#too bad the “carrying Law mini-arc” is already over

[l-in-the-light]

The most embarrassing series of posts about Lawlu you will ever read: edition Dressrosa (part 7)

The soap opera in sunny Dressrosa continues! Let's take a look at Luffy's turn to act overprotective!

Luffy protecting both Torao and Moocy never really gets old. Also look at the last image to the right, Luffy is doing his gatling, and I think it's the first time Law sees it. His eyes are hidden and I get the vibe he's actually impressed. I mean, who wouldn't be, gatling is one of Luffy's coolest attacks :D Luffy's is unaware of course, too focused on his task.

The moment Law speaks up, no matter the chaos and screaming around, Luffy's attention is instantly directed fully towards him (the "Hmm?" bubble). That's how much he's interested in whatever Torao is going to say.

"I've braced myself for this" says Law, and Luffy is so confused by that statement. He doesn't realize yet that Law needs time to adjust or get ready mentally, especially since he's so stubborn. And sometimes he just needs a push. I think Luffy will remember this and use it later, never maliciously though, but to help Law open up to new friendships heh.

It took Law a really long time to actually reach his resolve to beat up Doflamingo as well. Luffy is listening closely. If you read my analysis of Luffy and Law's friendship, you know this is the moment when Luffy might be thinking "I already knew you wanted to punch him up as well".

Law is actually opening up here, it's only like two sentences but I bet it took him a lot to say it, that's how much he actually trusts Luffy. He just told him something he never really shared with people (with exception of Bepo, Penguin and Shachi). And Luffy's mesmerized face says it all. He didn't expect it, he's full of feelings, probably thanks to the trust Law shows here. Luffy never wants to hear about people's past, not even of his own crewmates, because he doesn't have to know anything to want to help them (though he occassionaly listens to his friends like Rebecca), but here it's different. He wants to know, he's interested in Law and his life, probably even his previous adventures.

And again, the very moment Law speaks up, Luffy turns to him to listen. Never ignoring him. Why would he, if Law returns the favour every single time as well? Those two never ignore each other.

Also this moment is funny when put into context, because it happens soon after the enemies were shooting at them, and I guess this is the moment Trafalgar Law finally declared "Nopes, I won't tolerate it any longer, uncuff me finally". Took him long enough.

Luffy here is like "You worry too much, this is an adventure, remember?", because Luffy said something similar back on Sunny when Law worried and it worked that time, so he did basically the same here. He doesn't like Law to worry so much. Sadly, that did not work this time around, I wonder why hm. Luffy clearly smiles here for Law, to cheer him up, he wasn't really smiling before, instead he was constantly in his serious mode.

Law meanwhile worries his ass off again, realizing this can't go on forever like this (he is kinda right about it). This might be also the moment Luffy realized that Law likes to overworry, but Luffy doesn't mind. Law might be way too serious, worry all the time and complain, but for Luffy he will still be the coolest person in the world. He accepts him just the way he is and likes him for that. It's the same for all Luffy's crewmates as well, so it's not that outstanding or exceptional here, but still heartwarming.

They're totally on same page here. One mind.

There's something special about Luffy picking up the snail that belongs to Torao and introducing himself as future king of the pirates <3

Luffy: I told you not to worry!

Law: How could I have not?!

Luffy even makes sure to ask Robin how they will reach them and he does it just so Law won't worry too much anymore. Normally Luffy wouldn't even bother asking something like that.

Law is probably relieved here. Still, he scolds Luffy for his carefree attitude.

Luffy caring more for Moocy and Law than himself here. Supports Law with his hand. No wonder, he carried him all the way through Dressrosa, he's probably very aware how weak Law is here so he's trying to help and support him as well.

Law's worry just went overdrive, because he realized Luffy is gonna put himself in a very dangerous spot. I guess he knows by now how much Luffy cares about people and animal companions.

Luffy looks like he's kinda supporting Law there with the hand on his arm, which probably reflects the title of this chapter "palm" (one of the two possible meanings, the other is the heart key in Doflamingo's palm). He's literally holding Law here in his "battle" with Mingo.

