Written by In May, I broke down for readers what, exactly, it would mean to have a megalomaniac body-snatching Spider-Man running around in Peter Parker’s body. Dan Slott’s creation, on the cusp of enacting a world-wide Holocaust, in which 6 billion lives were meant to perish, proclaimed he would be a “mass murderer worse than Pol Pot, Hitler, and Genghis Khan combined!” What followed was months of Dan Slott following me around the internet, haranguing me for using that line as a springboard for discussion, as well as using an actual image of the Holocaust in the process.
I asked: What is more offensive: Dan Slott’s indiscriminate use of incendiary names, or my reminder of the implications of his indiscriminate use of incendiary names? I never really received an answer. Is it too early to say “vindicated”?
Bleeding Cool calls out the Super Spider-Man’s “Nazi-like” nature, which is on display in the Annual Superior Spider-Man.
Because we have seen in the regular title, Spider-Man, now possessed fully by Doc Ock, trying to be a better man. He’s not trying to take over the world, he’s not trying to steal, he is trying to be a superhero. He is vicious, he makes different decisions, he has killed, but he saves people – both those close to him, and large numbers of strangers. His motives are positive, if warped by his previous nature.
In today’s Superior Spider-Man, the character goes a little further. Into full blown Nazi-like torture/experimentation on his victims. By ripping out teeth and fingernails…
How will Dan Slott react?
This is the “Spider-Man” Marvel gives readers in 2013.
This is Dan Slott’s creation. We reap what we sow.
There are moment’s in a man’s life where he says something that gives us a glimpse into his soul. Dan Slott’s Doctor Octopus — moments from wiping out humanity — did such a thing. Dan Slott put the words into his mouth. Now, even Bleeding Cool is acknowledging that a character who tortures his victims by pulling out their fingernails and teeth does, indeed, have quite a bit in common with the Nazis. Superior Spider-Man? More like Dan Slott’s Frankenstein. And no amount of feigned outrage by Dan Slott regarding the memories of his ancestors can change that.
Given one of the most iconic characters of all time, Dan Slott honors his ancestors by creating a “Spider-Man” who tortures his victims in the name of “science.” Telling.
Hat Tip: The Colossus of Rhodey
Related: Dan Slott, absent a superior argument, now sics Twitter followers on critics
Related: Dan Slott and Marvel’s Orwellian message boards can’t hide the truth: Fans want Peter Parker
Douglas Ernst Blog 
How will Slott react to the Bleeding Cool article, I wonder? Will he come up with some sob story about his ancestors? Will he threaten legal action against Bleeding Cool and its founder?
This level of violence is the kind of crap I’d expect to see in a horror movie, not a superhero (I use that term very loosely in regards to SSM, since they want us to root for a villain who wanted to transcend Hitler) comic.
Only problem is Slott didn’t write the annual. Although I do believe he still deserves the blame for creating a character for whom this conduct is not surprising.
Indeed. But if Dan Slott goes there I will ask again: What is more offensive: Dan Slott’s indiscriminate use of incendiary names, or my reminder of the implications of his indiscriminate use of incendiary names?
This is his creation, and now it is wreaking havoc upon the Marvel universe. His creation is bearing fruit. Sadly, it’s poisonous.
If Dan Slott is so sensitive about his past, is he saying he had no idea what was going to happen in the Annual? It all happened without him having a clue as to what Otto would do? That’s laughable.
I’ve said before how if they wanted an anti hero to write about, marvel is chock full. Why ruin the character of Peter Parker who was created as an everyman superhero, that always did the right thing in the end. Stan Lee created him to show the power of getting knocked down and picking yourself back up because it was the right thing to do. My 4 year old nephew is obsessed over spider man and I will never let him touch a SSM comic, because that kind of ugliness does not belong in his life and should never be allowed in any child’s life. This disgusts me in a way I can’t describe. Shame on you Dan Slott, shame on you Marvel for perverting children’s innocence.
I agree. Marvel has plenty of anti-heroes (e.g., Wolverine, Punisher). There is no need to corrupt Spider-Man. Similarly, if DC wants to do grimdark, they already have a lot of characters (Deadman, Spectre, Demon, Phantom Stranger) who are well suited to that style. There was no need to ruin Captain Marvel.
Demon? You mean The Demon Etrigan?
