Monday, 12 November 2007

The Final Battle With Doctor Octopus



Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-man #78 & #79 by Bill Mantlo and Al Milgrom.

Of course it isn't the final battle - Doc Ock returns in a year or so, but it's a good story. What makes it slightly unusual is that Pete knows this big fight against Doc Ock is coming-up and so spends some time making sure that his affairs are in order and he's on good terms with everyone.

All this means that the tension is building throughout the issue until the inevitable battle in issue 79.

Mantlo manages to make that issue interesting even though its one big long battle. Spidey and Ock slug it out through the hospital, onto the city streets, a rail freight depot and finally into an old abandoned building (there's always one around when you need one).

This is the issue where Spidey convinces Ock that he'll always beat him and so there's no point in Ock trying.

A enjoyable conclusion to the Doc Ock storyline. Rating 8/10.

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