Amazing Spider-Man #29 Review/SPOILERS

[Prof. Warren]

It's time for Secret Empire to hit Spidey's world and also for Superior Octopus to take back what's his.

It's ASM #29, from Slott and Immonen, the first part of the big SE tie in.



****SPOILERS*****



This is a pretty straight-forward issue. Peter's trying to smooth over recent events that have put a negative spotlight on PI. But in the middle of a televised interview in London where Peter's making his case that using PI's resources to invade a country and overthrow its government was a justifiable action, news breaks in of the events of SE #0.

The station has to break off the interview to deal with the unfolding events and Peter and Anna Marie leave the studio. Anna goes to meet with ex Aiden Blain after she gets a text from him and Peter goes to PI to see to business after Anna convinces him that all the other heroes have the bigger situation in hand. She reminds him that he's got his responsibilities to the company and its employees to think about and not just Spidey superhero stuff.

However, when he approaches PI's office and his spider-sense goes full tilt, he changes to Spidey and enters only to find an office full of bogus employees who are actually Hydra goons in civilian disguise. They attack until a voice on the intercom tells them to let him pass.

Spidey enters Peter Parker's office to see the Superior Octopus waiting there.

Ock doesn't attack but instead offers Peter a chance to willingly surrender PI over to him. Ock explains that PI's success was all his doing and that the company rightfully should be his. Peter refuses and Ock reveals a newcast blaming the Darkhold bubble encasing Manhattan on dark matter emanating from PI's Manhattan office - assumedly an experiment gone horribly wrong. Even though there's no truth to PI's connection with what's happening, people will still believe it and this will be yet another publicity disaster for PI.

Spidey and Ock fight until Spidey receives a holographic message from Tony Stark calling for any Avengers to answer the call to assist in the newly launched attack on Washington DC. Spidey has no choice but to go.

Ock exits PI as well and activates explosives, bringing the building to the ground.

He passes by the coffee shop that Anna Marie was in. She has run out without paying to see what happened to the PI building. Ock, with his mask off and dressed inconspicuously, pays her bill. As he says to himself as he walks away "I'm confident that all will be well, Anna. And why not? Everything has gone perfectly according to plan."

TO BE CONTINUED






****END SPOILERS****


This was a decent opening chapter to the arc. Some of it feels like ASM catching up with the rest of the MU as we're halfway through SE and this is backtracking to show Hydra's opening salvo. But no big deal. Probably the most interesting aspect of the issue is Ock laying out to Peter just how much of PI's success is owed to him. And when Peter at least tries to claim the invention of Webware for himself, Ock points out that the design was unconsciously lifted from the communicators they used as Web-Warriors during Spider-Verse. It's also interesting to see how PI is being set up to take the blame for Manhattan's current plight. Things are definitely not looking good for PI.

Immonen does his usual knock out job on art. Great action as Spidey and Ock throwdown.

As personal as things are between Peter and Ock, though, the previous arc with Osborn was so bitter and heated, that this feels like the emotions are dialed back a bit - despite the enormous stakes involved. But all told, it's definitely a solid start to a story that looks set to bring some major changes to ASM by the time it's done.

[Hulkout42]

i wish he would drop Ock, it is getting old,

[Cmbmool]

Say what you will about Doc Ock, but this is one case where he's right about all of this and Parker Industries is truly HIS Idea and not Peter. Peter should at least try to deal with Ock and try to regain the good within him by selling Parker Industries back to him.

[Prof. Warren]

Say what you will about Doc Ock, but this is one case where he's right about all of this and Parker Industries is truly HIS Idea and not Peter. Peter should at least try to deal with Ock and try to regain the good within him by selling Parker Industries back to him.

It'll be interesting to see where things lie between Ock and Peter when this arc is over.

And I'm as curious as to what Ock status quo is going to be by the end of this as I am about Peter's.

[vhm74]

Pretty solid issue. Art was superb and loved the Peter and Otto scene, this time both characters where handled great. Slott's managed to make a much more interesting arch-nemesis from Otto than Norman imho.

[rward777]

Say what you will about Doc Ock, but this is one case where he's right about all of this and Parker Industries is truly HIS Idea and not Peter. Peter should at least try to deal with Ock and try to regain the good within him by selling Parker Industries back to him.

That's the thing. Otto built PI by lying, cheating, and stealing. Peter at least tried to stay on the straight and narrow path. Otto did not earn PI any more than Peter did. Otto's achievements were built on a foundation of lies. The fact that Otto is willing to use immoral tactics to get what he wants is exactly the thing that makes Peter the Superior Spider Man. PI would have fallen even without Peter's misteps. PI was created by Otto's lies and deceptions which means it would have collasped sooner or later even if Otto was still running it.

[Noronha]

Say what you will about Doc Ock, but this is one case where he's right about all of this and Parker Industries is truly HIS Idea and not Peter. Peter should at least try to deal with Ock and try to regain the good within him by selling Parker Industries back to him.

