There’s a new eight-armed sheriff in town, and his grudge against Spider-Man and Norman Osborn may mean curtains for the Wallcrawler. Your Major Spoilers review of Amazing Spider-Man #28 from Marvel Comics awaits!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #28

Writer: Zeb Wells
Penciler: Ed McGuinness
Inker: Mark Farmer
Colorist: Marcio Menyz
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: June 28, 2023

Previously in Amazing Spider-Man: The new-and-improved Doctor Octopus takes his upgraded tentacles for a rampage through Oscorp!

Can the deadliest Doc Ock of all time even be stopped?

“WE’VE GOT A MAN DOWN!”

After finding Doctor Octopus’ arms on his doorstep, J. Jonah Jameson races to Oscorp, busting into a lab to beg Peter Parker and Norman Osborn to save them. Apparently, ever since Doctor Octopus upgraded and his old arms went rogue, they’ve been visiting Jameson’s home, becoming almost like a pet. Osborn quickly and easily repairs the cyber-tentacles, but is flummoxed when they connect to the Oscorp mainframe and deactivate the security system. At the same time, Octavius himself makes his presence known, attacking and easily subduing Spider-Man, forcing Norman to don his Gold Goblin armor and confront Octavius man-to-cephalopod.

But he didn’t count on the whole thing being a Trojan Horse, a fact that he only realizes as his armor shuts down.

BEWARE THE LIMBS OF OTTO OCTAVIUS!

Of course, as a reader, I immediately thought that to be the case, which calls into question the genius of Drs. Parker and Osborn. Add in the sudden viciousness of Doctor Octopus, and this issue is a frustrating mess of a story. Sixty years of back-and-forth about whether or not J. Jonah Jameson is a kind, decent man at heart, or if he’s really as awful as it might seem makes his sudden sentimental change of heart as arbitrary as Murder Ock. All the players in this issue (including Kraven, who appears just long enough to complain about the new Octoids) seem to be cardboard cutouts on a checkboard, moving where they’re supposed to because the plot says they’re supposed to. As for the art, McGuinness’ most grotesque artistic choices are seemingly amplified by Farmer’s inks, so we have a strange, emaciated Jameson, a bulbous Doctor Octopus whose every movement feels like fat-shaming, and simplified takes on the new Spider-Man and Gold Goblin designs.

BOTTOM LINE: OFF-PUTTING FROM TOP TO BOTTOM

As a fat man, the cover of this issue made me mad, but the interior art of Amazing Spider-Men #28 doubles down on all the things that I found unpleasant, combined with a story that goes through paces that feel like they make little to no sense and ends on an unearned note of melodrama, earning 1.5 out of 5 stars overall. And perhaps most infuriating, it’s been barely a month since the death of Ms. Marvel, and her supposedly transformative demise isn’t even mentioned in passing. You won’t regret it if you skip this one.

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