You are not alone, Tim. But in the mind of certain Marvel scribes “sales = quality.” Wrong.
GREAT stuff for the kids to read, eh?
At one time Marvel wrote stories that appealed to all ages. Today, it seems much more geared to an older audience. That’s fine on some level, but it seems like the pendulum has swung too far in one direction.
Let Dan Slott say that he had no idea that these torture scenes were going to happen in the annual, or that he had no say over how it all played out. His Frankenstein Spider-Man has taken on a life of its own.
Went to my local comic book store yesterday and the Manager with a big smirk on his face knowing I have a strong dislike for SSM asks me to have a look at the Annual.
It just goes to prove how far the mythos of Spider-Man has been desecrated and despicably treated with such contempt and bastardization.
BTW Slott seems to be fairly active over at Comicvine again defending the “sales” argument. Sad.
Agreed.
All he has are the sales numbers. When he’s forced to talk about the actual merits of the book, he folds. He goes to personal attacks or anything else that will detract from a focused analysis of his work.
Christos Gage (the writer of the annual), has apologized for going too far on this, but maintains it was integral to where the story is going, so yes, it’s still Slott’s baby. I saw on a forum site Mr. Gage has reacted (so far) with class and respect to the fans, and offering a mea culpa, something Slott does not do. He inflames, he gets petulant, and he trolls. I give a tip of the hat to Mr. Gage, even if his story includes extreme violence, which I would never offer to a child as reading material, just as I wouldn’t offer a Teen-rated videogame to an 11 year old. Even if he asks for it, it doesn’t mean it’s appropriate for his age. There is a line where violence becomes gratuitous, and Superior Spider-Man has gleefully crossed it. I can’t understand why dissection was even on the table for this book. And yes, it was done by the Nazis. Go, Team Marvel! You should all be so incredibly ashamed of yourselves.
One more comment: I find it interesting that the only character I can think of in the Marvel Universe that has an obviously German lineage would be written to go this route.
Oops, except for a few villains, Magneto and Nighthawk… my bad. 🙂
68 years after WWII, German villains (usually mad scientists, sometimes neo-Nazis) are still acceptable in fiction, especially comics. Certain other stereotypes are also allowed: dim-witted, blue collar Archie Bunker types, and redneck, inbred “hillbillies.” But don’t hold your breath waiting for Captain America to fight Al Qaeda, or for Daredevil to rescue a victim from thugs playing the knockout game, or for Batman to fight muggers who look like Obama’s son. Political correctness is not about avoiding giving offense; it’s about target selection.
Don’t get me started on that! 🙂 There are so many untapped special ops tales that it’s maddening.
Don’t get me started, either. There are TONS of stories they could mine from that premise… but the moonbats running Marvel today would rather have him go around fighting fictionalized versions of the Tea Party, led by the fascist Cap, the Grand Director… ugh.
And on a semi-related note, many Marvel heroes have fought against that dastardly Roxxon Energy Corporation, a sort of fictionalized Exxon-Mobil that hires supervillains to do its dirty work. It first appeared in 1974’s Captain America #180. You probably wouldn’t see them go after a Solyandra analogue, that’s for sure.
Wait, you mean those wind energy companies that plead guilt to killing American bald eagles won’t end up in an issue of Captain America anytime soon? You’d think that would get under Steve’s skin. Guess not, when there are Roxxon stories to tell. 😉
Seriously, though…the black ops tales they could tell from the mountains of Afghanistan/Pakistan would be amazing. What about Black Panther and Cap going after terrorist cells in Somalia?
Tom: The “hillbilly” stuff bothers me, too. That’s why I stopped reading books by John Grisham… he cannot write a white Christian, conservative Southerner who ISN’T some racist bigot. Pretty much every book of his has that stereotype as a villain.
Stephen King’s later books do the exact same thing. In “Under the Dome” the bad guy is a Christian fundamentalist/used car salesman who (of course) is depicted as a racist, sexist bigot and has conservative views. And King admitted that the character was a straw man of George w. Bush, based on King’s personal (and idiotic) view of him. There’s also a nutty preacher woman in The Mist as well. With the exception of Father Callahan from ‘Salem’s Lot and the Dark Tower, King cannot write a religious character who isn’t a bigot. It’s pretty sad.
It’s like these morons have never even met any conservatives before in their lives. Or have been the South. Granted, the farthest south I’ve been is St. Louis, but still, I doubt it’s still as bad as it was in the 1950s.
