Superior Spider-Man #2 Preview

[CyberHubbs]

Ah, ad hominem how I've missed thee.

Seriously, Steve, my gripe isn't so much about that you guys are using pop culture references because, as you rightfully point out, you folks at Marvel have been doing so with Spider-Man ever since his inception. Rather, my gripe was for how Slott appears to have used that pop culture reference within the context of this particular issue. Still, I suppose this is a relatively minor gripe compared to how Mary Jane, who is the one person that knows Peter better than anyone else alive, still hasn't figured out that "Peter" is not really Peter at this point despite the fact that she plainly sees that he's acting very out-of-character. I mean, she's not exactly Lois Lane who seemingly couldn't tell the difference between Clark Kent and Superman because of a pair of glasses--she's known about his double-life and lived with the guy for years. Or how Carlie, who just by telling MJ what "Doc Ock" said, could unravel SpOck's deception, but will no doubt be too distracted by "OMG! Peter and MJ are getting back together?!" and thus forget all about it until the very end of the issue. But perhaps I'm jumping the gun on those points and will have to see how things actually play out when the full issue comes out.



Again, it's not so much comic book creators making pop culture references but rather how they use them. In the preview we have Ghost Peter react to seeing SpOck and Jonah being all buddy-buddy by saying "This is crazy-town banana pants!" Then, in the very next scene with Mary Jane and Carlie, MJ says the same thing and then proceeds to explain that "Crazy-town banana pants" was something she picked up from Peter while they were living together. Then Carlie adds that Peter said "crazy-town banana pants" all the time while they were dating. The problem is that Peter has never uttered that phrase in any comic until this issue. Moreoever, people didn't even recognize that what Peter said was a nod to Community until some had a vague recollection of hearing the phrase somewhere else before and looked it up on the internet.

Still, this is a very well-written response all the same.

Some pop culture references are more obscure than others. I hadn't heard of Downton Abbey until Community spoofed it with Cougarton Abbey.

[Majinoaw]

Good god man, maybe Dan Harmon overheard Peter saying it 5 years ago at the Coffee Bean and used it for the show. Maybe Peter does say it all the time but only in the hundreds of thousands of conversations he's had off-panel. Would that make it OK? Could we move on then?

I think the X-Men first said it when they took on Maha Yogi.

[Knight Moon]

I'm missing Peter more and more...

[peedi]

I think I would actually pick up this comic if Doc Ock was the permanent Spider-Man going forward, as he's more interesting right now than Peter was, but the instant reveal that Parker will be back tells me I can continue to not care about Spider-man, because no matter the hype Slott spits out, Spider-Man will always end up where he started.

Peter is miserable and emo, good stuff starts to happen, Peter gets happy, something happens to reset everything back to Peter being miserable, etc...

I agree that it's interesting with Doc in the role, but I think it's something that couldn't last forever. His personality, even as a hero, is what it is. Somebody would find out sooner or later. There's too much mystical stuff in the MU that he wouldn't go detected forever.

As far as Peter being reset, I think in a way that's also inevitable. Not just because things always go back to the status quo, but because of the sliding timescale in Marvel, and all mainstream comics. Peter probably will never hit 30 in the comics, and if he does, it will be a long time. Things might change over night, but in the real world it's hard to really change most people except for dramatic instances (and even then, some people just are who they are). Real change happens over time because personalities and habits don't bend easy. So its believable to have consistency provided Peter is still in his mid to late 20s. Years worth of stories to us is a much shorter amount of time for the characters.

[TheRicH]

This is one of the few places where you hear "Crazy town banana pants" and it's funny On-purpose.

Actually its not, Slott stole the line from Community Season 3 Episode 68 "Curriculum Unavailable". When the gang is forced to see a therapist Jeff spouts off the line to show that maybe everyone is a bit crazy sometimes. Nice try on Slotts part but he's still a hack...

[SpideyClone]

Kind of funny CBR touts this preview as an exclusive, meanwhile there's an 11 page thread in this forum about the same preview (albeit from comixology), already a week old

[XxSnakeProxX]

One issue of Superior, two of Avenging and I already don't want Pete back. :)

How......DARE YOU!?
BLASPHEMY!

[CyberHubbs]

Actually its not, Slott stole the line from Community Season 3 Episode 68 "Curriculum Unavailable". When the gang is forced to see a therapist Jeff spouts off the line to show that maybe everyone is a bit crazy sometimes. Nice try on Slotts part but he's still a hack...

If Slott is a thief, them Community is straight-up Ocean's Eleven.

[MorningMoon]

I'm missing Peter more and more...

But he's right there! Talking nonstop and whining about Ock getting more attention.

[Zombies8MyDingo]

How......DARE YOU!?
BLASPHEMY!

Pete was a lousy Spider-Man when you think about it, what with all the people he failed to save. Ock's been in the job two minutes and he's already got sensors around town instead of random patrolling or a police band radio. No wonder ghost Pete is whining on the sidelines.

Keep SpOck and send Pete off towards the light.

[whiteshark]

Actually its not, Slott stole the line from Community Season 3 Episode 68 "Curriculum Unavailable". When the gang is forced to see a therapist Jeff spouts off the line to show that maybe everyone is a bit crazy sometimes. Nice try on Slotts part but he's still a hack...

Not really.
Pop references were always part of comics.It just makes the comics even more fun to read.
Or by other words a Easter Eggs.Something that comics had for decades.
Here is a link to a cool collection of those in several comics.
http://goodcomics.comicbookresources...k-easter-eggs/

[whiteshark]

Pete was a lousy Spider-Man when you think about it, what with all the people he failed to save. Ock's been in the job two minutes and he's already got sensors around town instead of random patrolling or a police band radio. No wonder ghost Pete is whining on the sidelines.

Keep SpOck and send Pete off towards the light.

So the thousands of people that Peter saved do not count anymore?

[wiski]

So the thousands of people that Peter saved do not count anymore?

I think he's saying that Peter COULD HAVE saved a lot more and done his job better if he was doing stuff like SpOck is doing them.

[Scott Taylor]

LOL! I love it. I would buy this comic.

"Peter, you WILL wear the Armani today." Yah, it could work.

[Hambone]

Pete was a lousy Spider-Man when you think about it, what with all the people he failed to save. Ock's been in the job two minutes and he's already got sensors around town instead of random patrolling or a police band radio. No wonder ghost Pete is whining on the sidelines.

I don't think Pete would install sensors around town because that is a HUGE invasion of peoples' personal privacy. The government usually gets in trouble when it oversteps this boundary. Why would SpOck get a free pass when he doesn't even have that kind of authority?