Everyone else is already established, they just haven't met yet.

I remember people complaining back then about the first issue mostly about Lantern and Batman, but hey, we have to start somewhere, and this issue already brought in Superman, the Flash and pre-Cyborg Victor into the mix. A simple story that brought them together, and I still like it. I also remember complaints against Superman grabbing Batman by the throat saying 'talk before I won't let you!!!' It might have been a 'so that's what that feels like' moment for Batman, but many felt it was OOC for Supes. Well, you have to remember this is New 52 Supes and people were still wrapping their minds around the fact that the guy with the red tights just few months before was now forever gone as they knew him. Plus this is 5 years before and Superman got hit hard by the outside world when he revealed himself as a superhero. And now an alien freak attacked him and blew in his face. As a dude that makes things out of green light picked a fight with him. Kinda had a right to be pissed at this point. Although I do have to admit, this is supposed to be 5 years before the Justice League and Superman 'we know today' but I haven't really read enough of the New 52 Superman to know if he's as wholesome and righteous as the classic one.

I'll try to follow up with issue 3 as soon as I can as we count down the days to Justice League War.

New 52 Justice League # 1

by Mark Rodriguez

I never had the chance to blog about the 52 Justice League's big intro, but now that the newly announced Justice League War animated feature will be based on the first 6 issues, now's a good a time as any. Unlike past animated movies like Under the Red Hood or Justice League Doom, this time I had the chance to read the original story first to notice any differences in the animated version. Right of the bat, the first change I heard about was them replacing Aquaman with Shazam in the upcoming animated issue. It also seems like they want to put some kind of buddy-buddy relationship between him and Cyborg. We'll see how that works out.

Even though it's 6 issues long, you'll soon see that this story wasn't particularly deep. It was mostly the heroes discovering the existence of each other and stopping a random invasion attempt from Darkseid. So that also leaves for a lot of room for extra padding and subplots to make this story long enough to be a feature film. Anyways, let's check out The New 52 Justice League issue 1.

Justice League part 1 opens with Batman chasing some of sort thing, while the Gotham City PD are chasing after him. This takes place 5 years before the present time, and at this time the world didn't know or trust superheroes, so Batman is being hunted by the police. Batman jumps rooftop to rooftop, tossing smoke bombs to cover his tracks from the police helicopters. He tosses a grappling hook right though the escaping person's leg as he jumps across another rooftop. Batman and the person tumble and roll, with Bats pinning him down and asking him what he was doing by the docks.

The man is some sort of monster and he unleashes some sort of explosive blasts that knocks Batman back. The monster starts to punch Batman until suddenly a neon green light fills the area. A fire truck made out of glowing green energy runs by and slams into the monster, almost knocking Batman off the ledge. As Batman climbs back onto the rooftop, he sees the Green Lantern, who is surprised to see that Batman is real. Bats tells him that he's 'too damn bright' and he should turn it down before they're seen.

Just then the police choppers spot them and start to open fire. Lantern makes a force field to protect them. Batman says the world is afraid of them. Lantern says he says that like it's a good thing, and Batman replies with 'it's necessary'. The monster suddenly sprouts wings and smacks Lantern with them. He then shoots out a mouth blast that blows up the helicopters. Before Batman can do anything, Lantern sends green bats to help save the fallen helicopters.

The monster suddenly grows spider-like legs and escapes to the city below. Batman chases after him and tell Green Lantern to 'take his flashlight and go home' since Gotham City belongs to him. Lantern tells him that the whole space sector belongs to him and there are thousands of Green Lanterns out there patrolling across the universe. Batman doesn't care much about his story and tells him that the monster was spotted trying to plant a bomb downtown, and when cops tried to attack it, it would spit fire from its mouth.

Green Lantern says he has the fires covered as green energy fire trucks are putting them out all over town. He then asks Batman what his powers are, if he can fly or have super strength. He is surprised to find out he's 'just a guy in a bat costume'. Batman suddenly reveals he has Green Lantern's ring in his hand and asks him what it does. As Lantern is surprised as how he got it off, Batman determines it must work off his concentration. Lantern gets his ring back and the heroes throw threats at each other until Batman spots the spider-monster fusing something to a wall.