Even Doflamingo thinks Law became "softhearted". He mocks him for sticking with Luffy, but Law's not having any of that. He's sticking with his choice to the very end, even when Mingo tries to kill him right here and now, blaming Law for being weak and dying miserably like that. Law has no way of defending himself besides his words, but he already made his choice. If anything, I think the only regret he would have would be if Luffy died here together with him.

Luffy's also alright with this, he wouldn't do anything differently, because Luffy doesn't want to live with regrets anyway. If it means he's dying here with Law, then so be it.

They realized Mingo actually did save them just to mock them. They both feel extremely humiliated about it. Luffy doesn't even have to feel this way just for Law, but I think in large part he does. He didn't feel humiliated when he learned Kuma send Strawhats away to save them. He didn't feel that way either when Robin saved him in Alabasta, in fact he instead tried to thank her. But as long as Law has a grudge against Mingo, Luffy is not gonna say "thanks" to him no matter what. Sorry Mingo, you should have been nicer to Law.

Yeah, poor Law, can't even complain outloud (after all he did tell Luffy to leave Moocy behind so complaining about it now would be unfair) and it feels like he's too close to other people. This can't be comfortable knowing what we know about him.

Before Kyros hopped in, Cavendish was in front and Luffy in the back, and Law in the middle. When they rode Moocy it was the same, with Luffy in front, and Zoro in the back. They keep positioning Law in the middle to protect him.

Remember when Law was taken aback by Luffy's silly competitiveness and stubborness? Law's not even out of the cuffs yet but he's ready to compete in this field. To be fair, it's also because he wants again to keep Luffy out of trouble, but he's also just silly here with "Mingo is mine and mine alone to beat".

And the silly competitiveness continues on. Bargaining who has bigger grudge is very mature indeed. It's honestly funny how Law wants to protect Luffy but also doesn't want to look uncool or allow him to take all the credit. Those two are hopeless. This is even funnier because Law usually *doesn't* take credit. Luffy jumps on the bandwagon ofc just because he can (or he's still overprotective towards Law, isn't he?). He's probably secretly enjoying the fact he can actually compete with Law, no matter what it's about.

Luffy's concerned face here is also quite extraordinary. He worries because he feels responsible for protecting Law. Usually extra trouble doesn't even faze him. Now it does, but not because of himself, but for Law again. Those two really compete in overworrying about each other, don't they? Both afraid as much to lose the other.

Look, Luffy is directly in front of Law, protecting him with his body. Meanwhile Law has enough again, because he knows he could deal with that danger easily if not for the cuffs. He also wants to protect Luffy back after all. It shouldn't be strange he goes straight to business when Robin arrives, this is constantly on his mind: get rid of the cuffs so he can get rid of the enemies here. Law sometimes proves he also has a one-track mind, suspiciously often when it involves Luffy.

Again, they're on same page, matching each other's pace.

Luffy is with Rebecca exactly the same way Law was wtih Robin few moments ago. One-tracked mind again. Law probably reminded Luffy he can easily get rid of the enemies and Luffy is ready to bet on that.

Mirroring each other's tiredness with those huffs here. Luffy still looks pretty worried. Law meanwhile is putting up a confident front, maybe for Luffy to stop worrying over him. He would totally do something like that. Besides, he's just a show-off.

Same mind, again. No more fights over who will save the other! The determination is still there, tho.

Law tells Luffy to get moving and charges ahead first. But when Luffy stalls back to reassure Rebecca, Law isn't walking so fast anymore, he also changed the way he's carrying his sword. Most likely he stopped and waited for Luffy or walked slower, so that Luffy can easily catch up. If that's not a proof of him being actually a considerate person, then I don't know what this is. They agreed to do it together, so Law is just not leaving without Luffy. Luffy meanwhile runs to catch up to not make Law wait any longer.

"You never listen and toss yourself into trouble, Mugiwara-ya". I could swear he says it in his mind. Luffy's a bit confused, having flashback to Ace and I'm not sure if that's sweet or heartbreaking. After all Ace was the only person in Luffy's life who cared about him like that, worrying and covering up for him. Luffy's face is saying "this is oddly familiar", but he probably didn't realize yet that he just gained another person in his life who will treat him the same way from now on (or even has been already for quite a bit).

