Superior Spider-Man #13
Part three of No Escape and if there was ever a reason to question picking up this book, you’d surely want to for the conclusion to this story. If you ever got tired of Otto saying that he was superior and more superior than Peter, he surely has proven time and time again that this may just be fact.
This whole storyline has been what I believe to be Slott answering that question as to what you will do to find a permanent solution when slapping a band-aid on it just isn’t enough. In this case death was the only solution. Sure Spider Slayer only wanted to escape from the prison, but he still murdered many to be sentenced to death, killed more trying to get free, and would have killed more to make sure nothing got in his way. This is what any villain would do in his situation and honestly I commend Slott for taking this approach to that scenario. It goes against the status quo and that change in perspective gives you a fresh take on what it means to be a hero, when the end justifies the means.
People have problems with the dialogue, but it really is not as bad as readers make it out to be when it’s the context that is most important. Like Peter, his past is what shapes his future and when given the responsibility of a hero, that is what influences him. He has just as much conviction as anyone else in his position and that is what’s seen in this storyline. Sure he was willing to let everyone in that shield die just to fulfill his promise to put and end to Spider Slayer, but he still knew that logic said stopping him as priority was the only way to save everyone. If you ask me, Slott understands what it means to sacrifice and take advantage of the way Otto operates.
His use of Lizard, though short made all the difference when he was able to show again that not everyone is purely evil or can’t be redeemed for their actions.
This issue delivered on what we have come to expect from Otto as he becomes the hero that he wants to be. There’s nothing more or less that you could want from him and in the end the only thing you have to question is his intentions. Always thinking, expanding, love him or hate him he is doing a better job of being a hero than most who have been one since the start. What you may take from this overall is the flaws of both heroes and villains and how it only takes a genius to be able to exploit them in a manner that is most efficient.
