The Superior Spider-Man Returns #1 Review: Bring Back The Bad Guy

Doctor Octopus is back in the Spider-Man costume in this week’s The Superior Spider-Man Returns #1. Or… Is he?

We reviewed the book on the Stack podcast. But in the interest of highlighting more about the title, here’s a summary of the conversation with our thoughts. And if you prefer the longer audio version, that’s below as well!

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The Superior Spider-Man Returns #1 Review:

Despite the title of the new book by Dan Slott and Christos Gage, Doc Ock isn’t in Peter Parker’s body — or a Spider-Man suit in current continuity. Instead, as Otto sifts through his memories to find the time he lost after Peter Parker took back his body from Doc Ock in the classic storyline, we flash back to an unseen adventure of the Superior Spider-Man… And meet a new villain.

Host Pete LePage shouted out the “all-star” lineup on the book, including Slott and Gage, as well as artists Giuseppe Camúncoli, Humberto Ramos, Mark Bagley, and Ryan Stegman. He also could feel the enjoyment in the issue, saying, “You can tell Slott and Gage are having a great time with this.”

Alex Zalben loved the idea of Doc Ock “trying to piece together his memories” while getting “flashback stories we haven’t seen from Superior Spider-Man.” He added that if this is what the upcoming ongoing series from Slott is all about, “that’s really smart.”

In general, Zalben was overjoyed at the idea of returning to the “fun” world of Superior Spider-Man, complete with “a boxy robot who keeps offering people cakes and tea.”

Finishing up, Zalben noted, “You also don’t need to know anything about Superior Spider-Man because as usual with a Dan Slott title, he gets you caught up quickly right in this issue.”

The Superior Spider-Man Returns #1 Official Synopsis:

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN WEB-SLINGS AGAIN! The spider-team that redefined the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN returns to celebrate the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of the most monumental and shocking Spidey story in a generation! DAN SLOTT. RYAN STEGMAN. MARK BAGLEY. GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI. HUMBERTO RAMOS. Peter Parker. Doc Ock. Together again for a Spider-Man story SUPERIOR to all others!