The Superior Spider-Man

The Superior Spider-Man
Cover of The Superior Spider-Man #1 (January 2013).
Art by Ryan Stegman.
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
ScheduleBiweekly
FormatLimited series
Genre
No. of issuesVol. 1: 33
Vol. 2: 12
Vol. 3: 10
Creative team
Created byDan Slott
Ryan Stegman
Written byDan Slott (Vol. 1 & Vol. 3)
Christos Gage (Vol. 2)
Artist(s)Vol 1:
Ryan Stegman
Humberto Ramos
Giuseppe Camuncoli
Vol. 2:
Mike Hawthorne
Vol. 3:
Mark Bagley

The Superior Spider-Man is the name of three separate superhero comic book series published by Marvel Comics, following Otto Octavius as he becomes Spider-Man. The first volume, that ran between January 2013 and September 2014, was written by Dan Slott, with artwork by Ryan Stegman, Humberto Ramos, and Giuseppe Camuncoli, continuing from the events of the 2012 storyline "Dying Wish", in which Peter Parker is killed off and replaced with his nemesis Otto Octavius, who swapped consciousnesses with Parker and left him to die in his decaying body to ensure his own survival. However, Octavius becomes inspired by Parker's dying wish to have a new Spider-Man protect New York City, and decides to take on the mantle himself, becoming the self-proclaimed "Superior Spider-Man".

The series is a continuation of the long running series The Amazing Spider-Man, which concluded with The Amazing Spider-Man #700. The Superior Spider-Man also crosses over into other Spider-Man titles such as Avenging Spider-Man and its superseding title Superior Spider-Man Team-Up, in addition to other Marvel titles. The series ended with issue #31, which determined the fate of Parker's mind, and was followed up by a relaunch of The Amazing Spider-Man series, with the new volume depicting Parker regaining his body and the Spider-Man mantle. Despite The Superior Spider-Man being considered a different series to The Amazing Spider-Man, the first 33 issue run goes towards the legacy numbering of The Amazing Spider-Man acting as issues 701–733. In December 2013, the series returned for five issues, numbered 700.1 through 700.5, with the first two written by David Morrell and drawn by Klaus Janson.[1]

The series returned for two additional issues (#32 and #33) that fill a gap left by an earlier storyline, as well as lead into the "Spider-Verse" storyline. They were released in August 2014.[2] In 2018, a one-shot titled The Superior Octopus was released, serving as a continuation of the history of Otto Octavius after the events of "Go Down Swinging", and also serves as a tie-in to the "Spider-Geddon" storyline. The same year, a second volume of The Superior Spider-Man debuted as part of the "Spider-Geddon" with 12 new issues, written by Christos Gage and drawn by Mike Hawthorne.[3] In 2023, the manga series Spider-Man: Octopus Girl was launched, serving as a direct sequel and narrative continuation to the first two volumes, while a stand-alone third volume written by Slott and drawn by Mark Bagley would launch in November 2023.[4] The first volume was adapted into the second season of Marvel's Spider-Man, with the character voiced by Robbie Daymond (Superior Spider-Man's body) and Scott Menville (Otto Octavius' inner thought monologues), with Otto Octavius as the Superior Spider-Man also appearing in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) as a member of Spider-Man 2099's Spider-Society.

  1. ^ Morris, Steve (September 12, 2013). "Marvel in December: Welcome Back, Peter Parker, Bye Kaine". The Beat. Archived from the original on November 26, 2013. Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  2. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (2014-05-13). "Superior Spider-Man (Briefly) Returns in August". IGN.
  3. ^ Schedeen, Jesse (2018-09-07). "Marvel's Superior Spider-Man Returns in December 2018". IGN.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference SDCC Vol3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).