Two of these, and you know what I don't have? A Scarlet Spider #40!

Admittedly they've got different leads, different creative teams, and different directions; but god forbid numbering continue, ever. From 2013, Scarlet Spider #20, "Sibling Rivalry, part 2" Written by Christopher Yost and Erik Burnham, pencils by Pat Olliffe, Inhyuk Lee, Paco Medina; inks by Bit, Inhyuk Lee, and Juan Vlasco; and from 2018, Ben Reilly: Scarlet Spider #20, written by Peter David, art by André Lima Araújo. (Miscredited as Will Sliney!)

Our first SS#20 features Kaine, back in New York City, with Spider-Man against the Jackal! Except also against Spider-Man, since Kaine doesn't know it's the Superior Spider-Man, with the brain of Otto Octavius. They're both chained up in the Jackal's new, and very high-end, lab; and when a Gwen Stacy clone pays attention to Kaine, Otto is snottier than Peter Parker could be on the worst day of his life. (My headcanon remains: Superior Spidey sounded like Pete doing a Dexter's Laboratory accent.) Otto is also super-possessive of his new DNA, and doesn't want the Jackal to have any; so he's steaming that Jackal took samples while he was out. Kaine, on the other hand, is a disappointment--they can't all be Ben Reilly's, eh? But he manages to break his chains, then work one of Jackal's mutant-powered Spidey-clones to blast his 'friend' Peter loose.

While Kaine fights Carrion (and the monster in Kaine's head, figurative or literal, still defends him against Carrion's mental attack) Otto works the angles, to cause a massive hydrogen explosion. (Think the end of Quantum of Solace, with the world's most explodiest hotel...) Jackal goes back into the fire to try and save "my DNA! My babies!" while Kaine tries to save the Gwen, who doesn't want to be saved. Otto's feeling pretty pleased with himself, before Kaine shows up, angry that 'Peter' isn't acting like a hero. Later, back in Houston, Kaine is obviously drugged at the airport, but thinks it's one of "Houston's horse-sized mosquitoes." Still, later that night, he wakes up to find his scars have returned, and he may be degenerating again...!

Kaine does have some scars five years later, but they may be the least of his problems today: while Ben infiltrates an Air Force base in search of a scientist that had been working on a cure for Abigail Mercury (to save his soul, it was a whole thing) Kaine sees a Mindless One in Vegas, accidentally brought there in an earlier issue. He saves a young child from it, only to catch a kick to the crotch, then the Mindless One takes the kid again, having apparently bonded with him! And a ton of cops have now shown up to make things worse. Meanwhile, Ben finds the scientist he had been messaging, only to find out he had really been talking to his assistant, Karl. Karl? Oh, you may know him better as Sauron!

If it had any kind of Legacy numbering, Scarlet Spider would've been in the fifties; but of course comics aren't numbered like that anymore. And I think both Scarlets have shown up here and there since, even as recently as, well, now. A couple questions: had Ben fought Sauron before? I think both he and Kaine were often called 'Spider-Man' by bad guys, bystanders, whoever; and rarely bothered to correct anybody. Which sounds like a problem for Peter: "I swore I'd get even for what you did to me in Houston, Spider-Man! And Vegas, you bastard! How could you?" "...what?" And does Otto have a specific beef with clones? Did one sleep with his wife or something, he seems a little touchy about them.   Read more!

"Mine."

Aw, Mysterio makes a fat joke; but I can't recall if we've ever seen Doc Ock, in continuity, do something like eat an entire ham or something. He's an older gent and the metabolism slows down! It doesn't help when your magic arms carry you around and grab everything for you. Yes, I said magic; I can accept him controlling the arms, but what do they run off of? Tiny reactors? Have we ever seen him charge the arms? I was thinking a Sinister Six-teamup move with Electro charging the arms to overclock them would be cool; if he hasn't already done that and I don't recall. (That all-ages Doctor Doom mini, maybe...)

Also, that wrestler isn't as fat as all that, even if I honestly have to look to tell you who he is: Braun Strowman, who came with the Wreckin' Slam Mobile, which might be tough to get now. "Catch These Hands"? Yes, he did! Please rest assured that I'm not clever enough to have planned that.