Or in his (King’s) book about JFK, the main character shills for Obama at one point and the whole book is basically a condemnation of conservative views, because the future depicted after he thwarts the assassination is one that was created by conservatives like Reagan. Ugh. That’s what really hurt the book. That, and I think it was a little too long.
LOL. Whenever I bring that bit about windmills up to environmentalists, their heads explode because they can’t come up with a valid counterargument.
I agree that such stories would be amazing. Or having Black Panther and Cap take on the Somali pirates together. There are story ideas that are staring these alleged writers in the face, but they refuse to let go of their insane worldviews and project them into their comics.
In some way, it was integral to where the story was going because Dan Slott set the wheels in motion. Every time he thinks of that annual I want him to think of his Superior Spider-Frankenstein, who once tried to kill six billion people before body-snatching Peter Parker.
As I’ve said before, I could swallow this a lot easier if all of it hadn’t been done at Peter Parker’s expense.
“Gleeful” is a great way to put it. Dan Slott has seemed to take a sick joy in the violence perpetrated by the Superior Spider-Man (e.g., Massacre, punching Black Cat’s tooth out), and now it’s gotten to the point where Mr. Gage finds himself having to apologize. Interesting.
but its ok. marvel is sensitive, they’re bring a muslem marvel girl in 2013.. that almost makes up for making PP a walking meat sack, doesn’t it?
Spider-Man is dead. Hail Caesar. (Avoiding Nazi references here). Funny how you exposed this train of thought earlier, were called out on it, and then the writers went there AGAIN. I’m glad Sony has the rights to what happens in the movies, at least we have a real Spidey to look forward to, even if it’s only every couple of years, cause I don’t see this crapstorm ending with the upcoming Goblin arc. Call me a pessimist.
What is interesting, is that Dan Slott is still on the book. It’s not like he’s years removed from the character and some random author took it in a weird direction. There had to be coordination between creative teams on this. SSM is his baby (his really sick and twisted baby), so it’s not like he’d be left in the dark about the torture scene. Coming from a guy who screamed to high heaven when I discussed the implications of having such an evil character in Peter’s body, it’s very telling that this story was published.
He tried to use my Hitler post as a cudgel to beat me with, and that’s all. That post was the easiest for him to turn into a personal attack, and so he did. This annual is proof that I was right about where all this was headed all along. I’m glad that comic fans like you have been introduced to me through the experience. Thanks again for reading and taking part in the conversation.
Truly disgusting stuff but not surprising I’m glad the writer was willing to apologize the ability to admit one’s mistakes is something I thought disappeared long ago in the comic world to be replaced by the spirit of the Green Goblin and Doc Ock. This is the final nail in the coffin. For the stupid we’re only destroying your childhood for the sake of today’s children nonsense they’ve been pulling for fifteen twenty years because the truth is every time in my life I have heard that argument the books that are meant for young readers turn out to be more gruesome and mature then the ones for veteran readers or else they receive no promotion whatsoever and die.
It’s such a long string of insane business decisions that could end the second they stopped fighting so hard against the idea they are not infallible a recent example is the cancellation of Scarlet Spider and Venom two “dark” Spider-Men why did sales plummet? Because both Kaine and Flash were saints in comparison to Spock and the crowd interested in such things decided to spend their money on Superior instead.
Let’s think for a moment superheroes are more mainstream then ever we are seeing movies that easily gross over a billion dollars world population has also increased significantly since the 1960’s there is no reason at all on this earth for Marvel’s top titles to not to be making 1-1.5 million sales unless wait for it… they’ve been doing something wrong over the years.
Ignoring the Obama issue Spider-Man’s sales peaked in the early 90’s in the 300,000’s not a very noticeable peak since the number had barely changed at all since the late 60’s however this was when Peter’s “parents” were around before we discovered they were robots. A couple months later it was revealed and so began the long unending chain of events and hype shock tactics that continue to this day. In less than a decade sales were down by about two thirds. I don’t pretend to argue with Slott about sales Superior’s shock writing, hype and guest appearances did drive it up but as a whole only to the low point of JMS’s run it wont last it will decline in the long run it will continue to fall. We can already see it with Marvel NOW all the screaming and begging for our attention it will fail.
