The Dread Indemnity
I think there's at least one more important point to discuss about the merits of The Superior Spider-Man - why it actually makes a contribution rather than a simple, dismissible footnote in the series' history.
One of the most important elements of storytelling, of course, is the ability to lend a sense of humanity to your characters. When your reader can sit down and actually recognize that these fictional entities have lives, personalities, and histories, that's when they get hooked, because it resonates with their own experiences. When I look at Superior Spider-Man so far, I see just that.
First of all, let's establish a few fine points about comic characters - specifically, villains. Most A-List heroes will have at least four or five specific villains in their books that they fight on a recurring basis, then a broader assortment of 'shared' villains that routinely fight against all sorts of Marvel heroes. Although this is becoming less common - more 'specific' villains are mixing it up all around much more often - some continuity does still exist: when you think 'Doctor Doom', you think Fantastic Four, and when you think 'Doctor Octopus', you think Spider-Man. But as far as villains go, there are some that really don't stand out; those villains are the ones with no history, no development, and thus, no humanity. Take Shocker, for instance. We know who he is, essentially, but we don't really know much about the guy - where he grew up, if he went to college, what his family was like, etc. He's just a guy who robs banks, really, and he's routinely easy to dispose of. SHUT-UP, SHOCKER, NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU.
Contrast that with Doctor Octopus, even before all this mind-swapping business. We learned that he grew up in an abusive home, picked on regularly at school and then chastised (and even physically abused) for his shy nature by his father; y'know, to help him 'toughen up'. In that kind of environment, he dedicated himself to being just the opposite sort of man by applying himself to science; in my opinion, you do have a chance of developing into a good-natured adult despite that kind of upbringing, but it's much more difficult. Contrast that with Peter Parker, who had positive role-models growing up, Octavius became cold and mean-spirited towards everyone, resenting anyone that did not bow to his genius.
Skipping ahead to this new development, Otto has apparently learned the error of his ways after Parker forced his own memories and experiences into his old foe's mind. This did not happen in a shallow way, merely in word; it was a truly humbling event for Ock, worthy of an actual breakdown of the mind and soul, and this is where I believe the real virtue of 'Superior Spider-Man' appears, because it is the start of his development of real humanity. To draw a parallel, I believe that part of the success of the second Spider-Man movie, with Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius, was because of the character being so relatable.
To begin, I have already displayed an admission by Ock, in one of my prior entries, in which he states the importance of being Spider-Man and how he does not want to turn his back on being a good-guy, no matter how difficult it is. At the very least, this is light evidence that he has changed as an individual, but we should not simply take words; without works as evidence, what good would it do us? While he also brags on his achievements in the role of the hero quite often, he also admits to many of Parker's triumphs - his perseverance comes up most often of all, namely through all of the trials that Ock himself put the man through. This could be interpreted as being rather self-congratulatory, as if to say 'he really had to try in order to beat me', but at the same time, it also forces him to view his personal shortcomings and failures as an individual.
Figures One and Two: In 'Avenging Spider-Man' #15.1, Ock admits that his old self, a 'pontificating' fool, was 'found wanting'. He does so while fighting off some of his security devices when entering one of his old hideouts, ironically facing down a recording of 'himself'. He feels that he has seen his past mistakes, that he was never as smart or as strong as he always thought, and it is now time to actually live up to his own sense of self-worth.
Secondly, we have also seen Ock show remorse for some of his previous crimes. Should he ever have to face some sort of judgment for all those capers and schemes, I am still not sure how much guilt he would admit, but he has shown a desire to fix the damage done. Figure Three: In 'Superior' #8, Ock has been confronted with one of his own victims, a small girl who suffered brain damage after his 'Ends of the Earth' plot to superheat the Earth. He sees that this is the result of his old ways, the casualties of his 'genius'. Not only does he surrender a device that will help in her recovery, he insists upon performing the surgery himself. Earlier in the issue, he has a conversation with Black Widow in which she mentions a common desire to 'balance your books' after a past mistake, and it is here he decides to truly begin that process. After the surgery's success, the little girl gives Ock her prized stuffed animal, and he absolutely revels in this new kind of victory - applying his talents towards helping others, he realizes, was the correct path all along. He gets recognition AND others benefit from it.