Luffy is so impressed with Law's powers. After all this is the very first time Law used it on Luffy.

Can I also just say that Law using his powers should be extremely intimidating: everything in his "room" is at his mercy and he can operate on objects and people in every possible way, but instead it's used here to show trust. Law wouldn't use his powers to harm Luffy, but he easily could have. He actually never uses his powers to hurt his allies and anyone asking him to shamble them shows trust in that. Of course Luffy wouldn't be concerned about this, because he knows and deeply believes Law to be a good person.

Law meanwhile completely refuses Luffy's compliment and instead throws it back at him "good thing you carried me so far away, I could save up my strength". Those two are insufferable like that, lol.

Luffy is so concerned when he hears Law making a painful noise <3 he's like "who hurt you?! Let me punch them!!" or "I hope you're not painful because of me!"

Plotting together their strategy against Mingo. Luffy is actually listening and trying to argue back, but not very effectively, judging from his expression. Law's resolve here can't be broken. Even Luffy can be taken aback by that. Besides, he again is in his "I don't want to disappoint Law" phase.

Both lowered their guard when a child approached them, ffs. And people would still doubt that Law never intended to hurt kids. He cares, it's just that sometimes he will discard that if someone else's life on the line Luffy's. But here? He's fully in his goody-goody self.

And here we go, facing Mingo together. What do you mean fighting side by side isn't a love confession??

Now it's time to go all crazy for the end of this post, all brakes are off! Let's talk about Law's coat here.

Yes, I did a picture case study, why do you ask?

Anyway, let's start from the left. We usually think that this symbol on Law's coat stands just for mockery of Doflamingo's jolly roger, right? But there are some things that don't truly fit. Why didn't Law just make it yellow? His own jolly roger is yellow, Doffy's jolly roger is yellow, yet the mocking symbol Law came up with is suddenly white? And why is yellow instead used only for the border of the circle? Doffy's jolly roger doesn't have an extra border like that. If Law wanted to just make it stand out more by using two different colors, then they should be reversed, right? The jolly roger yellow, the border white. And yet it's not. So it makes me think "yellow border" is an important detail.

And then I noticed that Bartolomeo also has a similar symbol on his back to Law's (on the right of the picture). An X with (his own, I presume) head over it. It kinda looks like a person doing a X pose. And Bartolomeo indeed does the X pose when he's excited over something, just look at him there. It could even refer to his setting up the barrier gesture, when he crosses his hands.

And yeah, that made me think... what if Law's symbol could be seen the same way? It's a person doing an X pose... with a strange yellow circle on his back. What could that be?

Yeah, I really wonder.

There is an image with Luffy doing an X pose with his strawhat off in previous picture for comparison. You can decide for yourself if this fits or not. It's basically a person doing a X pose with the strawhat dangling on the back. Now let's put it back on:

This is basically it lol. And "corazon" means heart, so yeah. Cheesy af.

Now let me quote you Oda from SBS to fill up any remaining blanks:

D: Question. On Law-san's coat, there is a logo that reads "corazan". Is this talking about the Cora-san that Law loves? Is Law's coat specially custom made?                                              

Oda: Yes. So, to be specific, the coat reads "Corazon (corazón)" rather than "Cora-san". In Spanish, this word means "heart". While this is in fact straight up Cora-san's code name, it can be said that there isn't really a problem with the captain of the "Heart Pirates" wearing this coat either. Even speaking ability-wise, Law is a "death surgeon" known with his unique skill of cutting people's' "hearts" out. While to society, it may seem like a symbol of fear and power, I'm quite positive that Law himself had "Cora-san" in mind. It's definitely custom made.

Few things to note here:

Law's clothes are custom made. I think that means he makes them himself. That's why they can have feathers and his jolly roger plastered all over them.

For Law it's important that his clothes refer to his own crew and that his jolly roger is always present on his clothes. It's his pride as the captain! So the "Corazon" stands also for "heart" as in "heart pirates". Seems he cares a lot about that, just look how Oda phrased it: "there's no problem with a Heart Pirates captain wearing a coat with Corazon word spelled out" because heart=corazon. Meanwhile it would be problematic if the captain wore a logo that doesn't belong with his crew, right? For Law that would be no good, he has a reputation to uphold!

