A Superior Legacy: The 3 Best Dan Slott Amazing Spider-Man Storylines.
Rob Ferreri
After over a decade of weaving Spider-Man“s tales Dan Slott is hanging up his webs and leaving quite a legacy behind. Fans have had a love/hate relationship with Slott on Spider-Man over the years, myself included, over his take on the web head. Today is a day to focus on that love part, we“ll save the hate for another day. As we delve into a new era for Spidey under Nick Spencer, and so far it“s looking pretty promising, I wanted to take a fond look back at Slott“s run on The Amazing Spider-Man and talk about my three favorite storylines.
My first pick is The Fantastic Spider-Man, issue #658-#662. This story tugs the heartstrings. After the death of the Human Torch (it was his turn in the temporary death as a story stunt pool) he willed his spot in the Fantastic Four to Peter. My biggest criticism about Dan Slott is that it often feels like he just doesn“t get Peter Parker and doesn“t always write him well. This is a sterling example of Slott getting Peter Parker right.  The relationship between Peter and the Fantastic Four has always been close and like family. Peter and Johnny often seemed like bickering competitive brothers. That relationship is perfectly shown here. This is a storyline that I have reread more than once and if you haven“t read it I would recommend it and with the return of the Fantastic Four fast approaching you may want to grab those back issues while you can.
My second pick is one that a lot of people seem to forget came from Dan Slott, it“s the Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows universe. Slot wrote the initial mini-series that gives fans the Spider-Man we lost when the horrific and mostly reviled Brand New Day storyline erased 20 years of continuity and slapped Spidey fans in the face. Renew Your Vows gives us Peter and MJ married and fighting crime along with their daughter Annie. It is a fun and refreshing book and one that we owe Slott for creating. It gave me back the Spider-Man I grew up with. Older fans like myself should really check it out as it“s like running into an old friend. Newer fans should check it out too as it is a different feel than the main titles and gives you a look into how Spider-Man could have gone in the main titles.
I have saved the best for last with by far his most “Superior”“ storyline. I may criticize Slott“s ability to write Peter Parker, but he can write the hell out of Otto Octavius! This is one of my favorite Spider-Man storylines of all time, not just limited to Slott“s run. Otto did live up to the name too. I have long had a theory that Peter kind of sets himself up for failure because he doesn“t feel he deserves to succeed. He is very limited by his guilt. Otto was not bound by that guilt and excelled at being both Peter and Spider-Man. He finished Peter“s doctorate, founded Parker Industries (loved the PI acronym), and found more efficient ways to be Spidey. Peter and Otto are more similar than people realize. They were both bullied geniuses and decided to look out for number one when they had their accidents granting them their powers. If not for Uncle Ben“s death Peter seemed well on his way to becoming a super-villain himself. We all knew it was going to be temporary and Peter would return and even in that ending Otto proved to have been changed by walking in Peter“s shoes and having him, and his memories, in his head. Otto sacrifices himself so that Peter can save the woman he loves. Superior storytelling through the entire storyline, though my favorite arc was Superior Venom. Superior Spider-Man possessed by the Venom symbiote for the win!
Dan Slott had a long run on The Amazing Spider-Man and while not everyone is going to love every storyline there were some great moments and truly “amazing”“ stories. I look forward to seeing what Slott does with the new Fantastic Four book as I“ve been waiting for that to come back for a long time.
