Comic Info
Comic Name: Amazing Spider-Man (Volume 2)/Amazing Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth/Avenging Spider-Man
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Dan Slott/Rob Williams/Brian Clevinger/Ty Templeton
Artist: Stefano Caselli/Humberto Ramos/Thony Silas/Matthew Clark
# of Issues: 8
Release Date: 2013
Amazing Spider-Man (2) #682 Variant
Reprints Amazing Spider-Man (2) #682-687, Amazing Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth #1, and Avenging Spider-Man #8 (May 2012-August 2012). Dr. Octopus is dying, but he has a plan. Taking the world hostage, Octopus reveals he intends to save the world (for a price) or destroy it. Spider-Man finds himself teamed with Silver Sable and Black Widow on a desperate race to stop Doctor Octopus and the Sinister Six…and Dr. Octopus has turned the whole world against Spider-Man!
Written by Dan Slott, Rob Williams, Brian Clevinger, and Ty Templeton, Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth is a Marvel Comics superhero collection. Following Spider-Man: Trouble on the Horizon, the issues feature art by Stefano Caselli, Humberto Ramos, Thony Silas, and Matthew Clark. The issues were also collected in Amazing Spider-Man: Big Time Complete Collection—Volume 2 and Avenging Spider-Man: The Complete Collection.
I decided to binge read a bunch of Slott’s run on Spider-Man. I didn’t particularly like what he did with the character and thought a lot of new characters (aka most of Horizon) were dull and lifeless. I always enjoyed the Spider-Man/Silver Sable dynamic so I was kind of excited about this storyline, and it was better than some of Slott’s other long run.
Amazing Spider-Man (1) #685
I like that the story was a Spider-Man story, but it was a Spider-Man story with high stakes. Often Spider-Man is a street level superhero dealing with problems that could at most destroy New York City but generally not the world. It is this reason that I haven’t really enjoyed him on the Avengers which doesn’t seem a good fit for him. In this story arc, it makes more sense for Spider-Man to be involved and it would have felt really weird (but maybe fun-weird) if this had fallen in an Avengers comic.
The story feels like it gets a little more time to play out, but it still feels like we’re missing chunks. The story has direction until Spider-Man, Silver Sable, and Black Widow start running around. It feels like that should be the most exciting part of the story, but it is the part of the story that is least covered…and a little bit of a rushed ending in the confrontation with Doctor Octopus.
This outing feels a bit closer to classic Spider-Man and the “worldwide” nature of the story is more explainable than most big Spider-Man stories. It feels more traditional comic book with one-off fights with villains like Sandman and Rhino, but the dialogue and storytelling could be streamlined more it feels like. While Silver’s “death” was fine, the “deaths” of Sabra, Titanium Man, and even the Kangaroo were less than spectacular (fortunately, no one stays dead). Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth is followed by Spider-Man: Lizard—No Turning Back.
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