Since he has his captain's pride to uphold, he can't make a direct reference to Luffy on his clothes. He hides it instead and makes stupid references that can be understood in more ways than one, but probably he's the only one who gets it.

That's why his coat actually serves three purposes: 1. His dedication to his own crew as their captain 2. mockery to Doflamingo, hoping it could work to provoke him 3. homage to Luffy, because someone is smitten beyond human comprehension, but will hide it in plain sight.

And let's cover the last track left: Law didn't yet have his coat on when they arrived at Dressrosa. Luffy already made his excited X pose when they stepped out and Law is there to witness it (two pictures above). Law's group is also the last to leave (Luffy is deep in his fight in collosseum before Law's group with Robin and Usopp are ready to go, and the meetup was somewhere around noon or later in Green Bit. Remember, it was 8 hours after their early morning ransom call!). In other words, Law had plenty of time to prepare his clothes. He either used thread and needle (a surgeon is probaly quite good with needle work, right?) or painted it, doesn't matter. Point stands. It is freaking possible.

And now I'm satisfied because I found a reason why the circle had to be yellow. Ahahaha. Hope you enjoyed my craziness, but please tell me it doesn't fit. It does, doesn't it?

[ominousflare]

It’s Been A While

So I haven’t been using tumblr for a long time (or used it that much to begin with), but since I’ve found myself some fellow Spider-Man fans here converse with, I feel I might as well become more active, or whatever.

Anyway, I might post my future Superior Spider-Man review here in the future once I get my lazy ass to finish it. I know, I know, it’s a five year old story. I’m incredibly late. Anyway, it’s also an incredibly long review, so I don’t know whether if I should post it here or just the link of it.

For now, I guess I’ll just post a past review of mine. Here’s a review of

ASM #698-700: Dying Wish

Well, it's finally happened. Peter Parker is dead. The bad guy wins. Happy 50th anniversary, Spider-fans! Hope you enjoyed watching your favorite hero kick the bucket on his special day! 

I'll be honest with you. I've been preparing for the worst. I was really uncomfortable with the idea of this arc just from reading about its details, that Doc Ock was going to swap brains with Spidey and assume his mantle. It sounded very gimmicky and contrived. Ever since "One More Day" happened, the Amazing Spider-Man comic seemed less like a character study of Peter Parker, with each story becoming a product the writers pitched as the next big thing to draw the readers of tomorrow and keep the book afloat for the next 10-20 years. Even Straczynski's run spent more time exploring the kind of person Peter was as a husband, adding new layers and depths to the hero, instead of turning each book into the blockbuster of the month. That being said... it's a good story. Not a great one, but certainly not the horrible nightmare some of us had hyperbolically generalized in a fit of panic. Somewhat disappointing, but not worth writing death threats about. And honestly, after reading an insightful article written by Cody Wilson of the ever-reliable Spiderfan.org, I realized that we were partially to blame for this "new direction" anyway. It's partly on us, the death of Spider-Man. We can gripe and complain about the writers, editors and Marvel's entire company all day long, but when it comes down to it, we have to face the facts: Spider-Man is a product, and business was booming in spite of all the supposedly "terrible" creative decisions they've made. And like any product, we the customers are a key source of how the business will be run. Over the years prior to ASM #700, Marvel had been selling us different ideas by introducing story elements that would later be used again in "Dying Wish," and our feedback to those elements in earlier stories was what ultimately led to the "Superior Spider-Man," the book that would replace "The Amazing Spider-Man" title for better or worse - at least for a year and 33 issues. Through this review, I hope to address these "elements" and analyze which of them worked for me and which merely raised my anxiety levels.

