Written by: Christos Gage
Art by: Mike Hawthorne, Wade von Grawbadger, Jordie Bellaire, and VC’s Clayton Cowles
Cover Price: $3,99
Release Date: October 30, 2019

This is it, the moment of truth. This book is ending, but will we be left with Superior Spider-Man or classic Doc Ock? I know that so many people are with me in wanting the good Otto to remain, but it does not look good. So, which one is it?

The issue opens with that piece of crap Osborne waiting for Otto to show up. James is there with him and if you don’t remember, Ock has to kill three people to get his little buddy to freedom. Well, when he does arrive, that count goes down to two, but there is a twist to it…a twist that broke my heart. Yea, from the beginning here, it seems inevitable that Christos Gage is going to end this book by giving us the classic Doctor Octopus and while I understand it, I don’t have to like it!

If you want the classic bad guy back, though, there is plenty to be excited about. A powered-up version is in the house and I haven’t seen this many arms grabbing and pulling since last Black Friday at Wal-Mart! While the cameras are rolling, Otto humiliates, then cripples, then shames Norman and then tosses his lame-ass into a portal.   After telling the world that Ock is back in town, he makes a grand exit. Man, this stinks! I don’t just want Superior Spider-Man to stay, I down-right need it!

But wait! What do we have here? Otto goes to see Emma and Anna! Could this mean… Well, while I still had hope, Christos Gage is doing exactly what the Backstreet Boys don’t want him to do…yep, he is playing games with my heart! While there are little hints that the good Otto is still in there, we are going to be getting the bad guy that Billie Eilish goes on and on about…duh.

The issue ends with a funeral and my heart broken and thrown away like an old Spidey suit that looks like it no longer fits in a couple of really important ways.  Hey, if you are going to have “Superior Spider-Man No More”, you can’t go wrong homaging the classic.  I’m not crying right now, honest.

So, how do you rate an issue that did everything you wished it didn’t? I mean, how could Christos Gage do this to Otto and us? The answer is…it just makes sense. It’s been a while since we got the classic Otto and we will have to just go with it. Remember, if this book sold a ton, we would could have gone on as happy campers, but while the numbers were never as good as they should have been, those of us who did buy it got a hell of a great ride and such a great character. That will never go away even if it didn’t last quite long enough!

Final Thoughts:

While this issue broke my heart, I have to give huge props to Christos Gage and Mike Hawthorne for making me care in the first place…and boy did I care! If you haven’t read this series yet, I highly recommend you do.

9.5/10