Since Amazing Fantasy #15, Peter Parker has been a hero protecting the innocent as Spider-man. 50 years later, Peter Parker has fought until his dying breath in The Amazing Spider-Man #700 against a villain that has been trouble from very early in Spidey’s career, Dr. Otto Octavius or Doc Ock. If you don’t want to know what exactly happened to Peter or are waiting to receive this now scarce comic, please skip over the italicized paragraph….you’ve been warned.
SPOILERS
So, in an ongoing story arc fighting Doc Ock, Spiderman and Doc Ock have their minds swapped and end up in each others bodies. By the end of the comic, Peter is dead while still inside Ock’s body, and leaving the Doc as the web slinger, whew! He then vows to become a stronger hero without limitations named The Superior Spider-Man and he gets his own series beginning in February.
Fans did not take this well at all. It’s always tough for comic book readers to accept change but this is just so far fetched to not expect some sort of extreme opinions. With some of the major characters that have died and resurrected over the years, I think fans would’ve appreciated something a little more realistic and honest to put such an iconic character to rest. I wouldn’t be surprised if he comes back from the dead or was buried alive…only time will tell. RIP Peter Parker, you’ll be missed sir.
I can accept change in a comic book when it’s relevant to the character/book, but the events that happened in ASM #700 were so moronic that I can’t understand how any true Spider-Man can enjoy them. To me, this is ALMOST as bad as One More Day (where Peter made a deal with the devil and the marriage of both him and Mary Jane was erased from history). To think that Spider-Man was once one of my favourite characters is almost hard to believe. The complete and utter nonsense that Marvel’s put the character through over the last half-decade has been cheap and disrespectful to the stories/creators that came before. At least I can rest knowing that this new status quo shouldn’t continue longer than between now and the release of the next Amazing Spider-Man film. On a plus note, the two back-up stories in ASM #700 were highly enjoyable, as was the return of Stan Lee to the “final” ASM letter pages.
I just finished reading ASM #700, tisk tisk tisk. I am not even going to bother with Superior Spiderman. The story on 700 was just simply not good. I to agree, they’ve put Parker and Spiderman characters through so much that it’s just disrespectful to go this route. I suppose theres an en inevitable return of Peter at some point later down the road. I’ll look forward to that.