Warning SPOILERS!

The last we saw Peter Park was his being defeated by Doc Ock in a battle within Peter’s mindscape. Doc Ock seamed to have defeated Peter, gaining full control over his body. Flash forward to this week’s The Superior Spider-Man #19, and Doc Ock is struggling to access Peter’s memories due to his wiping them out in the battle. Below is the kick-ass panel by artist Ryan Stegman which has Spider-Ock doing his best to remember a vital equation.

At first glance it might look like the shadow images below are reflections of the panels above of memories where Doc Ock has replaced himself with Peter. However, when you look closer, the clothes don’t quite match the images above, instead they’re more like what Peter wore when he was wiped from Doc’s memories.

Instead it looks like we’re getting Peter digging his way out from the rubble of that battle, the first steps to regaining eventual control over his body. Subtle, but very cool. In Ock’s feeble and failed attempt to remember the equation Peter solved, it looks like he also created the first steps for his return.

We all knew it’d happen eventually, but with this issue it looks like we’re getting the beginning of the end (or is it new beginning?).