I Can Legacy Clearly Now #8: Amazing Spider-Man #789 – Everybody Hates Pete

Of all the “Legacy” titles I’ve covered so far, Amazing Spider-Man’s renumbered relaunch follows hottest on the heels of Secret Empire (not including the Cap tease in Marvel Legacy #1 of course).

Let’s take a moment to walk through the events of Spidey’s Secret Empire tie-in because boy is it a doozy:

• Following the events of Spider-Man: Clone Conspiracy, Doctor Octopus has his consciousness transferred into a clone of Peter Parker (inspired, of course, by the Jackal). Finally a physical match for his hated foe, Ock becomes the Superior Octopus.
• The Superior Octopus joins Evil Captain America’s Hydra Avengers.
• As Captain America launches his plan for a Hydra world takeover, Peter Parker, now CEO of international tech conglomerate Parker Industries, finds his company under siege by the Superior Octopus.
• Otto Octavius reveals that *he* founded Parker Industries during his time in Peter’s body as the Superior Spider-Man (Ock’s been in more bodies than Mystique in the last five years), and that he views Peter’s rise to prominence as stolen success.
• In an effort to stop Otto from his nefarious takeover, Peter (as Spider-Man) is forced to effectively destroy his entire company. He’s blamed for a worldwide blackout and serious damage to countless lives. In short, everybody hates Pete.

The creative team of Dan Slott and Stuart Immonen are able to leverage the event fallout into the most fully realized restoration of a Marvel Legacy to date.

Fan reaction to Peter’s unprecedented success was primarily negative. Spider-Man has always struggled to make ends meet, with luck so consistently terrible readers simply call it the Parker Luck. Seeing Peter take over as the new Tony Stark is an interesting and sensible direction for the super-genius – but there’s no denying it fundamentally changes the relationship readers have long had with Spider-Man.

Amazing Spider-Man #789 finds Spidey back down on his luck, with the media and masses all furious with public enemey number one, Peter Parker. Spidey can’t even go out in public to stop a crime with new flame Mockingbird without the New York populace turning on Parker’s webbed menace ally.

You could make an argument against the restoration of the status quo – and I would always argue that progression leads to some of the best stories in superhero comics – but given that’s the aim of legacy, Amazing Spider-Man #789 pulls it off well.