3. Superior Spider-Man #23 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, and Humberto Ramos (Marvel)
It's been 7 days so you know what that means - a new issue of Superior Spider-Man! Marvel are absolutely pumping out these Superior Spider-Man comics like crazy - I think in the last 3 weeks we've had 3 Superior Spider-Man issues! In ye olden days it would've been one a month but when the quality of the comics are this good, who am I to complain? When we left Spidey/Doc Ock, he was fighting Venom/Flash Thompson and had the symbiote on the ropes with his combo of flames and sonics. Flash manages to escape, enraging Spidey who's now lost two of his biggest enemies, Venom and Hobgoblin. Hobgoblin meanwhile has Carlie Cooper and her notebook revealing Spidey's identity as Otto Octavius but hasn't completely grasped the current situation with Peter (admittedly a tough sell!). And on the day of May's leg operation, Otto's about to introduce her to his new girlfriend Anna Maria, whom May doesn't know is a little person, while Mayor Jameson begins plotting his way out of being blackmailed by Spider-Man by hiring Tiberius Stone and his assistant Michael O'Mara -aka Spider-Man 2099! Like so many issues of Superior Spider-Man, this one is jam-packed with story and consequently lots of great scenes. Otto's been slowly getting more and more frustrated with things after a period where he's been on top and everything's been going smoothly. Jay's starting to notice a shift in attitude, as is MJ and Yuri Watanabe who's on the trail of Carlie's disappearance. There's a great dinner scene between May and Anna Maria (a character I've really liked throughout this series), and a very cute moment between Peter and Anna Maria when she says to him "Kissy kissy" - Humberto Ramos, ladies and gentlemen! Ramos' art is of his usual high standard and I loved how he made Otto bashful in that one panel, the otherwise unstoppable force of nature stumbling for a brief moment of vulnerable humanity. The ending though is really something. You've seen the cover with Venom, you know Otto hasn't had the symbiote to deal with yet - you know what's going to happen. And still it's awesome to see! Superior Spider-Man #23 is terrific and I'm glad for Marvel's accelerated shipping schedule so we won't have to wait too long to read #24!