Amazing Spider-Man #31

SECRET EMPIRE PT III: END OF AN EMPIRE

Written by Dan Slott

Penciled by Stuart Immonen
Cover by Alex Ross
Published Aug 9 2017

   In Shanghai, Doctor Octopus fights Spider-Man with his own inventions, overriding the controls and taunting him the whole time in true Otto Octavious fashion. On the streets below, people film and broadcast with webware devices while Aunt May walks towards the building. Otto is alone, proof that Hydra isn't aware of his actions.

Oh you!

   Inside the building, researchers keep trying to pinpoint and break the frequency Doc Ock is using. He meticulously inspects the hard drives full of tech when Lian is able to hotwire her Spider-Mobile and crash into him. Peter changes into street clothes and gets to a computer. There he announces to all of his employees that due to Ock getting the well intentioned R&D, Parker Industries is officially insolvent. 

That time Peter Parker pulled an Enron.

   All of the devices, watches, phones, networks etc begin to go offline as Aunt May sighs. Back on the floor, the now-former employees smash up the hardware while Pete goes for his secret weapon. Aunt May talks with Min Wei while Spider-Man heads back to fight Doc Ock. He reveals an EMP so powerful it shreds Spider-Man's armor. With a backup costume underneath, he reveals his own. Otto's arms go haywire and he escapes, leaving Spidey to go and save his teammates. 

Why you hittin' yourself?

   In the aftermath below, the former Parker Industries employees Lian, her mother, Aunt May and Spider-Man all talk while Otto makes a stealthy escape. He returns to Hydra Base One, now only a soldier and no longer the owner of so many tech secrets, he embraces the present but swears, he'll have his revenge on Peter Parker. With that this issue is concluded.
   In the most recent issues of Batman, the caped crusader battles the Joker and the Riddler. How cool is it that the web head gets his own run at a classic villain himself? Although the events of Secret Empire are coming to a close, it was cool to see a bad guy that wasn't fully Hydra oriented. The new Doc Ock should be a thorn in Spidey's side for a long time and that's totally cool with me. I give this one a 10/10.

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