Better than expected but still jarring and inconsistent in terms of character reactions and such. Still engaging enough to want to see where Slott & Co are going with this. ( )

A bit slow to get started, but by the end this shows some serious promise. Looking forward to the next one. ( )

Dr. Otto Octavius, known as Doc Ock, upon finding himself dying swaps minds with Peter Parker. This gave him Parker's experiences and his need to be Spider-Man and remember that the greater the power the higher the responsibility. So Doc Ock became Superior Spider-Man and has taken over Peter Parker's life. Parker is still inside his body but not in control though he can influence Doc Ock.

Spider-Man goes up against the new Sinister Six including Overdrive, Living Brain, New Beatle, Electrorang, and Speed Demon. They get away but he stops them from doing what they came there to do. But he will go up against them again when they attack the lab, Horizon Labs, where Parker works at and he'll get them then.

He keeps trying to get back together with Mary Jane Watson who wants to take it slowly. But he isn't interested in going slow with her for very long. Also, Claire, who works for the NYPD and was there when Doc Ock died has a memory of Doc Ock saying to not kill him because he is Spider-Man. But Claire is recovering from the Vulture's attack and staying with Mary Jane for a while. She is the only one to sense that something might be off.

Spider-Man will go up against the Vulture and his minions and decide to go back to college in order to get his doctorate because he can't abide not being called Dr. Peter Parker. This is a fabulous start to a new series. This book really explores the way Spider-Man is himself and how Doc Ock makes improvements to his way of doing things. Parker is still trying to control Doc Ock and he is barely keeping him from killing anyone. But that could change. The art is great and this book is really good. I give it five out of five stars. ( )

So, I bought this because I started reading "Amazing Spider-Man: The Parker Luck" and realized I had no clue what was going on. Like, none. I could have powered through and figured it out (I've done it before in similar situations), but as I pressed on I found that, despite knowing next to nothing about her, I really liked Anna Maria Marconi. And I wanted to know where she came from. And also, what is all this talk about Otto Octavius being Spider-Man? What is even up with that?

So I happened to pick this one up on sale and, though I have to say I'm still lost (and will probably be figuring out the story line that came before this one to try to get the skinny on the body-switching fiasco), I am not even sorry. I need to find the rest of the series and figure out how exactly Otto handles being a good guy for once. I'm cringing at the same time I'm rooting for the guy. It's weird, twisted, and so very interesting. ( )

It's interesting to see Otto and Peter learning from each other in this collection. Otto's starting to gain some respect for what Peter had to cope with, and his solutions to that burden are giving Peter a lot of food for thought. It seems inevitable that one day, Peter will regain control and be restored as the one true Spider-Man - and when that happens, it will be interesting to see how he applies those lessons. Perhaps he will truly become THE superior Spider-Man...

Incidentally, I'd love to see a breakdown of the new outfit's capabilities. I'll admit that I haven't kept up with the series for a while, but it looks like some serious changes have happened between Amazing 700 and Superior 1. I get that there's no room in the issues for that sort of features, but it'd be a heckuva bonus feature for one of the collections. Come to think of it, that could make for a neat poster...and I'll give 'em bonus points if they incorporate some of the features into the movie franchise! ( )