Lantern flies into it, saying that if it's some kind of bombed, the monster just armed it. The monster says 'For Darkseid' and then explodes in a vicious wave of fire. Batman and Green Lantern are safe in a steel safe made of green energy. Batman says he blew itself up on purpose and tried to take them with it. Lantern says whatever the monster came to do, it did it, and he uses his ring to try to identify the bomb. He's surprised the ring can't identify it, and after Batman examines it, he determines it's some kind of alien computer. Lantern says it might be related to 'that guy in Metropolis' since he heard he's an alien. Batman's heard of him and says he's dangerous due to his power levels. Lantern says he won't be problem for him and says he can fill him in on their way to Metropolis.

It is said  his power level reaches that of over 9000.... 

Batman and Green Lantern arrive in front of some sort of Lexcorp facility and Bats complains about how they arrived in Metropolis is glowing green jet, which would have drawn too much attention to themselves. Bats notices the area looks like Superman was in some kind of fight, but Lantern ignores him and says he'll go in and restrain Superman for questioning.

Seconds later. a red and blue blur socks Green Lantern clear across the battlefield. Superman says he can't be handled easily and stands before Batman. He asks him what can he do.

While many complained about the differences from this version of the Justice League with the one before Flashpoint, I saw it a fresh new starting point for me to get to know these characters. Since I was mostly just a Batman fan, and his story wasn't so much as changed, more like streamlined, this was the chance for me to get into the 'whole new series' and see the characters in their new outfits.

A fun little detail I noticed is that back when people were announcing and giving sneak peaks at the epic brand new N52 costumes, they were gonna give Wonder Woman black pants. The original previews for this cover showed her in the black pants. I guess in the end they decided to change her back to her more traditional star-spangled bikini bottom at the very VERY last minute.

Yeah, people complain about the Martian Manhunter not being a core member anymore, and apparently being replaced by Cyborg, who was one of the Teen Titans. For some reason DC has been pushing Cyborg a lot, making him a big part of the Flashpoint storyline, and even adding him in the animated feature Justice League Doom when he wasn't in the original story the movie was based on (JLA Tower of Babel). For whatever reason, Cyborg was upgraded from being one of the Teen Titans to being one of the founding members of the Justice League.

My personal complaint with the New 52 is how they had to get rid of Batman's costumes. He wore a variety of bat-suits throughout the years and he keeps some of them on display in the Batcave. I know they didn't want to confuse the readers with a different Batsuit in this '5 years earlier' storyline than what he would wear in Batman # 1 and Detective # 1 and so forth.... but still... this (as well as flashbacks throughout the New 52 Batman series) totally retcon it so Batman's New 52 outfit is the ONLY outfit he ever wore. I'm sorry... but I'm always gonna treasure the classic blue outfit with the yellow oval as part of his history from back in the day.

As for the story itself, there's not much to say since at this point it's mostly a Batman/Green Lantern team-up. I love theses scenes, especially when Batman snatched his ring and when Lantern discovered Batman is just a guy in a costume, without any actual super powers. I also like how Batman isn't particularly impressed by the guy that can create basically anything out of thin air. Green Lantern goes into detail about the Green Lantern Corps watching over every bit of the galaxy, and he's like 'uh-huh'. And I loved the 'take your green flashlight and go home' line.

As for Hal Jordan, people complain he was too cocky here, but hey, he's young, he's new, and for lack of a better term, he's still pretty green. I'm not up on Green Lantern's comics, so I assume after discovering these awesome powers that just boggle the mind with his ring (he's somehow controlling green fire trucks to put out fires all over town while hanging with Batman) he hasn't really encountered anything that was an actual threat to him... until he runs right smack into the wall known as Superman.

For more Justice League stuff here's my review on Justice League The Flashpoint Paradox

and also my other Justice League related reviews-
My review of Justice League- Doom
Epic Randomness of the Dark Knight (my first review co-starring the N52 Superman and Flash)
Epic Randomness of the Dark Knight part 2 (more N52 Superman and Flash cameos)

The Superior Spider-Man # 4

by Mark Rodriguez

There was a time when classic Spidey, you know, Peter Parker went on a 'NOONE ELSE WILL DIE' rampage and tried to make sure noone else would die, even super villains. One of the villains he saved, the psychopath Massacre, has returned in this issue.... but how will the Doc Ock version of Spider-Man deal with him?