They will never recover unless they address their mistakes its that simple. Back to basics should have never been about regressing or annihilating characters Back to basics should have been about format about writing quality self contained stories that aren’t earth shattering. If Marvel did that they would see the results. At the end of the day no matter what the truth will win its a fact of life as fundamental as energy can never be created or destroyed. No matter how much Marvel perverts these characters they will always have to acknowledge what they are in some way for such perversions to be possible revealing how wrong they are I really doubt Disney or anyone will do anything but I take comfort in knowing this. I just hope that someone decides to repent like Manasseh I really want them to get mercy.
Where do the writers go from here? That’s sort of the problem with trying to use “shock” to spur sales… Sure, Marvel has its short term gains, but some of us are thinking of the long-term ramifications for the Spider-Man name.
Dan Slott (and others at both disney and warner) have chosen to go the pornogrphy route. In other words, rather than focusing on sex AND romance, ie story, they have gone for gynecological extremes with no plot worth the mention.
Violence is just another form of pornography and the violent message or agenda is pre-eminent in comics like SSM and many others.
I would expect nothing less from Dan “meat puppet” Slott.
Dan Slott: I love Peter Parker so much I turned him into a ‘meat puppet’
Marvel’s lost me forever with the ridiculous “magic negro” style muslim Ms. Marvel but the Spider-Man travesty has alienated the last few readers I personally know. There’s just something odious about this trashing of longstanding characters by what are essentially paid fanfic writers.
It will have broader repercussions in the industry.
Was really hoping that if Marvel ever bought Peter Parker back as the “Amazing Spider-Man” Volume 2, that they would hire an all new creative team writing new stories with no back reference to the deplorable SSM series.
Well it looks like “Amazing Spider-Man” #1 kicks off in April, but they still have Dan Slott & Humberto Ramos at the helm.
Crazy stuff Marvel, there is no way I’m buying an inferior product from a pair of de-constructive misfits.
Yes. It’s disappointing. As another commenter said, it really puts Peter Park fans in a tough predicament. If they don’t buy the book, then it gives Marvel an excuse to say, “See! People want Doc Ock,”. If the do buy the book, they’re supporting a.) a guy who rhetorically took a dump on them for well over a year, and b.) a guy who will turn out a subpar product because he fundamentally doesn’t understand Peter Parker.
There’s a scene from the 9/11 issue of ASM that sums up how I feel about JMS’s successors.
Spider-Man stands on the edge of a rooftop two blocks away from the sight of the collapsing buildings as the city floods with smoke.
“God”
“Some things are beyond words, beyond comprehension, beyond forgiveness.”
Spider-Man descends on a web to ground level. Many people were running spotting the hero a frightened couple spoke up.
“Where were you?!” the man said
“How could you let this happen?” the woman said
“I–” Spider-Man said turning his head as they ran past him
He faced the destruction and walked into the cloud of smoke and ash.
“How do you say we didn’t know? We couldn’t know. We couldn’t imagine. Spider-Man stares at what’s left of the building as firefighters and superheroes alike are at work.
“Only madmen could contain the thought to execute the act, fly the planes. The sane world will always be vulnerable to madmen because we cannot go where they go to conceive such things.”
Spider-Man watches as a fireman gives orders to Captain America, Thor medics and some other firefighters as they move the rubble.
“We could not see it coming. We could not be here before it happened. We could not stop it. “
Oh well at least it was only a Nephilim Sp0ck tortured in front of Aunt May because in a world flooded with stupid pills a little detail like that would make a huge difference to the old woman.
I’m trying to figure out how forgiving I should be to these people at the moment I’m preparing to contact Slott with a degree of politeness that is indefinable in our English language. As I have said I don’t hate any human past or present anymore and have reached the point of loving my enemies. I’m a sinner like everybody else I should be able to put up with what Marvel has done if God would have been willing to have forgiven Judas if he had repented rather than hanged himself I might even be able to bring myself to forgive Quesada someday there are sins however that are unforgivable those against the holy spirit so there is some practical limit. What do you guys think?
“I might even be able to bring myself to forgive Quesada someday…”
Nope…Nah ah.
One More Day should be the ‘Never Forget!’ and ‘Jihad’ of any decent Spider-Man fan.
