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.

The Superior Spider-Man # 2

by Mark Rodriguez

In case you guys still didn't know, the classic comic series Amazing Spider-Man came to an end in issue 700 with Peter and Doc Ock somehow having switched bodies. Old and feeble, Doc Ock's body dies taking Peter's soul with him, leaving Otto alive and well in Peter's young and powerful body. However, being bombarded by Peter's life memories give Otto a sense of justice and he's determined to fight crime and do good, but as a better and more Superior Spider-Man.

 This whole idea left a LOT of fans angry and the message boards are full of complaints and people saying that they will drop Spiderman and Marvel as a whole. However, the biggest complaint is the idea of the slightly implied rape of Mary Jane or any other woman in Peter's life because if Otto-Pete were to do the deed with MJ, it would technically be against her consent because she would have no idea that she was actually sleeping with Dr. Octopus. And to rile up the fan base even more...

Issue 2 takes a little backseat to action-packed crime fighting and goes deep into the Doc's persuit of some MJ poontang. Does the Doc succeed? Let's check it out! And also since this issue does have Otto in Pete's body AND the ghost of Pete floating around, I'll reffer to the actual person as Otto or Otto-Pete, and the ghost as Peter.

Superior Spider-Man # 2 begins with 'The Peter Principle' and takes place a few hours or so after the events of the last issue. Everyone is applauding Spider-Man's triumph over The New Sinister Six and stopping them from robbing equipment from the Marla Jameson Memorial Wing. Jameson himself shows up and finally admits that he was wrong about Spidey all along and shakes his hand... much to the horror of the ghost of Peter Parker. It's just his luck that Jameson finally accepts Spider-Man and it's actually Otto Octavius under the mask.

Peter calls this 'crazy-town banana pants' which brings us to MJ mentioning this phrase as something Pete used to say. MJ and Carlie are discussing Peter, and how Carlie's arm is recovering from the last battle between Spidey and The Doc. MJ mentions that she might be getting back together with Peter, which surprises Carlie. I'm more surprised by this sudden made-up fact that one of Peter's catchphrases was 'crazy-town banana pants'. Let's make a bet that he'll probably never use it again after this issue. 

Otto makes a lunch date with MJ, and Peter's ghost follows around hoping she would notice something weird and not go out with him. Suddenly a fire truck speeds by and MJ wonders if Otto-Pete is supposed to go and see what's up since he's supposed to be Spider-Man. Otto does leave but is angry that having to be Spider-Man interrupts his normal life. Otto looks through Parker's memories and sees that the original did have to put up with that crap all the time and figures there has to be a better way to have more time for his personal life.

Later that night, Otto works in his lab, now having The Living Brain reprogrammed to be his personal robot butler. He creates a 'Spider-Bot' and tells his robot servant to create eight hundred of them. 

Otto sets up a second lunch date with MJ and she's worried if he has the time for it since he's supposed to patrol the city as Spider-Man. Otto explains that he has placed 'Spider-Eyes' all over the city and he can check all of them in a few seconds with an app on his smartphone. Both MJ and Peter's ghost agree that this is clever, but MJ thinks it's too clever for Peter. MJ is also confused about how 'Peter' has held press conferences and didn't go after the Sinister Six as soon as he knew where they were. Otto assures her that he is trying to be a better and more superior Spider-Man with more time with MJ, and then he asks her out.

And so the dates begin. Otto takes MJ to the Planetarium, and the date ends with MJ giving him a kiss on the cheek. Otto takes her ballroom dancing... and the night ends with MJ kissing him on the cheek. Otto takes her ice skating, and again MJ ends the night with a kiss on the cheek. Ghost Pete is overjoyed, but by now Otto is pissed that he hasn't gotten any yet. 

Otto tries a fourth time and goes with MJ at a nightclub called M.J's. As the redhead supermodel shakes it on the dance floor, Otto is pondering what he's being doing wrong. Outside, several villains are checking out the nightclub. Otto and Pete both get the Spider-Sense, but Otto ignores it and decides what he needs to get with MJ is to throw an element of danger and excitement into her life. He goes with her and invites her to swing throughout the city with him. MJ and Otto swing throughout the city sky, much to the horror of Peter Parker. 

stuff like that never happened to Clark Kent and Lois Lane..... I think...?

Otto takes MJ back home, but she can't invite him in since Carlie is still living there until her arm gets better. Otto swings off, angry that his plans to nail the redhead keep failing, and Ghost Pete is happy. However... and this is where stuff gets kinky...Otto realizes that he can have MJ any time he wants. Due to the fact that MJ and Peter had done the deed several times throughout their lives... Otto realizes he can access those memories and relive the feel of having MJ over and over again. Yes folks, Otto is reliving memories of Peter Parker/MJ sex and making them his own. Wow. 