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO, I CAN DO BETTER

This wasn't the first time a supervillain stole Peter Parker's identity. Back in ASM #602, Chameleon seemingly "killed" Peter in an acid pool and subsequently went about the rest of the day being him; even interacting with Peter's acquaintances and friends. Having the eccentric behavior of improving the lives of whomever he had disguised as, Chameleon did a few selfish things, including punching Mary-Jane's stalker (with the butt of a gun), calling Flash Thompson "Puny Flash" the way he called Peter years ago, and moving Harry's homeless butt into Peter's home. These "improvements" Chameleon made in Peter's life were well-received by readers, myself included, thereby providing Marvel the first piece of the puzzle they needed. I have to admit, Peter calling the ex-bully "Puny Flash" was a guilty pleasure on its own, giving payback to the football star after so long. On the other hand, he's a crippled war hero, so it was still a scummy thing to say. And while it could be fun to see someone carry out these naughty deeds in Peter's favor - doing and saying things some of us wish Peter would just have the guts to do - it could also lead to some really creepy scenes. Let's not forget, these were bad people taking over Peter's life, Octavius the sociopathic egomaniac included. In ASM #602, Chameleon made out with Peter's roommate, who wasn't aware who she was really kissing under that mask; this lack of consent was tantamount to an act of rape.

And then in #700, Otto (in Peter's body) was clearly thinking of having sex with MJ, a woman who would be unaware of the real person she's really sleeping with. This would eventually lead to some even more sleazy storyline in the "Superior Spider-Man," which I'll touch on in the future. Playing devil's advocate for a bit, one could argue that crippling a woman and stripping her naked to show how evil a villain is was in poor taste too, yet Killing Joke was held by millions as some gold standard of storytelling. What Dan Slott wrote seemed trivial by comparison.

KILL HIM TWICE, SHAME ON YOU

There's a reason why "Death of Spider-Man" worked in the Ultimate universe: Peter Parker died being known to his world as a hero, giving us a fitting finality. In the 616 universe, on the other hand? He died leaving a villain perving on his ex-girlfriend! What kind of finality was that?! What a way to shit all over our favorite hero! Of all the feedback Marvel took into consideration, this had to be the dumbest. It's like simple math to them: "People loved Ultimate Death of Spider-Man, therefore they must be okay with killing off 616 Peter Parker and replacing him with a murdering sociopath on his 50th birthday." Unfortunately, the best storytelling is anything but simple math. And unlike USM, the moments right before Peter's death here felt rushed. Ultimate Spider-Man had the benefit of "Ultimate Fallout", a mini series dedicated to addressing how everyone reacted to the death of such a great hero. Amazing Spider-Man didn't have that advantage and had to slap together several "closures" to end the book, including MJ finally confessing to Otto-Peter her love for him, Jonah Jameson finally approving of Spidey as a legit hero, and Peter experiencing a dream sequence where everyone he cared about who died came back to greet and thank him - all within a single issue. These "closures" should have been, in my opinion, focused on in an entirely separate issue of their own, not crammed together with the already crowded plot of #700. It ended up reading like a last minute homework assignment written hastily to beat the deadline.

There's also another thing that bothered me about Peter's final moments. Using the last remnant of his energy in Octavius' dying body, Peter was somehow able to channel the memories in his own body and forced Otto to experience all the guilt and pain he ever felt being Spider-Man. Afterwards, he almost seemed content to pass on the mantle to Doc Ock. Why was he so content with letting this potential killer take over his role as Spidey, and why would his dying wish be for Otto to take care of MJ and his loved ones? He's a selfish and self-centered jerk who only ever cared about himself! Why would he trust him?! No matter how sympathetic Otto came across, and no matter how desperate Peter was, it just didn't make sense. I wish there would have been at least a last desperate struggle on Peter's part to resist letting this psycho do whatever he wanted with his powers, not quietly accept his takeover. In fact, it would have made more sense if Peter had gone to the Avengers or the Fantastic Four instead, where he could have made it his last request to have them stop Doc Ock. Not to mention, they would have bought this "mind-swap" story a lot more than Carlie - who shot him multiple times when he tried to tell her the truth - did.

