Superior Spider-Man #13
The Slayers and the Slain
The Spider-Slayer is attempting to escape the Raft on the day of his execution. Instead of rescuing potential hostages, Spider-Man is heading right for his foe. He thinks about how, as Doctor Octopus, he was left to die in the Raft and refuses to allow himself to die here after he stole the life of Peter Parker.[1] Connected with Smyth via radio, Spider-Man vows to end his life by the end of the day.
Unaware of that he is facing a totally different Spider-Man than he has faced in the past, the Spider-Slayer suggests to the wall-crawler to let him go in order to save the lives of the innocent people trapped in the prison with him. Unfortunately, Otto Octavius is not as altruistic as Peter Parker once was and comes crashing into the room to fight Alistair to the death.
Meanwhile, in the room where Smythe was to be executed, a group of people who had come to see his end are kept safe in a force field created by Spider-Man’s spider-bots. This group includes Norah Winters from the Daily Bugle, mayor J. Jonah Jameson’s secretary Glory Grant, Raft head of security Ted Shipley, a priest, and Alistair’s lawyer. The Vulture suddenly enters the room and begins destroying the spider-bots in order to shut down the force field. However, Norah, Glory and the others all try to appeal to the Vulture to spare their lives.[2] Listening to their offers, the Vulture decides to think it over. However, Shipley doesn’t trust the Vulture to do the right thing and tells his guards to get ready to shoot him the moment the force field goes down.
Elsewhere in the building, J. Jonah Jameson hunts for the Spider-Slayer when he is ambushed by the Scorpion. The Scorpion looks forward to killing the man he hates the most when he suddenly saved by the Lizard, who had just escaped his cell.[3] When the Scorpion calls the creature a mindless monster, it reveals that it is actually Curt Connors trapped in the Lizard’s body.[4] When Jonah tries to escape, the Scorpion blocks his path. Meanwhile, the force field keeping the others safe begins to dissipate, making those inside wonder what the Vulture will plan to do once they are free.
The battle between Spider-Man and the Spider-Slayer rages on until Otto breaks Smythe’s arm. Still underestimating his foe, Alistair surrenders figuring Spider-Man will spare his life in order to save the others. Instead, Spider-Man takes one of Smythe’s own mechanical tendrils and impales him through the heart, killing him. Spider-Man explains that if he let the Spider-Slayer live it will endanger more lives than if he allowed it to live.
With Smythe dead, it causes the cybernetic enhancements on his allies to shut down and fall from their bodies. This leaves the Scorpion defenseless allowing Jameson and the Lizard to leave and get someone to contain him. At the same time, Spider-Man finds a disarmed Boomerang and webs him up before he can try to escape. While in another part of the prison the Vulture’s cybernetic enhancements fall apart as well leaving him blind once again. This does little to appease Ted and his fellow soldiers who quickly move to incapacitate the criminal. The priest quickly scolds Shipley for using such force on a defenseless man.
That’s when they are joined by Jonah, the Lizard, and Spider-Man who tells them the danger has passed and suggests they all get some fresh air. However, Shipley refuses to go anywhere until the Lizard is shackled up again, something that Connor’s allows despite Jameson’s protests. However, once they are outside, they are confronted by the body of Alistair Smythe. Although he is dead, his cybernetics are still functioning and programmed to kill them all. The corpse injures the Lizard and then murder Shipley. Spider-Man then tackles the threat and knocks him onto the rocks at the edge of the Raft. There, Alistair reveals that his brain is still alive and that Spider-Man has fallen into his trap and attempts to transfer his consciousness into Spider-Man’s mind. However, Otto has forseen this and has a protective shield under his mask to block such an attempt. Otto then gloats, revealing to Smythe that he is actually Doctor Octopus and mocking his legacy just moments before Smythe’s brain finally dies, taking Otto’s secret with him to the grave.
In the aftermath of the battle, Spider-Man informs everyone that the Spider-Slayer is dead. Soon everyone is on a boat back to Manhattan where J. Jonah Jameson is expected to hold a press conference despite the ordeals of the day. Spider-Man takes this opportunity to speak to Jonah and private and uses his recording of Jameson telling Spider-Man to kill Smythe. Jonah is furious to see Spider-Man resorting to blackmail. He also realizes that he has no choice because if the video got out it would ruin his entire career and land him in jail. Later, at the press conference, Jonah thanks Spider-Man for his help and announces that the city of New York is giving Spider-Man the Raft to use as his base of operations. Spider-Man then announces that he will be renaming the prison, calling it Spider-Island Two.[5] As Otto poses for the cameras, he thinks about how he has now finally be able to shake off the restraints Peter Parker’s life has imposed upon him and finally forge his own destiny.
Once he has been given control of the Raft, Spider-Man puts in a call to hire trained ex-military soldiers who can become his new minions. After sending the specs for their uniforms, Otto is inspired to create a new costume for himself and begins working on devices that will finally make him the superior Spider-Man, the greatest hero of them all.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Spider-Slayer, Scorpion, Boomerang, Vulture, J. Jonah Jameson, Lizard, Glory Grant, Norah Winters
Continuity Notes
Otto Octavius was trapped in a dying body since Amazing Spider-Man #600. He ended up locked up in the Raft to die following his failed attempt to destroy the world in Amazing Spider-Man #682-687. Otto later escaped death by taking over Spider-Man’s body in Amazing Spider-Man #698-700.
Norah Winters mentions how Adrian Toomes has a grandson and asks if this is the legacy he wants for the boy. It was revealed that the Vulture had a grandson in Marvel Knights: Spider-Man #7.
Mac Gargan has a huge mad on for J. Jonah Jameson because Jonah funded the experiment that turned him into the Scorpion back in Amazing Spider-Man #20.
Curt Connors ended up trapped in the Lizard’s body after it’s last attempt to try at destroying the human race. Until now, Connors left his returned personality a secret finding his incarceration a fitting punishment for all the crimes he committed, the worst of these crimes being the death of his own son, Billy Connors. See Amazing Spider-Man #630-633 and 688-691.
This is a tongue-in-cheek reference to when Manhattan was dubbed Spider-Island when it was infected with a spider-plague. See Amazing Spider-Man #666-673.
