And this is our "Superior" hero...

[chrisdv]

So, after a certain... recent event in 'Amazing Spider-Man' 700, I was amongst the readers pissed off with how things turned out. So today, I reread "Ends of the Earth"...








Holy shit. Is it just me, or does Freaky Friday Man just make Otto's plan in "Ends of the Earth" even more petulant?

Comments

[rainspirit]

Got to admit, I prefer OctoSpidey to the one obnoxiously yelling, "NO ONE DIES!" to everyone.

[sun_man]

seconded. Past 6 years marvels done a sucky job with 616 Peter Parker, like a really sucky job

[chrisdv]

I hate the way it makes it look like Peter thinks the rest of the superheroes are simply doing a half-assed job & not trying to save everyone.

[silverhammerman]

Oh look at that, Spidey's ridiculous Ends of the Earth costume had a weird little thong thing going on. Between this and Cyclops' Phoenix Five costume I think I sense a trend.

I feel like they're maybe trying to replicate the classic flooding tunnel scene from 70's Spidey, with Peter overcoming his limitations and breaking free to save someone, but if that was the intention it just doesn't work. Between the art and the writing it just lacks any of the emotion and drama that that scene had.

It really annoys me though that this was Ock's last big story before the whole SSM thing, it makes his reform feel completely ridiculous. His big plan here was to kill a bunch of people for no reason other than to satisfy his own ego, that's not the plan of a dude who was ever good at heart. I think the general idea could work with a different villain, someone more small time or who conceivably had mental illness as justification for their actions, (Shocker? Curt Connors? Electro maybe?) but in these scans Ock is just an evil bastard with a massive ego. It doesn't ring true to me that Peter could look into this character's head and realize that Ock always just wanted to be a hero, so the Spider-Man legacy would be safe with him. The guys just an asshole, plain and simple, and I think his reform so far hasn't really felt like it fits with the scale of this sort of villainy.

The whole thing is just annoying, but at least now that Ock/MJ has been taken off the table I can actually look at SSM as another mildly intriguing, if nonsensical and inconsistent, sales gimmick instead of feel kind of upset and ill every time I think about it.

[cyberghostface]

It doesn't ring true to me that Peter could look into this character's head and realize that Ock always just wanted to be a hero, so the Spider-Man legacy would be safe with him.

That's not what happened, though. He more or less transferred his heroism into Otto to change him.

[silverhammerman]

Argh, I should have known better than to trust an internet synopsis for an issue I didn't want to read.
Still though, I feel like, heroism transfer or not, there's no way Peter could ever look at Ock and think "Yeah, this guy's not gonna do any harm." Well maybe he could with old Ock, but after Ends of the Earth I think any shred of decency that Ock had was clearly gone.

[lbd_nytetrayn]

I doubt he really thinks that, else he might not be haunting him 24/7.

[walkingthroughforest]

That is not at all what happened. I recommend you actually read #700.

[silverhammerman]

Alright, full disclosure, I didn't read the full issue because I thought it was a stupid and insulting concept, and I had no interest in paying to see one of my favorite heroes die unmourned and defeated, that's just not my bag. However, like most other people on this community I did see the scans showing the climax of 700. It's clear that we interpreted them differently, but looking over them again Peter does make Ock promise to keep his loved ones safe. It's probably not a vote of confidence in Ock so much as a move made out of desperation, but still, I think it's pretty bullshit that Peter would think for a even second that Ock, in light of Ends of the Earth, could be trusted to protect his loved ones, telepathic guilt trip or not.

[citygod]

The phrase "thong thing" is no burnt in my head. And I seem to have developed a lisp.

[citygod]

"now" not "no".
I seemed to have a Scottish accent to match my new lisp.

[icon_uk]

Welcome aboard laddie/lassie