Could Spidey really eat 15 Ultimate Cheeseburgers in one sitting? A competitive eater maybe could; but I think Spidey's trying to score some for laters. And is Spymaster solely responsible for the mysterious restaurant? Hmm. I've been working on another set; so we'll see.

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"The Inferior Spider-Man."

I haven't read any Superior Spider-Man comics, or appearances except a couple of Hickman's Avengers ones. There's a reason in there somewhere, for the Avengers not realizing Doc Ock is living in Spidey's body--it seems like the sort of thing that would be easy to spot. ("Geez, Spidey, didn't you used to be funny?" Any Avenger on the team.)

Still, Superior Spidey is quite a figure: great articulation, interchangeable hands, pretty cheap! Good luck finding the Black Cat, though, and Carnage could be a tough one as well. But, I did luck out and find the AIM Soldier and the HYDRA Agent! Have to dig out my other, old HYDRA guys...and that leaves me with half a Build-a-Figure Mandroid! Being two arms and a bitty little head, but it is a start.
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A "Brightest Day" start to 2014:

There are multiple figures that I'm scrambling to get right now, like the new Marvel Legends Black Cat, AIM soldier, or Superior Spider-Man. All three of them look great, but I'm more than a little surprised I want Superior, since that "Doctor Octopus in Peter Parker's body" storyline is on the home stretch and I haven't read any of it. It just strikes me as hugely funny: thanks to the Youngest watching a ton of reruns, I imagine Superior Spidey having the same language and mannerisms as Dexter from Dexter's Labratory. "You are SSSSSsssSSTUUU-pid!"

That and I think Marvel is leaving money on the table by not bringing Peter Parker back as the Inferior Spider-Man. Oh, I can just picture it: with Doc Ock in the driver's seat, he finishes Peter's doctorate, pays off all his debt, gets a great apartment, calls his Aunt May every Sunday, and kicks butt as Spidey. Peter comes back, feels guilty about taking credit for work he didn't do, gets accused of plagiarism and loses his doctorate; maxes out his credit cards to buy webbing supplies, misses multiple occasions with his aunt, and probably gets beat up and his power turned off. It'd be great!

...wait, I was talking about something else. Anyway, my first figure for 2014 is from 2011--wait, can that be right? From Hastings, we've got the Brightest Day series 3 Jade. With free shipping, she was $6.52; a price point that makes you think "Eh, why not?" Haven't really figured out what, if anything to do with her yet besides fill crowd scenes.

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I honestly expect this in Superior Spider-Man any time:

I read Amazing Spider-Man #700 a while ago, and it wasn't bad; although I don't think the Doc Ock plotline could go on that long. Still, I could totally see them revisiting this one: from Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #15, "How Spider-Man Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Arms!" Written by Zeb Wells, pencils by Patrick Scherberger, inks by Norman Lee.

Doc Ock isn't getting a lot of respect in prison today, since he doesn't have his mechanical arms. In fact, Ock is trying to convince a judge the tentacles were controlling him, and he was actually innocent. That may have come into play in the second movie, but here Ock is a total jerk, and he tries to use the psychic link he has with the arms to attack Spidey.

Spidey gets the arms to hit a power box, nearly electrocuting them both. Later, while watching the news, Pete hears that the judge granted Ock's appeal and released him, since the arms were seen running around on their own. Even weirder, the arms followed Spidey home! While they act like a puppy, Ock wonders why he can't psychically sense them. Spidey feels silly treating the arms like they were alive, but they act like it, even trying to follow him to school.

When Ock finds the arms, he and Spidey have to do the traditional "Let Him Choose." The arms pick Spidey, which drives Ock to take a swipe at him, and the arms smack him one. Spidey gives the arms a talking to, but hears the cops coming, and is forced to leave them with Ock. The arms sadly stay, but refuse to help Ock get away. Ock goes back to jail, and while Pete knows Ock will eventually get them back, he's still a little sad in the end.

A fun little story, and while I think it wasn't the first time we ever saw Spidey with Ock's arms, I liked it a lot.


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