Third, Ock has been developing as a person across his new career as a good-guy; we are seeing more and more about little things that make him tick. He has just started seeing a woman, a physics major named Anna Marconi, giving him a chance to show off just what a caring and unshallow person he is (Anna is a gifted woman, and also happens to be a little person). When she trips and nearly drops some dry ice on herself, he grabs it himself and suffers from the burn on his skin; he also shows a bit of overzealous romanticism by literally flipping the car of a man who teased Anna for her height earlier (a fairly villainous thing to do, perhaps, but that kind of visceral reaction is also all-too human). For Figure Four, back in 'Superior' #15.1 again, Ock stays up all night redesigning his costume; this includes developing some new HUD lenses for his mask, and the process keeps him occupied through all hours. Ock truly has a passion for his work, the pursuit of advancements in technology, the thrill of working towards a new goal.
He's still a bit rude, and he's still a bit full of himself - you don't get over that kind of thing so easily, and it could be considered just a part of his character. It might be too convenient to simply write that kind of thing away, if he were suddenly the perfect paragon. He is, however, learning, because Figure Five ('Superior' #6AU) shows that Ock has learned an important lesson of why he failed so often as a villain. When you think so highly of yourself that you can't see your own faults, you try to do everything yourself, and thus under-utilize your resources. When he tries - and fails - to take on Ultron all by himself, he sees that a plan devised by Tony Stark might have worked if he hadn't been too arrogant to go along with it. (Yes, admittedly all this takes place in an Alternate Reality, but it's still the same person, and he'll undoubtedly learn the same lesson when something similar happens in the main continuity.)
Because of all this development, I feel that there is strong reason to differentiate this series as a simple, dismissible contrivance. At the very least, it'd be an awful waste to just turn around and write off all this stuff if/when they decide to put Peter Parker back behind the wheel again, because there's a lot of growth happening.
One of the most important elements of storytelling, of course, is the ability to lend a sense of humanity to your characters. When your reader can sit down and actually recognize that these fictional entities have lives, personalities, and histories, that's when they get hooked, because it resonates with their own experiences. When I look at Superior Spider-Man so far, I see just that.
First of all, let's establish a few fine points about comic characters - specifically, villains. Most A-List heroes will have at least four or five specific villains in their books that they fight on a recurring basis, then a broader assortment of 'shared' villains that routinely fight against all sorts of Marvel heroes. Although this is becoming less common - more 'specific' villains are mixing it up all around much more often - some continuity does still exist: when you think 'Doctor Doom', you think Fantastic Four, and when you think 'Doctor Octopus', you think Spider-Man. But as far as villains go, there are some that really don't stand out; those villains are the ones with no history, no development, and thus, no humanity. Take Shocker, for instance. We know who he is, essentially, but we don't really know much about the guy - where he grew up, if he went to college, what his family was like, etc. He's just a guy who robs banks, really, and he's routinely easy to dispose of. SHUT-UP, SHOCKER, NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU.
Contrast that with Doctor Octopus, even before all this mind-swapping business. We learned that he grew up in an abusive home, picked on regularly at school and then chastised (and even physically abused) for his shy nature by his father; y'know, to help him 'toughen up'. In that kind of environment, he dedicated himself to being just the opposite sort of man by applying himself to science; in my opinion, you do have a chance of developing into a good-natured adult despite that kind of upbringing, but it's much more difficult. Contrast that with Peter Parker, who had positive role-models growing up, Octavius became cold and mean-spirited towards everyone, resenting anyone that did not bow to his genius.
Skipping ahead to this new development, Otto has apparently learned the error of his ways after Parker forced his own memories and experiences into his old foe's mind. This did not happen in a shallow way, merely in word; it was a truly humbling event for Ock, worthy of an actual breakdown of the mind and soul, and this is where I believe the real virtue of 'Superior Spider-Man' appears, because it is the start of his development of real humanity. To draw a parallel, I believe that part of the success of the second Spider-Man movie, with Alfred Molina as Otto Octavius, was because of the character being so relatable.