The whole idea is ridiculous, let´s think about this for a second...first Peter insists that the man that took over his body and left him to die, after trying to blow up the world, has some good in him...come on, yeah Hitler probably did some good deeds to the people close to him.

Basically the whole premise of Otto having some good in him is his love for Anna Maria, yeah, that certainly justifies everything he did and how lenient Peter acts around him.

Second, Otto built the company using Peter´s body, it´s impossible to make any comparison with the real world, but the whole thing is just wrong. I mean he killed someone, took over his identity and started a new life...let´s just go ahead and ignore the whole killing and identity theft and focus on his new life.

Remember when Peter let Brock go because he had some good in him and protected the innocent? Remember how everyone reacted to it? How everyone was saying he was acting completely OOC? At least then we knew the real intentions behind his actions (they even had Ben go out and straight point it out to the reader)

How is this any different? Why does Peter insist all of sudden in being so merciful of Otto? Because Slott needs him to be.

The whole Parker industries and Peter/Otto relationship works if you remove 50 years of spider-man history and half you brain while you´re at it.

[rward777]

Do you think asm 30 and 31 will take place around secret empire 0 or will there be some time jumps?

[rward777]

Pretty solid issue. Art was superb and loved the Peter and Otto scene, this time both characters where handled great. Slott's managed to make a much more interesting arch-nemesis from Otto than Norman imho.

Still lacks the intense hate that Peter and Osborn have for each otber(even with Norman's memory loss)

[HAVOK78]

I am SO sick of all these Spider-Clones etc, BUT man does Ock look darn cool! And their discussion was very well written! Great art too!
I haven't been reading Secret Empire (no not out of faux outrage, but EVENT Fatigue) but I am curious to see where this leads

[Cmbmool]

That's the thing. Otto built PI by lying, cheating, and stealing. Peter at least tried to stay on the straight and narrow path. Otto did not earn PI any more than Peter did. Otto's achievements were built on a foundation of lies. The fact that Otto is willing to use immoral tactics to get what he wants is exactly the thing that makes Peter the Superior Spider Man. PI would have fallen even without Peter's misteps. PI was created by Otto's lies and deceptions which means it would have collasped sooner or later even if Otto was still running it.

Even if Otto was immoral in this attempts to keep PI afloat, do you really think Peter deserves PI either ?

[rward777]

Even if Otto was immoral in this attempts to keep PI afloat, do you really think Peter deserves PI either ?

Like I said. Otto does not deserve PI any more than Peter does. Otto because he lied to build it and Peter because it was handed down to him

[Stryfe8]

The whole idea is ridiculous, let´s think about this for a second...first Peter insists that the man that took over his body and left him to die, after trying to blow up the world, has some good in him...come on, yeah Hitler probably did some good deeds to the people close to him.

Basically the whole premise of Otto having some good in him is his love for Anna Maria, yeah, that certainly justifies everything he did and how lenient Peter acts around him.

Second, Otto built the company using Peter´s body, it´s impossible to make any comparison with the real world, but the whole thing is just wrong. I mean he killed someone, took over his identity and started a new life...let´s just go ahead and ignore the whole killing and identity theft and focus on his new life.

Remember when Peter let Brock go because he had some good in him and protected the innocent? Remember how everyone reacted to it? How everyone was saying he was acting completely OOC? At least then we knew the real intentions behind his actions (they even had Ben go out and straight point it out to the reader)

How is this any different? Why does Peter insist all of sudden in being so merciful of Otto? Because Slott needs him to be.

The whole Parker industries and Peter/Otto relationship works if you remove 50 years of spider-man history and half you brain while you´re at it.

so basically the marvel MO for the past 15 years (civil war anyone?)

[rward777]

As he says to himself as he walks away "I'm confident that all will be well, Anna. And why not? Everything has gone perfectly according to plan."
Famous last words considering that Otto's plans always end in disaster in the end one way or the other.

[jackolover]

It's nice to have Christos Gage on another event tie-in, as he's now a veteran for these things. As to Peter being nice to Otto, I wouldn't read anymore into that than just Peter trying to mollify Otto. Peter uses reconciliation as a first step, like Steve Rogers uses "Surrender now" as a first step. It's Peters set behaviour patterns, nothing more. Peter will lie under those circumstances if he can get the opponent to be negotiable.

I liked the initial encounter between Peter and Superior Otto, but once Otto mentioned MJ and Harry were stuck under the Darkhold dome, I think Peter would have freaked way more and not have run off to WashingtonDC, but tried to get someone to open the dome first. Maybe If Peter didn't know there were monsters inside, he may not have worried?

But certainly, the PI building exploding and falling over in London reminds us of 9/11 again, so whatever NY felt about 2001, London is feeling about 2017. What could bring down a perfectly stable whole building? Is this the start of Hydra attacks in London? Even a takeover of England?

I'm glad to see how ordinary people are getting affected now in some of the tie-ins, because farmers and country townsfolk are shown affected in Occupy Avengers #8, where Hydra just shoots anybody who protests Hydra is removing stocks of food from country to the cities, like Russia did under communism.