Here is today's Guest Review from the guys at Spider-Man Crawlspace for Marvel's Superior Spider-Man #23. I have also added my rating after each review. If you have any questions about my rating or want to discuss anything just leave me a comment.
Superior Spider-Man #23 - Darkest Hours, Part 2 of 4: Complications
DARKEST HOURS Part 2 of 4: "Complications"
As Otto Octavius takes another big step in his life as Peter Parker... could a big part of Flash Thompson's life be coming to a close? Will he be... VENOM NO MORE?!
More with MJ! More with Carlie! More with the Green Goblin! And, after half a century, one of the most cringe-worthy moments in ALL of Spidey-history! You do NOT want to miss this one!
Preview
Venom vs. Superior Spider-Man Round Two!
Plot
Good ol'Flasharoo manages to escape SpOck's clutches and seeks for a place to lay low. Anna Maria calls Peterpus to berate him for leaving her half-cocked but eagerly agrees to cook for his aunt and step-uncle next day. Meanwhile, Captain Watanabe visits MJ and confronts her about Carlie's disappearance. By the end of their conversation, Yuri has pretty much ascertained that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.
Review
I’m a bit annoyed at myself for getting hyped for this arc. That’s due solely to first seeing the cover to issue#22 back at San Diego in July. Why did I think that just because it looked as though SpOck was getting his butt handed to him by Venom that that’s what would happen?
I guess it’s because of my generation. Back in the 90's, Venom was THE Spider-Man villain. Every time he appeared you knew it was on, and generally that proved to be the case. The very mention of his name still sends chills of excitement through fans, and even to this day the name Venom has a certain sense of energy and anticipation to it.
Does this story fail to live up to that sense of energy and anticipation? Well that’s obvious, mainly because the plot is driven by Venom being Flash Thompson, not Eddie Brock, being hounded by a maniacal Spider-Man who’s Otto Octavius, not Peter Parker. But as Chris articulated in his piece, the actual breakdown of each scene reveals that a lot of them don’t work. Almost half of this issue is devoted to Ock and Anna Maria’s brunch with May and Jonah Sr, and while there’s a lot of potential in those scenes they aren't terribly interesting. More focus should've been given to the SpOck/Agent Venom tension, and everything else was like the last issue in how it was just information trading.
I’m trying to re-evaluate how much comic book writing consists of basic info-dumping, how much is basic character beats, and where the balance is between the two. I’m not sure I can say with total accuracy how these scenes could be done better, but for now I am really not feeling this story. It reads like a checklist of things that need to happen to move the story along, but not every scene is necessary, and the information that’s being delivered isn't all that interesting in the long run. Okay, Aunt May can walk again, but since she appears with the person responsible for that later in the issue, was the scene in which she came out of surgery wholly necessary? Does it matter if it doesn't? If it doesn't matter, why do I care?
Images Unplugged Rating
Cover & Solicit - 4
Art, Colors & Inking - 4
Layout & Flow - 4
Story - 4
Verdict - 4 (8/10) - (Buy Superior Spider-Man) SAVE 10%
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