'The Agressive Approach ' opens with the Superior Spider-Man watching over the city with the Spider-Bots as his eyes. He thinks to himself that Peter Parker lacked ambition in his life, but the Doc won't commit the same mistake. As well as fighting normal crime, he also continues to capture the rest of Vulture's children henchmen that escaped during the last issue. There's even a scene of a lesser criminal, the White Rabbit, that quickly surrenders because she doesn't want to end up like Boomerang and the Vulture. I'm loving the continuity.

After stopping enough crimes, the Doc decides he has other things to do and has his robots rewire other calls to the authorities. Ghost Pete follows and reminds him that as a superhero he has to keep going and fight all the crime he can.

The Doc visits Aunt May in the hospital, who at this point has finally reached the age where she needs a cane to walk. I swear, for being one of the oldest women in the Marvel Universe, she sure has lasted forever. The Doc asks a doctor for any kind of surgery that can repair her legs, but he says she's too old for that kind of radical surgery. The Doc shrugs it off and thanks him for his 'opinion'.

Back at the mad lab, Octo-Pete spends an all-nighter creating  a special kind of exo-limb that will be grafted to a person's brain and spine, enabling them to walk. He plans to use this on Aunt May, which freaks Pete out, and his bosses also think this is going too far and is much too soon to use on human trials. Doc snaps at them reminding them that he is Dr. Peter Parker. His boss reminds him that he has no such title. The Doc looks into Pete's memories and discovers that he has never earned such a title while he was in college. The Doc is furious at this since he earned his doctorate when he was 16, being and evil genius and all. He storms off determined to rectify this.

Meanwhile, at Ravencroft (Spider-Man's Arkham), Dr. Kafka is walking with a guard as they go see Massacre. The guard asks why she is so worried since Massacre doesn't have any super powers. She is still worried due to his complete disregard for human life. When they open his cell, they find a dead security guard. Massacre was the guard she was walking with all along, and he kills another guard. Kafka tries to reason with him, saying he needs her to leave Ravencroft. Massacre says he doesn't need ALL of her...

Doc Ock re-enrolls into college, which is the same one he went to when he was younger. The girls seem to like him and he flirts back, as Peter reminds him that he's too old for their mothers. Pete is worried since earning a degree will take him away from his duties as Spider-Man and as one of the Avengers. Although... considering he's also with the Future Foundation he should just plain give up living a normal life and be Spider-Man full time...

Watch out ladies.... he's older than he looks and he's into tentacles....

Doc Ock recognizes the teacher as one of his former classmates from back in the day (how is that for weird??). He calls him 'The Schnoz' (I assume whatever nickname Otto had for him back then) which surprises him since he hasn't been called that in years. The teacher is not too happy and tells the Doc that his thesis better impress him. Some girl (she's off panel) says Ock is gonna need to be tutored and gives him her card, but vanishes before he could see who it was. Just then, he gets called in for duty.

At Ravencroft, Spider-Man and Jameson discuss Massacre's escape. Jameson calls him out on having saved Massacre's life and promising he would never escape to kill again. Otto and Pete see that Massacre had taken out one of Kafka's eyes to get past the retinal scanner. Pete wants to regain control of his body and stop Massacre once and for all... but the Dock wants to outright kill him.

Massacre is holding all the people at a small diner hostage. He tells everyone that he wants everyone to toss their mobile devices and money on the floor. He will lock them in the back and escape in their cars, and noone has to die. One of the employees activates the silent alarm. Massacre tells everyone that man broke the rules, and he shoot up everyone. He leaves a lady and her child alive for the time being since he needs them as hostages.

Spider-Man shows up at the lab and tells Jackson (on of the lab partners) that he knows he once gave Facial Recognition Software to The Wraith to help her track down criminals. He now needs that software installed into his Spider-Bots so he can locate Massacre before he kills anyone.

At Times Square, Massacre lets the woman go, but warns her that if she makes a scene, he will kill her and anyone else in the area. She agrees and leaves. Massacre head off wondering where to go now.

Elsewhere, the leftover Vulture kids are worried that they'll be eventually captured by Spider-Man and the cops already know about Vulture's hideout. They panic when they spot one of the Spider-Bots, but suddenly someone stomps on it. The Green Goblin shows up and tells them that he can keep them safe from Spider-Man since he knows all his tricks.

