Spider-Man: Doctor Octopus - Out of Reach #5


Part 5 of a mini series that shouldn't have been made. Now, how's that for a statement? Just so you know how I felt when I started this review. Last issue ended with a cliffhanger, Brigham has to decide who he should listen to, Spidey or Ock.

Story Details

Brigham Fontaine is about to make a decision, will he listen to Spidey or to Doc Ock? He pretends to go for Spider-Man and then he zaps him. Doc Ock is pleased. Brigham and Doctor Octopus leave the scene in a hurry for the police arrive. Spidey manages to get out of the way when they get there.

At the South Shore Chemical Processing Plant, Doc Ock and Brigham go to the next phase of the transformation. They already did electrical, now it's chemical. Brigham hesitates, but then Ock throws him in the tank. Spideys saves him with some webbing. A fight follows in which Brigham does fall into the tank. He gaina a lot of power and destroys most of the building. Spidey is nowhere to be seen and they leave for phase three, atomic energy.

Meanwhile, Spidey crawls from under the rubble. This takes some time, Doc Ock and Brigham have already arrived at the Southern New York Nuclear Power Plant. Brigham is excited, he will become fully mutated, his cells will be like nuclear-powered battery cells. Doctor Octopus carefully adjusts the machines. Brigham can't wait and says Ock is jealous of him. Spidey has arrived and uses the little quarrel to damage one of the power cables.

Ock and Brigham are having words, and it seems that Brigham actually is in a lot of danger. Spidey starts to fight Doc Ock. During that fight, Brigham reconnects the power cable and re-enters the power cell. He starts to feel the power, it hurts. Spidey cries out to Ock, he's just a kid, give him the chance you never had. Then Doctor Octopus smashes the control panel, thus stopping the machines. He rushes to Brigham and gives him the kiss of life. Brigham lives, Spidey knocks out Doctor Octopus.

Later on, Brigham is on television, telling the press that Spider-Man is the real hero. Back home, Peter says to Mary Jane, if only they knew. And finally, in his cell, Doctor Octopus is hiding his face.

General Comments

Here we go again, the evolution, from electrical energy to chemical energy to atomic energy. They really went for it, after phase one in the previous issue they went for phases two and three in this issue. What bothers me the most is that it's so extremely easy to get into one of those power plants. Come on, who are they kidding here?

The fights are, well, all over the place. Spidey gets beaten, once, twice, a zillion times, but stil no costume damage. He hits Doc Ock, who doesn't even feel a thing. But later on, at the end of the story, he needs a punch like that to put his lights out. Very, very inconsistent. Oh well, better like this than to add another issue to end this tale.

Finally, on the last page, Doctor Octopus is hiding his face. Why? Out of shame for what he did? Or because he's crying? Compare him to the Doctor Octopus in the Negative Exposure mini series, can we be sure it's the same character? Makes we wonder what the Doctor Octopus: Year One mini series will be like. It'll be out on the stands in June...

Overall Rating

Yeah, a full web. You didn't see that coming, did you, after I gave last issue only half a web? This one was different, it had a lot of action which made me read the book very fast. Thus making the torture of having to read the actual story a bit less. And that should count too.