Reviewer: James Hatton
Story title: N/A
Written by: Zeb Wells
Art by: Kaare Andrews
Colored by: Jose Villarrubia
Lettered by: VC’s Dave Sharpe
Editor: Warren Simons
Publisher: Marvel
With my first review of this book, I talked about how it was a bit cliche, but the details of it were what kept me going. I reread the first issue and my review of it, and it holds true. This is as much Doc Ock Year One as it is:
Psycho, Christmas Carol, Citizen Kane, and Weird Science
All of those classically good stories. (Yes, even Weird Science) and this comic takes a little out of each to be a story you probably already know, but a new spin on them so that unless you are nitpicking over the entire affair is a fun read.
Story!
Last issue we saw Otto say good-bye to the jocks at school and his abusive stupid father and hello to government cheese. That’s right, Otto is one of the grandest minds of his generation and he’s going to prove it.
His mother is now not only defensive of her little Ottokins, but now when it seems Otto might just be having relations – she spurns him hard. (Psycho) Apparently his fame is going to bring about a time when they can be together forever.
So Otto takes the cute Miss Annie and tells her to get the hell outta town and go cavort with some other evil genius because he’s got work to do. (Christmas Carol) He goes on to give an impassioned speech about how man is no longer man. He is the sum of his creativity and genius. Ock wants cash to show the world how he can meld man with machine. (Weird Science)
…but something goes horribly wrong…
Art!
The cover is kind of hard to make out on this one, so if you are the type that is going to go and examine a cover you’ll see that it is a pretty neat shot of Otto shooting off an ‘Alpha Combo Finisher Hadouken’. If you only glance at it, you are missing out as it’s not eye catching, but it is nice to look at.
The internal art holds strong into the second issue. This story could easily be translated to animation. You can almost see the light reflecting off of Otto’s glasses as if they are creatures of their own. The claws aren’t alive as they seem to be in the movie and Ultimate incarnations of Ock, but the way he relates to them makes you realize he wants them to be. Which is just as creepy.
Overall!
This isn’t a new story. It’s not even an amazing story. It is a fun story, though. I personally don’t know a helluva lot about the full historical origins of Otto Octavius, but I do know that this is a good origin point for any reader who has seen the movie and wants to get to know the comic.
Oh, and the Citizen Kane reference is in the art during his ‘impassioned speech’.
