You know, after seeing the teaser trailer for Spider-Man 2 this week, the plethora of Doctor Octopus projects with which Marvel is bombarding its readership doesn't seem like quite as bad an idea as it did in previous weeks. It looks as though Alfred Molina might turn the classic Spidey villain into something altogether cool and different. The question is... can Marvel's creators do the same? While it still boasts a conventional tone, this story manages to hold my interest, and it features some of the best work we've seen from artist Keron Grant thus far in his career in comics.
Teenage inventor Brigham Fontaine finds himself face to face with the fearsome Doctor Octopus. The tentacled villain has kidnapped the young genius and darling of the financial sector to help him overcome one of Brigham's own inventions, a state-of-the-art vault that cannot possible be penetrated... not unless Brigham turns its own technology against itself. Meanwhile, Spider-Man scours the city looking for some sign of Doc Ock and his captive, but when he's finally able to mount a rescue, he gets an unusual reaction from Octavius's hostage.
There's a level of polish in Grant's work here that's been lacking from his art in past projects. He brings a remarkable level of energy and good, old-fashioned fun to the visual side of the storytelling. Doctor Octopus is actually an imposing figure here, and his power really shines through. Grant also captures Spider-Man's agility and zestful attitude. There's an impressive level of detail in the backgrounds as well. Is there something particularly brilliant or unusual about the art on this issue? No, I wouldn't go that far, but there's a certain something at play here that I imagine might just come down to sheer enthusiasm on the artists' part.
The plotting is rather conventional, and Mitchell makes some odd choices in terms of pacing. The brief glimpse of Peter Parker and Mary Jane together doesn't seem to serve any purpose at all. Furthermore, it detracts from the main point of this story, and that's to explore what it is that makes Doctor Octopus tick.
While the plot is a little on the familiar side, I'm enjoying Mitchell's quiet but deliberate look inside Doc Ock's head. The villain is still his usual, blowhard self, but the Brigham Fontaine character serves as a mirror, showing a reflection of a young Otto Octavius. Fontaine humanizes him. It's easy to relate to his intellectual isolation and to imagine how that feeling, taken to the extreme, could result in the over-the-top deviance that the villain now calls his lifestyle.
