Amazing Spider-Man #685

Yep, this review is up WAY later than usual for me, but this is probably going to be the way things go from now on. Once I get more stable with my new work schedule, I'll probably put up a post detailing when I'll be posting and how often, but for now, my posting/commenting schedule may be a bit on the chaotic side... But hey, a late post is better than no post at all, I say!

Amazing Spider-Man #685:

Summary: Spidey, Black Widow and Silver Sable are still hitting Dr. Octopus's missile bases around the world, but are being forced to deal with the added difficulty of having SHIELD after them since Doc Ock has convinced the world HE'S the good guy and Spidey is the rogue villain. Even though all evidence suggests that Ock's satellite contraption would indeed end global warming forever, Spidey is steadfast in his belief that Ock is up to something more sinister... As for Ock, he's pleasantly surprised by how readily everybody seems to be accepting his plans for saving the Earth. Regardless, Ock sends out a call to other super-villains, telling them that if they could take Spidey out of the picture, he'd reward them with the same deal he managed to get for his Sinister Six members. Upon getting word of this, Spidey turns to the (very) few allies he still had that hadn't turned on him or been captured, asking them to try to take down Ock's additional forces. Eventually Spidey tracks down Ock's largest base(in Romania, near Symkaria) and figures he'd find Ock inside. Instead, he finds some video screens with Ock gloating that Spidey's best efforts had failed and Ock's satellites had been launched. Ock then reveals that Spidey was right all along, and that his satellites WERE going to be used for something sinister, as Ock couldn't bear the thought that regular people would continue living when he was dying. With that, Ock activates his satellites, which magnify the intensity of the suns rays, scorching the entire side of the planet facing the sun, ending this one.

Thoughts: Okay, that HAD to be a bad dream on Spidey's part, right? If it wasn't, that was one hell of a sweet swerve by Dan Slott! It's not often you see Spidey fail in the magnitude he failed here... Because Ock absolutely schooled not just Spidey, but the entire world. And the best part? Ock's reasoning was actually sound! Well, sound for a megalomaniac anyway... Ock wanting to destroy not just Spidey, but the world makes sense, since he has always seen himself as better than everybody else(which we got a glimpse of back in those Invincible Iron Man issues he popped up in), and was disgusted at the prospect of the world continuing without him... Now this? This is what you call a fantastic cliffhanger! I can't wait to see how Slott writes his way out of this mess!

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Doc Ock moved up several places on my favorite villain list after THIS issue!