To begin, I have already displayed an admission by Ock, in one of my prior entries, in which he states the importance of being Spider-Man and how he does not want to turn his back on being a good-guy, no matter how difficult it is. At the very least, this is light evidence that he has changed as an individual, but we should not simply take words; without works as evidence, what good would it do us? While he also brags on his achievements in the role of the hero quite often, he also admits to many of Parker's triumphs - his perseverance comes up most often of all, namely through all of the trials that Ock himself put the man through. This could be interpreted as being rather self-congratulatory, as if to say 'he really had to try in order to beat me', but at the same time, it also forces him to view his personal shortcomings and failures as an individual.
Figures One and Two: In 'Avenging Spider-Man' #15.1, Ock admits that his old self, a 'pontificating' fool, was 'found wanting'. He does so while fighting off some of his security devices when entering one of his old hideouts, ironically facing down a recording of 'himself'. He feels that he has seen his past mistakes, that he was never as smart or as strong as he always thought, and it is now time to actually live up to his own sense of self-worth.
Secondly, we have also seen Ock show remorse for some of his previous crimes. Should he ever have to face some sort of judgment for all those capers and schemes, I am still not sure how much guilt he would admit, but he has shown a desire to fix the damage done. Figure Three: In 'Superior' #8, Ock has been confronted with one of his own victims, a small girl who suffered brain damage after his 'Ends of the Earth' plot to superheat the Earth. He sees that this is the result of his old ways, the casualties of his 'genius'. Not only does he surrender a device that will help in her recovery, he insists upon performing the surgery himself. Earlier in the issue, he has a conversation with Black Widow in which she mentions a common desire to 'balance your books' after a past mistake, and it is here he decides to truly begin that process. After the surgery's success, the little girl gives Ock her prized stuffed animal, and he absolutely revels in this new kind of victory - applying his talents towards helping others, he realizes, was the correct path all along. He gets recognition AND others benefit from it.
Third, Ock has been developing as a person across his new career as a good-guy; we are seeing more and more about little things that make him tick. He has just started seeing a woman, a physics major named Anna Marconi, giving him a chance to show off just what a caring and unshallow person he is (Anna is a gifted woman, and also happens to be a little person). When she trips and nearly drops some dry ice on herself, he grabs it himself and suffers from the burn on his skin; he also shows a bit of overzealous romanticism by literally flipping the car of a man who teased Anna for her height earlier (a fairly villainous thing to do, perhaps, but that kind of visceral reaction is also all-too human). For Figure Four, back in 'Superior' #15.1 again, Ock stays up all night redesigning his costume; this includes developing some new HUD lenses for his mask, and the process keeps him occupied through all hours. Ock truly has a passion for his work, the pursuit of advancements in technology, the thrill of working towards a new goal.
He's still a bit rude, and he's still a bit full of himself - you don't get over that kind of thing so easily, and it could be considered just a part of his character. It might be too convenient to simply write that kind of thing away, if he were suddenly the perfect paragon. He is, however, learning, because Figure Five ('Superior' #6AU) shows that Ock has learned an important lesson of why he failed so often as a villain. When you think so highly of yourself that you can't see your own faults, you try to do everything yourself, and thus under-utilize your resources. When he tries - and fails - to take on Ultron all by himself, he sees that a plan devised by Tony Stark might have worked if he hadn't been too arrogant to go along with it. (Yes, admittedly all this takes place in an Alternate Reality, but it's still the same person, and he'll undoubtedly learn the same lesson when something similar happens in the main continuity.)
Because of all this development, I feel that there is strong reason to differentiate this series as a simple, dismissible contrivance. At the very least, it'd be an awful waste to just turn around and write off all this stuff if/when they decide to put Peter Parker back behind the wheel again, because there's a lot of growth happening.