The Superior Spider-Man #32

By Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Antonio Fabela, Adam Kubert & Rain Beredo

This reviewer has often been hot and cold with Dan Slott’s interpretation of Spider-Man. That being said, defeat must be admitted. As lame as Superior could sometimes be, this issue has reminded everyone why Spidey-Ock was so awesome in the first place. The script was actually written by Gage, so maybe that’s why this works so well. Still, let’s give credit where credit is due.

This issue takes place during the events of Superior Spider-Man #19 and serves as the kickoff to Edge of Spider-Verse. During issue #19, Spidey-Ock briefly travels through time and comes back with no memory of where he’s been. Issue #32 deals with what he was actually up to and it is nothing short of spectacular.

See, Spidey-Ock traveled to the year 2099. While there, he gets into numerous spats with characters from the original Spider-Man 2099 series, to which Slott/Gage give a tremendous amount of care and charm. This is the best that Superior Spider-Man has ever been depicted. That’s not even up for debate. Every piece of dialogue and every altercation is a jarring reminder of the potential we have so willingly left behind.

As Spidey-Ock attempts to return to his own time, he finds himself traveling the multiverse, which apparently is now full of dead Spider-Men that have been killed by a mysterious foe. This sends Octavius on a mission to amass a Spider-Army and attack the problem head-on. Hey, as long as Spider-Man Noir is there, we should all be on board.

Giuseppe Camuncoli provides the art for the main story, while Adam Kubert works on an eight-page backup. Camuncoli’s Spider-Man can occasionally appear wonky, but this issue is an overall solid effort. Kubert’s backup is drawn to perfection. If it wasn’t for the lack of detail in the backup’s coloring, it would have been very impressive.

Superior ended and most of us never gave it a second thought. We just put down issue #31 and moved on. Issue #32 makes us yearn for the previous Spidey to the point where Marvel should really find a way to have both Otto and Peter around.