How can I NOT make some kind of perverted joke about this scenes??? I think the face 'Pete' is making at the top right is that one time MJ got on her knees and.... um.. anyways, hey, bonus point for adding that upside-down Spider-Man/MJ movie kiss from the Tobey Maguire series.

The next morning, Otto wakes up from a long night of MJ wet dreams (I'm not kidding) and decides he's over MJ and will now move on to hit on other women. Peter is upset and wonders if his existence is now doomed to just be floating around the Doc and watch him hit on women and mess up his life. 

Just then, one of the Spider-Bots have detected something worth checking out. No, it's not Black Cat bending over, it's a group of Vulture-wannabes attacking Mary Jane's nightclub (she owns a night club?). Apparently, MJ's nightclub used to actually be Vulture's hideout, and his minions are looking for something that used to be there. 

Superior Spider-Man swings through the city anxious to rescue MJ and ignores a random mugging. Otto decides saving MJ is more important. Whatever the bird guys are trying to steal, MJ decides that if the Vulture wants it, it can't be good, so she tries to stop them. The bird guys grab MJ and toss her out the window. Spider-Man arrives in time to see MJ falling and shoots out a web at her. Peter advises against this since the snap-back of being caught on a web-line could kill her (like what happened to Gwen Stacy). However, Spider-Man creates a huge web-net instead that catches MJ safely. 

Otto starts to have Peter's feelings for MJ and sees her as more than a good time in the sack. MJ moves in to finally kiss him where it counts, but he stops her, much to not only her surprise but Ghost Pete's as well. Otto realizes that MJ is in danger as long as she continues to be with both Parker and Spider-Man and the only way to ensure her safety is to let her go and move on. Pete is surprised and admits that Otto did something that he could never do.

The issue ends with MJ telling Carlie what happened. Carlie's arm is getting better and she is eager to get back to her job. She has a flashback of the old and dying Doc Ock telling her that he's really Spider-Man (I assume in Amazing Spider-Man # 699 or 700). She says she case files to catch up on but she knows there's at least one mystery she has to solve. 

Wow, what an issue. This felt more like some kind of superhero sit-com than a typical superhero action comic, but I liked it. Otto's constant lunches and dates with MJ not working out the way he wanted was priceless. MJ kissing him on the cheek and thanking him for letting him take things slow, while he grits his teeth saying he understands... it's funny stuff. Despite the epic cover, they never actually got to lock lips, and in the end Peter's morality within Otto's conscious won out and he decided to let her go to keep her safe. I find it interesting that Pete admitted he would never do that since it's what the Pete has been doing in the Spider-Man movies, both from Tobey and Andrew, but I guess he never did that in the comics. One More Day doesn't count since that was more about Aunt May's safety rather than MJ.

As for that scene of Otto reliving Peter's intimate memories with MJ... wow. I know technically he would be able to do that... but wow. I never thought they would go there. Not only would Otto know what it's like to nail MJ, he could always dig deeper and know how getting intimate with Carlie, the Black Cat and whoever else Spider-Man ever slept with felt like, almost as if he were there. I wonder how the Spidey fanbase felt about that scene, if there are still any left that didn't jump ship after ASM # 700. Speaking of past loves, I did like the small Gwen Stacy reference with NOT trying to save MJ by just trying to catch her with a web-line. 

As for Peter Parker himself... well, he did add extra comedy to the issue and I liked his thoughts and inputs. He's able to even read Ock's thoughts and react to them, which is funny cause it looks like he's fighting against the thought boxes. My complaint is that the constant appearance of Peter promising to come back and now Carlie determined to find out what happened in the final battle between the Doc and Spider-Man all sounds like this will be some kind of 5-or-whatever-part story arc and not a new series. Again, like with Dick Grayson taking over as Batman during Bruce's time travel trip, I say LET THIS RUN FOR A YEAR OR TWO BEFORE EVERYTHING RETURNS TO STATUS QOU. We know this change isn't permanent, just run with it and have some fun while you can. I don't know if Ghost Pete is there to kinda let new readers transition from Amazing Spider-Man to this new series... or if it's due to pressure from all the fans threatening to quit Spider-Man if they don't return things the way they were before, but STOP IT!!! Let the Doc be the Superior Spider-Man for a while. 

I wanna end this article by noting that mugging that Otto ignored to go rescue Mary Jane. Considering that he arrived just in time to save her from a fatal fall..... she would have died had Otto did what Peter wanted him to and take those few minutes to stop that mugger.