I suppose you’re right even before I was old enough to understand what he was like my father uncannily reminded me of Palpatine he still has so many people fooled with that charisma of his. My mother and I gave my father LITERALLY 10,000 chances to repent for raping me and my sister but he still refuses. Norman Osborn would have never become the Goblin if he was willing to face that he wasn’t a good father. Some of the Pharisees might have been forgiven but when Stephen forced them to see the undeniable truth that they killed God’s son they stoned him. Quesada could have faced reality at any time but when you are in a position where you justify the things he has for as long as he has at least Judas tossed his silver.
As much as I love the character, there would come a point where I’d be inflating his role in the world well above what it should be. I think it’s despicable what the editors at Marvel have done to Peter Parker, but I refuse to let what they do consume my life. Will I write random blog posts on the character to remind the world what they’ve done? Yes. Especially since Marvel is in favor of putting honest criticism down Orwellian memory holes.
Do I hate Dan Slott? No. I do not know the man personally. Even if I did, I don’t think “hate” would ever come into the equation. However, I will forcefully articulate the damage he has done to the Spider-Man brand, whether he realizes it or not.
If the writers of this monstrosity were to honestly come forward 10 years from now and say, “Listen, we screwed up. We’re sorry,” I would forgive them in a heartbeat. And then I would devote my energies to encouraging the men and women responsible for righting the Spider-Man ship.
When I woke up this morning I told myself this would be the last day I let Marvel concern me outside therapy I would check out SSM 24 when it came out to find out the deal about MJ’s greatest fear and Goblin Nation when it’s all over. I started this when I read Superior #9 I was very mad but I resolved that I wouldn’t let it compromise my life. It was the perfect time to leave and though I was really angry it would have been over in a few weeks if I hadn’t took a closer look at what I missed so I got all the perversion fans have put up with at once. All the more reason to quit. My religious and scientific worldview combined with one of Mephisto’s lines convinced me this was a very important issue I was fired up with spiritual patriotism. I won’t let this get to me any longer while I can’t entirely ignore the character because of this issue more than ever I won’t let it compromise my life. I’ve believed my whole life that I can’t fix the system that the only person I can save myself that as a Christian therefore not in ignorance I bear bloodguilt if I don’t spend a great deal of my time giving others chances to turn around from their bad ways. For some reason I find myself wanting to extend that opportunity to this Doctor Frankenstein and see what happens.
I don’t think I could stand staying in a room with the man for 5 consecutive minutes, but I don’t “hate” slott.. (btw, that a comment on his personality) I have strong feelings, how marvel could let my favorite superhero down and turn him into some phychotic, narcasistic villain with dialogue from a bond movie. Cheap gimmicks, instead of retooling the character or the universe, will eventually hit them where it counts; sales.. I do wish slott would leave and a new creative team can try to pick up the pieces…
The one comfort that we have is that all storms must end. Even “Storm Slott” will leave the book in time. Sure, there will be wreckage to pick up…but in time someone will be up to the task. And when Peter Parker returns to his rightful place in the Marvel universe, we’ll all be able to look back at Slott (for the most part) and have a laugh at how bad SSM was.
I was simply acknowledging free will I don’t buy Obama’s collective salvation nonsense. My concern with my own salvation is about pleasing god given the generation we are in. I won’t stop preaching till the work is finished I’ve never imagined being locked up in a concentration camp as members of my faith have without reaching out to captives and captors.
Will Slott make stuff up and call this author a bad person? You must get next issue to find out, BIG THINGS WILL HAPPEN!
At least Yost said he went too far. To be fair he probably had direction from Slott on the story. Yost will admit when he makes a mistake which is something I have yet to see Slott do.
Damn I sure miss Stan the man 😦 now we only have Dan the Man…….child.
Roxxon is the world’s largest fictional petroleum company, owned by Aleksander Lukin of the Marvel Universe. The oil giant is involved in profiteering from oil exploration and also operates a number of petroleum refineries, in addition to subsidiaries in financial services. The company continues to face criticism from activists and is often labeled an evil organization. http://bit.ly/1ilkFsY
“Amazing Spider-Man” #1 kicks off in April, but they still have Dan Slott & Humberto Ramos at the helm.
Apparently Peter Parker has amnesia suffering from the repercussions of SpOck’s reign.
So we’re done with the Superior Spider-Man and now we have the Amnesiac Spider-Man trying to pick up the pieces to his life.
It’s sad, it’s crazy. Can it get any worse???