This is an interesting issue, and I have to say again that I'm loving the continuity. It feels like I'm watching a new tv show, each episode following up the next. It was mostly a set up issue, showing some of the aftermath of last issue and foreshadowing an epic battle next issue. I'm enjoying Otto's life as Peter. He sometimes forgets that he's supposed to be Peter and 'breaks character'. We've seen him monologue to himself 'accessing memories' whenever he needs to remember something Parker did before him. Now he's actually saying it out loud making his lab partners think he's nuts.

 The whole scene where he realized that Peter never had a 'Doctor' title and is like 'screw that, I'm going to finish college and earn my doctorate right now!!!' was funny, as is seeing him go to college and recognize a teacher as a former classmate back when he was young. I do find it amusing how both Peter and Otto went to the same college, at different time frames of course... but still.

Massacre is also an interesting character. I never read his past story but the comic does explain that he lost all human empathy after suffering brain damage in the same car bombing that killed his wife. Spider-Man saved his life from a SWAT Team because he didn't want anyone to die, not even a super villain. I do wonder what his deal is. I honestly think he would have let the hostages in the diner live if the employee didn't trigger the silent alarm... just like he let the woman live after she drove him to Times Square. But he also didn't have any problems cutting Kafka's eyes out. He's hard to figure out, and now that he's free, even he doesn't seem to know what he's gonna do.

I really want to see what happens next issue, which I hope to get soon. But I also wonder how the Green Goblin is going to factor in all of this. I can't even begin to wonder what the hell he's been up to lately. All I know is that he was killed by his own Glider waaaaay back then... and then came back to life and was somehow behind the whole Clone Saga mess that never seemed to end. Let's see what happens next.

The Superior Spider-Man # 3

by Mark Rodriguez

Since many people seem to hate this series for some reason or another (oh noes! Doc Ock tapped into Spider-Man's memories of nookie-time with MJ), I guess I'm kinda like the Nostalgia Critic of The Superior Spider-Man series. I buy and blog them so you don't have to. So in this issue we see how Doc Ock fares against one of his old partners in crime, the Vulture. Let's check it out.

Like the cover suggests, 'Everything you know is wrong' starts off with Spider-Man flying towards the brand new Spider-Signal that Jameson set up on the rooftop of a police building. Otto blows it up and says it's stupid to have a giant beacon in the sky to announce to all his enemies where to find him. Yes, I do realize this is an obvious nudge at Batman... but now that I think about it, I never seen the Arkham freaks try that out. I've seen them tamper with the Bat-Signal in the sky... but I never seen a comic where Batman swings towards the Bat-Signal and finds Joker and Two-Face ready to beat him up instead of Commissioner Gordon. Correct me if I'm wrong here guys.

Anyway, Otto tells Jameson that this must be some sort of test since he can't be stupid enough to use a Spider-Signal like that. Jameson rolls with it to safe face, and Otto provides him with a shielded phone number. Otto was called in to investigate the Vulture's latest plot, and the police wants him to work with Cooper on the case.

In the NYPD lab, Cooper questions Spidey's latest actions, still suspecting something based on the time the old dying Doc Ock told her he was really Spider-Man. Ghost Pete is still watching and wonders how Otto was able to manipulate Jameson after being in his body for just two weeks. Otto seems to have heard Peter's voice this time. He dismisses Cooper's suspicions and uses the new adjustments on his lenses to find the Vulture and 'stop him once and for all'. Cooper and Ghost Pete don't like the sound of that.

Paige wonders why Spider-Man has boobs in this panel.

Superior Spider-Man swings through the sky with some sort of plan for Toomes, and Ghost Pete is worried. Suddenly there is a shift in scenery and Ghost Pete finds himself in the memories of Doc Ock when he used to work alongside the Vulture in the Sinister Six. Amongst the other members (Mysterio, Kraven, and Electro), it seems there was some sort of mutual respect between Otto and Adrian. It seems Vulture was planning to get one big score to retire on, but Spider-Man kept getting in his way. Pete notices that the Doc and Vulture pause mid-sentence, since Superior Spider-Man had stopped reminiscing and started focusing on present matters. Pete decides to wander around in the Doc's memories to see what he can find.

ahhhh, we missed the classic Doctor Octopus 

Vulture's little Mini-Mes arrive at his hideout with their stolen loot and he rewards them with game tokens and pizza. That's a nice boss. Spider-Man busts in, having followed them. Rather than fight it out, the Doc has a proposition for him, to give him all the money he ever wanted to give up his life of crime. Vulture takes this and another one of Spider-Man's jokes and sends his freaky children after him. 

