Why can everyone write Otto as Peter except Slott?
I loved this issue. No, really, I did. I thought Gage did a brilliant job of showing Otto realize that he had to extract himself from the Avengers so that he could stop having to waste time pretending to be Peter and focus on the problem at hand. As such, it explains why he seemed to have been acting like Peter in "Age of Ultron." But, we also see him get exhausted with the act in this issue and start behaving more like Otto. Slott vaguely touched on the fact that Otto is having some (unacknowledged) troubles being superior to Peter in issue #6, but Gage really gets across that point here as Otto is starting to buckle under the pressure of keeping up the act. Plus, I loved how he blamed Peter for the fact that he wasn't able to stop Ultron. He believes that he could've stopped it if he hadn't spent all that time trying to be superior to Peter. But, deep down, we also see that Otto knows that he's just as guilty, since he's also largely motivated by being superior to his old self. In just these few moments, Gage gives us more insight into the difficult that Otto is experiencing in being Peter than Slott has, to my mind.
Moreover, Otto is coldly brilliant here. Part of my problem with Slott in this title is that he seems to be playing Otto for laughs, setting up moments where his failures and successes show how ridiculously egotistical he is. Here, Otto shows himself to have a strategic mind, agreeing to go with Tony's plan only so that he can get into Horizon Labs and get his hands on the technology that he needs to take over Ultron's machines. I thought this twist was great, really showing Otto in control. He's not just improving on things related to Spider-Man, but actually using his experience as Dr. Octopus to do something different. Plus, I liked how he recognized and dismissed Peter's impulse to feel bad about Max Modell. It again shows him breaking outside the pattern of Peter that has dominated his portrayal so far in this title. Otto is his own man here and it's fascinating to watch.
Also, I loved that Gage really has Otto motivated by his sincere belief that he can do everything better than everyone else. He makes us realize that destroying and saving the world are just flip-sides of the same coin for Otto. He gets so obsessed with the end result, ruling the world as its savior (and making it superior as only he can), that he has to frequently force himself to focus on actually implementing the plan itself. It explains why Peter has been able to defeat Otto so often, because Otto often gets ahead of himself, not believing it possible for anyone to stop him. It's great insight into the character, not just as Spider-Man, but who he was as Dr. Octopus.
But, as it often does for Otto, it all goes wrong and here Gage excels. So much of "Superior Spider-Man" has been about Peter. Everything Slott does in this title seems to be aimed at Peter being forced to live with the consequences of Otto's actions when he resumes control. Neither Gage nor Yost in "Avenging Spider-Man" takes that approach, presenting Otto as Spider-Man, period. As I said, he's his own man, so his failures and successes are his. Here, Otto is forced to learn a lesson about teamwork when his plan fails and he has to realize that Tony's plan would've worked. Otto's psychotic megalomania had driven him to act on his own so that he could be humanity's savior. But, he fails and he realizes why he failed. Gage doesn't play up the moment for laughs, but instead shows how Otto is learning to be a superhero. He's not shooting bad guys in the face because he's decided that's what superheroes should do. He's realizing that his actions have consequences, often ones that he didn't foresee. It's a powerful moment, where Otto has to pull himself off the ground, just like he realizes that Peter did time and time again, and recommit to a fight that, in all likelihood, is probably hopeless. If only we could see more of this Otto...
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