Superior Spider-Man celebrates its 10th anniversary with a prelude issue that brings back Superior Spider-Man creator Dan Slott to weave a new tale for the maniacal web-head. Doc Ock’s memories of his past are missing, and in order for him to regain his memories he needs to return to his lab and regain what he lost.
Dan Slott returns with an anniversary issue that sets up events for things to come. I wasn’t sure if the book was going to hold up given the current state of the Spider-Man line of books and whether this would get lost in the shuffle. Thankfully, this book fits in line with the tone of the original run since much of this issue is focused on Otto Octavius trying to reclaim his memories from his time as Spider-Man and the conflict of what occurred during his time in his tenure as Spider-Man. The consequences of his early tenure as Spider-Man gives way to a new threat that blasts its way into the present. Much of this book feels like classic Superior, reminding readers of what Otto was like as a cold and calculating Spider-Man along with the quirky cast of characters that he befriended in the original series. The central conflict garners interest as to what Otto did in the past that unlocks something dangerous that poses a threat to him and anyone associated with him from his past life. It was a little concerning due to whether or not it was a good idea to bring back this series and whether it had anything of note that was worth checking out, but It was surprisingly compelling as a book that it made me curious as where Slott plans to take Otto this time around after a decade away from the character.
The entire art team from the original Slott run all return to illustrate the book with stylized splash pages, layouts and compositions that remind readers why they liked the original series. Each artist such as Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos, Giuseppe Camuncoli, and Mark Bagley all deliver what they do best and it works in the book’s favor as a visually fun book to read through. John Dell, JP Mayer, and Victor Olazaba do good on inking duties, along with Edgar Delgado on colorwork. Joe Caramagna delivers on the color work, keeping in tune to what the original lettering was like in the original run, providing familiarity and cohesiveness to the tone of the entire book. It’s a great refresher and jumping on point for new and veteran readers that are looking for a fun Spider-Man book and is one that’s worth checking out for new comic book day.
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