Spider-Man tries to fight off the mini-vultures as he says he has hidden bank accounts around the world and fifty million dollars could be his, if he'd give up the life of a super villain. Otto smacks one of the henchmen into a wall and realizes that they aren't midgets in little vulture outfits... they're actual children! 

Ghost Pete notices a change in scenery and sees a memory of Otto getting smacked around by his father as a child. In present time, Otto is furious that Vulture made him smack a child. Adrian sees no big deal about it and tells him that he's used youngsters the last time they fought. Otto sees into Peter's memories and says the last time was different since he was using teenagers instead of children. Otto now feels no compassion for Adrian Toomes and is determined to stop him once and for all..

The Vulture takes to the sky and Otto swings after him. Otto says he's gone easier on him before (at least Peter Parker has) but is now determined to kill him. As they fight in the air, Vulture notices the sound of Spidey's web-shooters running out of web fluid. Otto remarks he has inherited everything from Parker, including his bad luck. Vulture puts Spidey in a choke-hold and is ready to finish him off.

Notice how, despite being old since his early appearances, Vulture is about as old in present time as he was in the flashback... and yet Otto went from late thirties/forties to being mega-old when he died?

Otto calls out for plan 'Epsilon Two' which activates the little spider-bomb he tossed at the Spider- Signal earlier. It somehow sucks power from the NYPD's generators and turns the Spider-Signal back on with a violent blinding light. Superior Spider-Man then proceeds to dive-bomb the blinded Vulture right into the Spider-Signal spotlight, smashing the hell out of it. 

FATALITY!!!! Almost....

Carlie Cooper is shocked to all hell to see this and comments that the Vulture is badly burnt and cut to pieces. She says the Spider-Man she knew would never do this and demands an explanation. Otto tries to come up with some sort of Peter Parker excuse, which pulls Ghost Pete back into the scene. Ghost Pete is shocked to see what happened to the Vulture. Otto says the last time he fought the Vulture, he got away while putting Cooper's life in danger. Now he was putting children's lives in danger, and Spidey had to show him the kind of man he was. Cooper says she sees what he means, but Ghost Pete is worried she sees a lot more than Otto thinks. 

This was an interesting read. I especially like the fact that Doc Ock showed he has some morals among his villainy. I can't remember any past plot of his using children, although one has to admit had his plan to destroy most of the world would have succeeded, millions of people, including children, would have died.

 I found it interesting that he tried to see a friend in the Vulture and wanted him to reform. As Spider-Man, Otto no longer has need for evil plans and complex diabolical schemes. He has fame, respect and a decent job that showcases his talents and pays him good money. Despite the devious way he got to be where he is now, Otto appreciates living life the 'good guy' way, and wanted to extend the favor to Toomes. Has he accepted, Toomes would have had enough money to live the easy life without resorting to daring crimes. Of course we saw it all went to hell and the Doc tried to kill his former partner in crime, but it was interesting how he tried to reform him at first.

Again I start to wonder how long this will go on, as we continue to see Ghost Pete lurking around reminding us that he will find a way back someday. Now we also have Carlie Cooper getting too smart too fast, and it's only the third issue. I don't want to repeat myself every time I blog about this series but again I have to say, slow it down guys. Let the Doc be Spider-Man and let it play out for a year. Don't be in such a damn rush to reverse things the way they were before. Are the sales THAT bad? Are that many fans really dropping Spider-Man and Marvel because of this series?

Finally, I'd like to bring up a point that Paige mentioned. The plot that started with Amazing Spider-Man # 698 made it ambiguous exactly when Ock did the mind-switch with Peter. For all we know he could have been Spider-Man for a few stories after the 'Ends of the Earth' storyline and noone would have known. So why is Otto all of a sudden starting to slip up and 'break character' and start acting like a mad scientist version of Peter Parker? It's not a good thing when Wolverine is starting to get suspicious in the latest issue of Avenging Spider-Man.