*SPOILERS AHEAD!*
As most of you already know, yesterday was the release of the 700th and final issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. The issue upon my first read made me angry. I'll be honest, I jumped right on the bandwagon of hate. However I went home and re-read it and to be honest, I'll probably catch a lot of heat for this, but I'm ok with what happened. The thing is that, if you look back at all of the Spider-Man comics, there has been one lesson that has always been taught, one lesson that fans of all ages have come to memorize and even use in every day life. One of the biggest lessons that we've come to learn from Peter, is that "with great power comes great responsibility", and we've watched Peter live by that saying since the very beginning. Now, however, he teaches that lesson in a new way, we see him take the role of a mentor, if only for a minute, and it shows us the impact that Spider-Man, his morals, and his story can have on a man who has fallen so far. It shows that we should share Peter's view, that nobody is beyond redemption.
When it comes down to it Peter was just an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation and that's what made him so relatable over the years. Peter is just an average guy. He faces regular problems like how to make ends meet, how to maintain a relationship, and how to maintain a job. That is something you would never see Tony Stark or Steve Rogers tackle. Peter Parker was, in a sense, his fans that would read every issue, sympathizing over his daily struggles, and cheering when he won the hard battles, crying with him when Gwen Stacy died, and showing pride when he honored her memory the right way, by not murdering Green Goblin. Sure it can be argued that heroes like Superman, or Captain America show what a true hero is, but if you ask me they don't. They have it easy, Superman has godlike powers to help him, Captain America can be backed by the government in a minute, but Peter fends for himself, and that's what made him so successful fifty years later, but every good story must, at some point, come to an end, and although it may not seem like the best way to send out the ol' web head, I think it was pretty well done.
Sure, it sucks that Peter didn't die in his own body, that someone else is now Peter Parker in appearance only, but what makes up for that, to me anyway, is what Peter did in his final moments. Peter went out saving the day yet again, and made sure it would be safe, for the foreseeable future by creating his heir to the Spider-Man name. True Doc Ock wouldn't be your first guess as the new Spidey but it does make sense. Technically Peter and Ock are two sides of the same coin. If Peter decided to use his powers for his own gain, he would have essentially been no better than Ock, and that is what makes this work so well. Peter made Ock relive Peter's life but with everyone replaced by Doc Ock and people he knew. He showed Ock why he did what he did, the choices he chose, and he showed him that you can't give in, that you have to persevere because if you keep going, and you maintain who you are as a good person, you will be rewarded.
Peter showed Ock that a person can go through so much, and at the end of the day, he can do the right thing, and he can be happy, and Ock understood that. He understood it because that life of heroism could have been his would he have devoted his genius to fighting crime. Now, Peter Parker has chosen his heir, and Ock promised Peter he would live up to it. I may be alone in this, but I don't think there is anything more powerful than a hero, who exudes so much heroism that he can reform one of his oldest foes. That, to me, shows how much of a hero Peter Parker really was, and will be remembered as. Before I ramble on, let me just say that Peter Parker's legend is not over. It lives on in us, through the memories we carry, whether it be the first time you picked up a Spider-Man comic, or your first time seeing the mask, everyone at some point has heard of Peter Parker, and that's not going to change. I've said what I have to say, so now I'll leave you with a quote from The Amazing Spider-Man movie, that popped into my head as Peter Parker left our world in that last page of #700.
"So come on home Peter, your my hero, and I love you."
- Uncle Ben
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