DRACO IN LEATHER PANTS

The third feedback Marvel collected was the sympathetic side of Octavius. There were a number of stories detailing this, depicting him as a frail young boy in the past who had aspired to be scientist (just like Peter Parker). And there's grounds for such sympathy too, for Otto never received the proper grooming Peter had, thereby being an ideal mirror of Spidey (much like the Joker and Batman). This ambiguous side of Octavius' morality was well-received, along with, of course, Spider-Man 2, where he was made into an even more sympathetic antagonist than his comic counterpart. Yet, the decision to place a murderer behind the mask of the webbed hero for a long period of time is strange and definitely inappropriate. Octavius is tied to at least three deaths, two of which were intentional: Bradley Miles in "Peter Parker: Spider-Man" Vol. 2 #40, James Warden in "Spider-Man/Doctor Octopus: Negative Exposure" #4, and the accidental death of George Stacy in ASM #90. Would that be appropriate for the kids reading this? Spidey's been a huge recognizable icon all over the world, and now kids are going to follow in the footsteps of this scum who thinks it's okay to break the other criminals' jaws or just straight up kill them (the latter of which we'll see in "Superior" later on)? With the recent "racial/sexual diversity" movement a more political Marvel was trying to gun for, I'm surprised they would risk such an idea in our SJW climate, not to mention the aforementioned sexual aggression towards MJ.

Again, there is potential for a good story here... if it's a tale of redemption, which would only work if Octavius turns himself in. Unfortunately, a move like that could possibly end the Spider-Man books for good (unless Peter returns), which is the exact opposite of why Marvel shook things up with this brain-swap in the first place (to keep the sales of Spider-Man books from dying). And even if the books continue with Otto being some kind of anti-hero vigilante hunted by the law, there's no way Spider-Man fans (and probably many parents) could approve of a murderer remaining as the new face of the inspiring hero for long. I think Marvel knew that. Marvel's not stupid. And we knew that Marvel's not stupid, so I'm sure lots of people have speculated Peter Parker's return long before he did. What I don't know is why Marvel even bothered to hide it. It's kinda an obvious eventuality. But when all is said and done, I admit that the idea of a Spider-Man who's not so morally clean does intrigue me, somewhat. Over the years, Spidey cutting loose and unleashing all the strength and powers in him can be cathartic. While it was his integrity that made him an amazing character we could look up to, there was also an underlying pleasure in seeing him punish those who deserve it; in seeing him get a little dirty to get things done. So to have "SpOck" (god that's an awful nickname) stay for a while before Peter eventually come back? I'm actually okay with that. I wouldn't mind seeing a "dark and gritty" chapter for Spider-Man. However, a key reason I would like this approach lies in a factor that applies to me: I haven't read the other darker Spider-Man spin-offs, which brings us to our final feedback and problem.

DARKNESS WITHOUT LIGHT BREEDS APATHY

There were two other Spider-Man spin-offs around the time this story arc was released. "Scarlet Spider" (Vol. 2) and Venom (Vol. 2), both of which received very favorable reviews (Venom, in particular), and were darker takes on the Spider-Man theme of power and responsibility (Scarlet Spider, in particular, since he's literally a clone of Peter Parker). If I want a darker story, I would read either of those. The only reason I didn't was because I only have enough time for Spidey alone. No time for the myriad amount of spin-offs out there. And now a third dark Spider-story is introduced, filled with murders and bloodshed - and believe me, there will be blood. I've mentioned before that I love dark stories. I live for them. They can touch on our basest emotions and provide us a form of catharsis the lighter and warmer tales couldn't. But this is another case of businessmen blindly relying on the numbers without considering the context. Too much darkness can ultimately lead to indifference in your audience, not to mention the fact that the "lighter" stories have their place in storytelling too, offering something dark stories couldn't either: hope, and moral inspiration.

Batman is an amazing character. His stories (often through his rogues' gallery) delve into a complex analysis of the human mind; of our darkest and most frightening emotions and personalities. But not everyone likes reading Batman, and even Batman fans probably don't want every superhero to be like Batman either! That would just dilute his unique quality. Besides, would you want all your heroes to be brooding or morally complex? Did you enjoy the dark and morose Superman in Batman v. Superman or even Man of Steel? Sometimes, we just want heroes to be heroes! Not straight up kill criminals without offering redemption like The Punisher and Wolverine! We already have those in the Marvel universe! Sigh. I'm merely playing devil's advocate here. As I've mentioned, 'Spotto Octavius' wasn't going to stay for the long-term, so it's fine. A temporary period of dark Spider-Man stories is fine. For me. But I do have to put my foot down and lay out what a darker Spider-Man means for the world, and why both writers and business executors alike must be careful not to push the scale too far. Balance. There must always be balance in all things. Take it from Thanos. 

