It’s been nine issues since Doc Ock stole the lives (and body) of both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Murderous fan outrage aside, what a great experiment thus far. Writer Dan Slott and his team of web-savvy artists (Ryan Stegman, Guiseppe Camuncoli, and Humberto Ramos) have trumped reader expectation at every turn.

For those of you waiting for the teen-friendly film, let me spoil the deets: Doc Ock was about to die, just a frail body supported by armor and near-invincible tentacles. His brain, however, was as brilliantly malicious as ever. During a battle, he used mad scientist tech to superimpose his mind over Spider-Man’s. The process also stuffed Parker into Doc Ock’s body as it died.

Well, stuffed most of Parker. As Doc Ock commenced masquerading as a more reckless, hardcore Spider-Man (and an utterly douched-out Parker), a faint ghost of the real thing lingered inside the youthful body.

I loved this idea from the moment I heard it, and applaud Slott for challenging himself and his audience. But there are psychos to be appeased, who can’t bear the thought of comic paradigms temporarily changing. Even as the first issue of The Superior Spider-Man closed, this ghost of Parker showed up, assuring us that the plot would not only be undone, but probably soon.

Since then, a superior Spidey has womanized the daylights out of poor Mary Jane Watson, shot point-blank and killed the villain Massacre, and gotten booted from the Avengers. And through all this depravity (plus the routine hospitalization of street-level hoods), Slott and company have maintained the gleeful, “can-this-get-any-crazier?!” tone they established on The Amazing Spider-Man. Actually, things remain fairly light, as Parker’s ghost always lingers, his frustration with Doc Ock’s abuse of his identity turning out comedic gold nuggets.

So, the current issue. Marcos Martin’s cover is genius; fifty years worth of Spidey artists should be clenched with jealousy (not Ross Andru–he’s above that sort of thing). In it, Doc Ock finally detects ghost Parker’s presence. This is good for the villain, because lately our hero’s gained access to his own right hand. While the doc sits down under a “neurolitic scanner” (or gizmo helmet) that will smear the ghost for good, Parker tries to choke {himself}.

But the meat of the comic takes place in a dusky landscape of Parker’s memories. Doc Ock’s menacing visage looks down through the clouds, and the Daily Bugle building crumbles…until Parker’s ghost reconstructs it! “I guess this will require a more direct approach,” says the doc, before sending his own avatar into the memories. There, he faces Parker’s entire supporting cast as they hold him down: Gwen Stacy, Jonah Jameson, Mary Jane, etc. There’s only one thing he can do–

For the appearance of Spidey’s many villains, Stegman shuffles iconic little boxes across a white page. It’s wonderfully dramatic, especially with the gunman who shot Uncle Ben soon standing in the forefront. His best art, though, comes after the doc has dispersed Parker’s allies, and accused him of placing his own life before a little girl’s. It happened in the last issue, when the ghost almost kept Doc Ock from operating on her in the vigilante Cardiac’s secret hospital.

We then get a thoroughly cinematic breakdown of Parker’s misty realm. As the doc destroys his mind one memory at a time, Parker forgets his own name, stumbling, “I’m–I’m–” On the last page, back in reality, we’re told, “He’s gone. And I? I…am…FREE!”

But who is free? Maddeningly, we can’t be sure, and this is storytelling at its finest.