Amazing Spider-Man #31 Discussion/Review [SPOILER WARNING]

[blackspidey2099]

Wow, well this issue was a huge letdown from ASM 30 (which I really liked). I think it was in this issue that we saw how contrived and logically inconsistent Slott is willing to let the story be so he can achieve his desired outcome.

In this issue alone, Otto's rampage is almost entirely due to Peter's incompetence. Despite not being a supergenius, I myself can think of hundreds of ways to stop Otto with Peter's much more advanced arsenal - he could have used his magnetic webbing to block the signals from the moment Ock started hijacking his tech, he could have used his nerve hacking technology to shut down Otto's minds from the second he entered the PI building, he could have used his concrete webbing (which held up a freaking skyscraper) to immobilize Ock, he could have used his far superior strength to destroy Ock's tentacles and then beat him physically, he could have used the prep time he had before Ock came to change the frequencies of his tech so Ock couldn't hijack anything, he could have trapped Ock in one of his hard-light forcefields, he could have used his anti-metal spider-tracers to melt all of Ock's equipment, etc etc etc. Peter should have been able to come up with all these methods, and much more.

But the most contrived and stupid part of this issue is how Peter destroys all of Parker Industries work and data for no good reason. According to this comic, Peter Parker, who we are supposed to believe is one of the world's smartest men, doesn't even think of backing up all of his research in a secure location in case of an attack? Heck, he could have sent his data to another dimension for later retrieval, once he knew Ock was coming after him, instead of just destroying it.

Even the ending, which I'm assuming was supposed to be a badass moment with Peter wearing his spandex costume underneath the armor, was stupid and predictable. The second Peter opened up the suitcase, it was painfully obvious he would be wearing his old suit underneath. And of course, Slott's favourite plot device, the EMP, came into play once more. Of course Slott once again forgot that Peter's armor is actually EMP immune (as he himself showed in earlier issues) and shows that he has no clue how EMPs work (for those who don't know, they release a strong magnetic pulse that can induce high electrical currents in electronic equipment and burn out circuitry - they definitely can't shatter anything, especially not an armor that has survived hits from the likes of Hyperion and Hercules). And even if Peter had made a new version that wasn't EMP immune to fight Osborn, how stupid would he have to be to not incorporate EMP immunity into his armor once he saw Osborn destroying it so easily?

I think that's where I realized that this whole storyline was manufactured just to destroy Parker Industries, rather than being a product of natural, organic storytelling. Slott ends up ignoring pretty much all of Peter's abilities (which, ironically, were mostly established by him) and characterization to give his pet character a win, since Ock would have stood no chance without all that heavy plot armor. In that regard, this issue is similar to the equally bad ASM 28 in that it showcases how forced much of Slott's writing has become, with Peter's characterization and abilities being flip flopped at whim to tell a pre-determined story. I think it definitely has come time for Slott to leave this title. If only Slott hadn't taken it upon himself to destroy Parker Industries before he left, so that another (superior) writer could have had the opportunity to properly tackle the wonderful potential this premise had (and which Slott just wasted with his 31 extremely underwhelming issues).

[rward777]

Wow, well this issue was a huge letdown from ASM 30 (which I really liked). I think it was in this issue that we saw how contrived and logically inconsistent Slott is willing to let the story be so he can achieve his desired outcome.

In this issue alone, Otto's rampage is almost entirely due to Peter's incompetence. Despite not being a supergenius, I myself can think of hundreds of ways to stop Otto with Peter's much more advanced arsenal - he could have used his magnetic webbing to block the signals from the moment Ock started hijacking his tech, he could have used his nerve hacking technology to shut down Otto's minds from the second he entered the PI building, he could have used his concrete webbing (which held up a freaking skyscraper) to immobilize Ock, he could have used his far superior strength to destroy Ock's tentacles and then beat him physically, he could have used the prep time he had before Ock came to change the frequencies of his tech so Ock couldn't hijack anything, he could have trapped Ock in one of his hard-light forcefields, he could have used his anti-metal spider-tracers to melt all of Ock's equipment, etc etc etc. Peter should have been able to come up with all these methods, and much more. Also, it seems like Slott once again forgot that Peter's armor is actually EMP immune (as he himself showed in earlier issues) and shows that he has no clue how EMPs work (for those who don't know, they release a strong magnetic pulse that can induce high electrical currents in electronic equipment and burn out circuitry - they definitely can't shatter anything, especially not an armor that has survived hits from the likes of Hyperion and Hercules).

But the most contrived and stupid part of this issue is how Peter destroys all of Parker Industries work and data for no good reason. According to this comic, Peter Parker, who we are supposed to believe is one of the world's smartest men, doesn't even think of backing up all of his research in a secure location in case of an attack? Heck, he could have sent his data to another dimension for later retrieval, once he knew Ock was coming after him, instead of just destroying it.

I think that's where I realized that this whole storyline was manufactured just to destroy Parker Industries, rather than being a product of natural, organic storytelling. Slott ends up ignoring pretty much all of Peter's abilities (which, ironically, were mostly established by him) to give his pet character a win, since Ock would have stood no chance without all that heavy plot armor. In that regard, this issue is similar to the equally bad ASM 28 in that it showcases how forced much of Slott's writing has become, with Peter's characterization and abilities being flip flopped at whim to tell a pre-determined story. I think it definitely has come time for Slott to leave this title.

It shows that Peter is willing to give up everything to save the world right or wrong.

[Minerboh]

So, Ock takes the company?

[blackspidey2099]

It shows that Peter is willing to give up everything to save the world right or wrong.

Yeah, I know the point Slott was trying to make, but it didn't work because Peter only got to that point because of how incompetent Slott wrote him to be. Instead of martyring his company like that, he could have just put the data on one of his impossible to hack nanotechnology computers and teleported them to another dimension. Or just, you know, hack Ock's tech and disable it before Ock got there instead of waiting for Ock. Or change the safeguards on his Spider-vehicles so Ock couldn't hijack them. Or use magnetic webbing to block Ock's signals. Or just stealth up and one shot Ock with a sucker punch. Or trap him in concrete webbing. Or teleport Ock into another dimension. Or use his nerve hacking tech to disable Otto's mind. Or, or, or. There were a thousand ways for Peter to get a clean victory, but because Slott WANTED to show Peter willing to martyr himself for "the greater good" we instead get to see Peter bumble about like an idiot and just destroy all his stuff instead. Ugh.

So, Ock takes the company?

No, Ock ran away and all of the company's data and research has been destroyed. I'd assume that they still have quite a lot of weaponry and other prototypes and such, but I'm pretty sure Slott will just ignore the consequences of this issue to jump straight to another zany plot.

[SpiderClops]

Wow, well this issue was a huge letdown from ASM 30 (which I really liked). I think it was in this issue that we saw how contrived and logically inconsistent Slott is willing to let the story be so he can achieve his desired outcome.

In this issue alone, Otto's rampage is almost entirely due to Peter's incompetence. Despite not being a supergenius, I myself can think of hundreds of ways to stop Otto with Peter's much more advanced arsenal - he could have used his magnetic webbing to block the signals from the moment Ock started hijacking his tech, he could have used his nerve hacking technology to shut down Otto's minds from the second he entered the PI building, he could have used his concrete webbing (which held up a freaking skyscraper) to immobilize Ock, he could have used his far superior strength to destroy Ock's tentacles and then beat him physically, he could have used the prep time he had before Ock came to change the frequencies of his tech so Ock couldn't hijack anything, he could have trapped Ock in one of his hard-light forcefields, he could have used his anti-metal spider-tracers to melt all of Ock's equipment, etc etc etc. Peter should have been able to come up with all these methods, and much more.

But the most contrived and stupid part of this issue is how Peter destroys all of Parker Industries work and data for no good reason. According to this comic, Peter Parker, who we are supposed to believe is one of the world's smartest men, doesn't even think of backing up all of his research in a secure location in case of an attack? Heck, he could have sent his data to another dimension for later retrieval, once he knew Ock was coming after him, instead of just destroying it.

Even the ending, which I'm assuming was supposed to be a badass moment with Peter wearing his spandex costume underneath the armor, was stupid and predictable. The second Peter opened up the suitcase, it was painfully obvious he would be wearing his old suit underneath. And of course, Slott's favourite plot device, the EMP, came into play once more. Of course Slott once again forgot that Peter's armor is actually EMP immune (as he himself showed in earlier issues) and shows that he has no clue how EMPs work (for those who don't know, they release a strong magnetic pulse that can induce high electrical currents in electronic equipment and burn out circuitry - they definitely can't shatter anything, especially not an armor that has survived hits from the likes of Hyperion and Hercules). And even if Peter had made a new version that wasn't EMP immune to fight Osborn, how stupid would he have to be to not incorporate EMP immunity into his armor once he saw Osborn destroying it so easily?

I think that's where I realized that this whole storyline was manufactured just to destroy Parker Industries, rather than being a product of natural, organic storytelling. Slott ends up ignoring pretty much all of Peter's abilities (which, ironically, were mostly established by him) and characterization to give his pet character a win, since Ock would have stood no chance without all that heavy plot armor. In that regard, this issue is similar to the equally bad ASM 28 in that it showcases how forced much of Slott's writing has become, with Peter's characterization and abilities being flip flopped at whim to tell a pre-determined story. I think it definitely has come time for Slott to leave this title. If only Slott hadn't taken it upon himself to destroy Parker Industries before he left, so that another (superior) writer could have had the opportunity to properly tackle the wonderful potential this premise had (and which Slott just wasted with his 31 extremely underwhelming issues).

That sounds like a lot of nitpicking. But to each his own.

I thought the issue was awesome. Really really good.

[SpiderClops]

So, Ock takes the company?

Nope. Peter destroys all the data and files. It's completely worthless now.

[blackspidey2099]

That sounds like a lot of nitpicking. But to each his own.

I thought the issue was awesome. Really really good.

Well, I'm glad you liked it. Personally, I'm tired of Peter being written as an incompetent klutz, despite having billions of dollars worth of resources at his fingertips and being one of the smartest geniuses in the world.

[blackspidey2099]

Nope. Peter destroys all the data and files. It's completely worthless now.

The company is actually far from worthless, they still have 40+ buildings across the world, plus all the specialized weaponry and hardware that Peter built for Spider-Man and SHIELD and stuff. All they lost was their research in upcoming projects, as well as the data they collected on their users. However, like I said before, I'm confident Slott will just ignore this point, because this whole story was contrived to make Parker Industries basically disappear.

[xpyred]

So even when Slott finally kills Parker Industries, people complain? Whatever.

Since we are getting Pathetic Parker back, how about letting Aunt may finally know he is Spider-man and move on from that awful trope of her being too stupid not to realize it after all this time.

[SuperiorIronman]

So taking this all in (I'm just ignoring anything vaguely Secret Empire related so I've been skipping ASM) but Peter really couldn't have stopped Otto? I'll probably backtrack on all of this later today but is Otto really that powerful that Peter couldn't stop one guy? One guy he also knows he can fight and knows his skills considering that plot in Superior Team-up where he went through all of Otto's memories up until the change back at the end of Superior Spider-man. I guess this is what happens when you skip things but I'm genuinely curious how Peter can't handle Otto especially in light of everything that occurred up until now.

I'll find out later though.

[SpiderClops]

So even when Slott finally kills Parker Industries, people complain? Whatever.

Since we are getting Pathetic Parker back, how about letting Aunt may finally know he is Spider-man and move on from that awful trope of her being too stupid not to realize it after all this time.

I think there is foreshadowing for that in this issue.

[blackspidey2099]

So taking this all in (I'm just ignoring anything vaguely Secret Empire related so I've been skipping ASM) but Peter really couldn't have stopped Otto? I'll probably backtrack on all of this later today but is Otto really that powerful that Peter couldn't stop one guy? One guy he also knows he can fight and knows his skills considering that plot in Superior Team-up where he went through all of Otto's memories up until the change back at the end of Superior Spider-man. I guess this is what happens when you skip things but I'm genuinely curious how Peter can't handle Otto especially in light of everything that occurred up until now.

I'll find out later though.

I feel if you read my post, you will find out why I thought this was so stupid, because Peter can and should have stopped Otto with ease. I don't want to spoil anything for you though, so don't read my post till you read the issues, lol. For now, all I'll say is that Otto had so much plot armor that he could have built a Hulkbuster from it.

[MetalWoman]

I think there is foreshadowing for that in this issue.

Yep, I saw huge foreshadowing that May is going to learn Peter is Spider-man, with the way Lian's mother was talking about how she trusts her daughter to fight Doc Ock even though she is worried about her. That is assuming they do not go the ASM 400 route were she already knows, but was too worried about Peter getting hurt as Spider-man to admit it.

[rward777]

Yep, I saw huge foreshadowing that May is going to learn Peter is Spider-man, with the way Lian's mother was talking about how she trusts her daughter to fight Doc Ock even though she is worried about her. That is assuming they do not go the ASM 400 route were she already knows, but was too worried about Peter getting hurt as Spider-man to admit it.

Hopefully it is not followed by May getting shot and Peter making a deal with the devil to save her yet again.

[blackspidey2099]

Yep, I saw huge foreshadowing that May is going to learn Peter is Spider-man, with the way Lian's mother was talking about how she trusts her daughter to fight Doc Ock even though she is worried about her. That is assuming they do not go the ASM 400 route were she already knows, but was too worried about Peter getting hurt as Spider-man to admit it.

I'll be honest, I'm not really convinced, but if this does happen that would be the only good thing about this issue. I'm firmly in the camp that Aunt May's character is greatly elevated when she knows about Peter's identity as Spider-Man and can both support him through it as well as worry about his safety.