
As recapped bulletproofsponge's excellent review of Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #2, good 'ol Kaine Parker, still fresh from his recent team-up with Wolverine, figured that so long as he was in New York, he might as well pay his "brother," Peter, as visit. Unfortunately, Kaine obviously wasn't reading The Superior Spider-Man, because if he had, he would've realized that "Peter" is now the villainous Doctor Octopus having taken over Peter's body and playing the part of the web-slinger. And that SpOck (as he's now called by fandom) still had bitter memories of the time Kaine killed him way back during the Clone Saga. And if things couldn't possibly get any worse, the Jackal showed up with his army of half spider/half mutants clones, along with...Gwen Stacy?! Yeah, I'd say we have to find out what's going on here, don't you?
THE STORY
We open with Kaine inside a clone vat, apparently a flashback of when he was first created. He sees the Jackal looking at him from outside the vat, telling him to wake up. Then he sees Gwen Stacy who also tells him to wake up. Then he sees Gwen Stacy again, only this time half of her face is undergoing clone degeneration just like Kaine used to have, and she screams for him to wake up.
Kaine then slowly awakes from his nightmare in the Jackal's secret base and sees the clone of Gwen Stacy. At first, Kaine believes he's still dreaming and has a flashback of when he was falling into a large pit full of naked Gwen Stacy clones that the Jackal has disposed of. The Gwen clone tells Kaine that she and the other clones were glad when Kaine was able to escape and apologies for the Jackal having abducted both him and SpOck. SpOck, who is chained up along with Kaine, belittles both her and Kaine, telling him to stop “mewling” and start thinking about what may be his upcoming death.


Meanwhile, SpOck thinks how much of mess the situation is and how much he hates clones. For a moment, he seems to recall that Peter had a memory about a smokestack that gave him “considerable angst” but then dismisses this as he sees the mutant-powered spider clones regrouping. SpOck concludes that there is no one worth saving, that he should just leave and let Kaine, Jackal, and the other clones kill each other. However, realizing he cannot allow the Jackal to have any of “his” genetic material, he sees a tank filled with hydrogen and, using the tanks own valve, ruptures it, causing an explosion. Kaine, while surprised “Peter” would do this, believes this is part of some larger plan, while the Jackal freaks out and rushes toward the flames to “save his babies.” As the fire rages, Kaine sees the Gwen clone and tells her to come with him. However, the Gwen clones refuses, choosing instead to perish along with the other clones in the flames.
Outside, we see that SpOck has escaped and is watching the Jackal's lair explode and burn to the ground, marveling how “one well-placed action” was able to destroy “his” DNA samples along with the Jackal, the other clones, and apparently Kaine. Unfortunately for SpOck, he soon sees Kaine has survived, leaping out of the wreckage. Kaine then demands from SpOck why he did what he just did, and SpOck states he took the most “efficient path,” citing how not only has the Jackal been defeated but that they will no longer have to deal with any more clones. At this, Kaine punches SpOck in the face, saying how SpOck could've killed him, to which SpOck flatly says this was a “calculated risk.” When Kaine, while understanding why “Peter” is angry at him, demands to know “what the hell is the matter with [him,]” SpOck replies with, “You think pretending to be a hero changes anything between us? After what you did?!” Kaine--not realizing SpOck is actually talking about the time when, as Doctor Octopus, Kaine murdered him—tells him that while he's knows he's no hero, that SpOck is one, and for him to “act like it.” And as Kaine leaves, SpOck proclaims that “this isn't over!”

In the second epilogue, we see that the Jackal and Carrion have managed to survive the explosion, but everything else has been destroyed. When Carrion states how their plans have failed, the Jackal states they haven't, that while all of Peter's DNA sample have been destroyed, all the samples provided to him by Mr. Sinister are intact. What's more, he managed to salvage one more DNA sample—Kaine's. And with that, the Jackal proclaims, “Who's ready for Spidercide 2.0?” The end.
THOUGHTS
Bulletproofsponge observed in his review of Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #2, that Doctor Octopus, as Spider-Man, would sever all trust between "Peter" and Kaine to the point where Kaine would begin to question his own new-found purpose in life. And sure enough, that transpires here, with Kaine believing that the closest thing he had to a brother, the person who he, deep down, actually admired and looked up to, has turned his back on him. It's one thing for the Jackal to call Kaine a "monster," but to hear from whom he thinks is Peter is obviously devastating. It's also fitting on a dramatic level, given what appears to be in store in upcoming issues as it appears Kaine will be forced to face even more of his past demons.

Although one can't really disagree with SpOck in his assessment of the Jackal. Once again, it's yet another hair-brained "replace the human race with clones" scheme, which only serves to underscores the Jackal's status as the one-trick pony of Spidey's rogues gallery. We're weren't exactly sure why the Jackal wants to replace the world with clones back in the Clone Saga, and we still don't know why in this story other than "he's freaking insane." Also, it is kind of disappointing that we get yet another clone of Gwen Stacy who dies, not to mention that Chris Yost didn't explore more with her character, especially given the presence of SpOck. After all, she would have the real Gwen's memories of Peter, and one would imagine that her seeing whom she thinks is Peter turning on her the way he did would've been heart-wrenching, and this is something I believe Yost should've placed greater emphasis on.
What really stands out in this issue is the outstanding art from In-hyuk Lee. As you can see from the images, it is incredibly detailed and realistic while maintaining the same level of exaggerated action poses and gestures one would see in a regular comic. You can actually see that both Kaine and SpOck's costumes have genuine texture and form over their bodies as opposed to appearing to having a "spray-painted" look, showing just how much care for detail he has. This isn't to diminish the other art in the issue, as both the dream sequence opening and the epilogues are quite good, but it is a bit jarring (although not distracting) when placed alongside with Lee's illustrations.
Overall, I feel "Sibling Rivalry" was a decent two-parter, but I do kind of wish that it had somehow been a three-part story instead, if only to better explore Kaine and Otto's reunion and forced alliance of convenience. Still, it served it's purpose and was quite enjoyable.