WAS THIS STORY ANY GOOD?

I talked a lot about the aspects that came to piece together this Frankenstein monster. But was the story entertaining in its own right? The short answer is yes, especially #698. That first part of the story was truly like Doc Ock said, a magic trick. It began with an ordinary day in the life of Spidey. Nothing seemed unusual. But by the end of it, I was left slack-jawed and so utterly impressed by Slott that I had to read the ending twice to see if I had misread something. The second and third issues went a step further. Essentially, the entire story arc could be summed up with "Peter trying to get back into his own body." But after we knew Peter was running out of time, the pacing of the story started to pick up really, really quickly. The readers would be as concerned as Peter, and at that time, nobody knew what was really going to happen because there was an announcement around that time that "The Amazing Spider-Man" book would come to an end. It's a real page-turning thriller in spite of its simple premise. Most gut-wrenching of all, they made Peter plead for his life. On his birthday.

Talk about a punch to the gut. Brings back tearful memories ("I don't want to go, Mr. Octavius"). Humberto Ramos' art really didn't help things. His depiction of Peter trapped in a dying body was a horrifying sight to endure for me. You could see all the horrid details; his skin decaying, his eye-socket popping out, and blood spilling out everywhere. I could only imagine how painful Peter's final moments were. No wonder many fans were outraged. This wasn't an honorable death in the arms of his loved ones like Ultimate Spider-Man; it was pure torture. Does Dan Slott actually hate Peter Parker? Still, I have to give credit where it's due. It's an emotional story (albeit for the wrong reasons at times), and it's a really ballsy one too where the bad guy actually won. And it wasn't just any bad guy either - it was one of Spidey's biggest bads of all. Since Norman Osborn had already became an Avenger villain, it made sense for the next biggest Spider-Man villain in line, Doc Ock, to be the one who would finally do him in. Now onto the other question: do I like the overall story? No. I don't hate it as much as certain stories in the past (marriage and The Devil come to mind), but on principle, I can't accept this story. I know why they made this story. It's almost the same thing as One More Day. I'm guessing the sales for ASM must have been dropping. And even if it wasn't, even if I'm completely wrong about the comparisons to OMD, I still don't like how shoddily his death was treated. I don't mind a Spider-Man death - I LOVED "Death of Ultimate Spider-Man." It respected and really reminded us why Spidey was the hero we loved. This story felt like just another rushed effort by Dan Slott to clean up the book and move onto the thing he seemingly loved more, Spotto Octavius "The Superior Spider-Man," a book that he's written far better than his entire run in ASM. Are we sure Dan is a Spider-Man fan? Or did he just like Otto?

To clarify, I don't begrudge Dan. It's more of the corporate decisions of Marvel executives that I'm so infuriated about. It's always the executives at one point or another whenever we are talking about a creatively-skewed story. And while his work might have been sloppy throughout most of his run, I was reminded recently that it might be due to Marvel pushing him with agendas and deadlines, so again, not his fault. What's done is done. And I've already began reading "Superior", even as I'm writing this. It's not bad, and it's everything I expected: an extremist Spidey willing to cross the line to get things done. I like it, just not how we got there. I mean, give me a break, Peter was my hero. Is it too much that I wanted a death that wasn't as insulting? At the least, I wish that "dream sequence" I mentioned was more than just a dream, and everyone Peter cared about actually came to pat him on the back for doing a good job, that it was time for him to rest. The fact that it was only a dream felt like the final slap to his face. "Good job, hero. Now get the f*** out of here."

Final Rating: Two webs out of five

I was going to give this story three webs initially. I really did. But looking back now at how Peter's death was treated, I feel more infuriated than satisfied, and also annoyed that it was just another corporate decision that never stuck, since he would come back later anyway. It cheapened the already cheapened idea of the comic book death. Now, even one of the most iconic heroes of all time suffered from the tired cliche of meaningless death.

Next time, I shall finally witness the birth of this supposedly "Superior Spider-Man" and see if Otto could truly surpass our lovable Pete as the hero we deserve: