In reviewing "Avengers Assemble" #14 AU, I noted that Ewing never really got down Black Widow's voice. The issue should've conveyed the fear that she and everyone else around her felt as they watched the Ultron invasion occur, but Ewing failed to really build an emotional connection between the reader and the character. Creating this connection is a fine art, clearly, and identifying it often feels like Potter Stewart's comments on pornography, namely I can't necessarily definite it but I know it when I see it. In other words, I don't know why this issue is different from "Avengers Assemble" #14 AU, but it is, because Yost really gets into Otto's head here.
We've seen Otto's fear of his father in previous issues of "Superior Spider-Man," but Yost puts it front and center here, using it to drive the nightmare that Otto is experiencing as a result of the fearworm's attempt to get a hold in our reality. I can't say that I'm personally a fan of Sleepwalker, but Yost does a good job of using his shtick to develop Otto as a character. He finds strength through his role as Spider-Man to overcome his fear of his father and defeat the fearworm, something that he seems unlikely to have been able to do had he just been plain ol' Otto. In this way, Yost shows how being Spider-Man is starting to change Otto for the better. I'll admit, though, that this issue might've been a little more ho-hum if not for the amazing work by Checchetto. As just one example, the splash page where Otto is revealed to be facing Sleepwalker was spectacular.
Of course, one of the most interesting moments here is Otto contemplating whether Peter trying to get back his body was part of the dream or real, amping up the sense that a confrontation between the two of them is coming to a head. But, at the very least, this issue does exactly what this series is supposed to do, provide an interesting pairing to show different sides of Spidey. It continues to be my favorite of the two Spider-Man series.
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