The Good
The first two chapters in 'The Arms of the Octopus' have shined a bit of spotlight on "Spider-Man," Hank McCoy and Bruce Banner's gifted minds, but it's placed an even bigger emphasis on the sheer fun and wackiness of the narrative which has forced them to team-up. The third and final issue scales back the laughs big time and instead puts a strong focus on who Superior Spider-Man wants to be and how he'll use his mind to hopefully save the day (only fair since it's his name on the title, right?).
There's a lot of technobabble as everyone works to solve the dilemma, but in the end, the most gripping part stems from the characters having a heart-to-heart and what a time travel machine could mean for Otto. It's a great way to address the bigger pictures surrounding every character in far more organic and emotional manner. In an issue packed with powers and explosions, this was by far the best scene and it's only fitting it ends on such a note.
The art is a bit of a mixed bag. While it's never bad by any means, it never goes above and overly impresses, either. Michael Dialynas and Rachelle Rosenberg provide a handful of pretty neat and vivid moments (the opening sequence and the villain using his powers, for example), but again, nothing here really went over the top and left a lasting impression.
The Bad
Seeing as this is the last issue in a three-part story and we've yet to about the main villain until now, this issue has a lot of exposition and very often, too. From recapping events which already occurred in the story to recapping what the situation is with all of the heroes involved, there's sadly a lot of material which feels redundant.
The brawl with a certain robotic enemy illustrates the tactics and intellect Spider-Man has, but it comes off as odd because ultimately, there's this big enemy standing around and doing nothing as its enemies plan its demise. Seeing as Jean and Scott aren't exactly agile, it's tough to swallow they're doing fine as Spider-Man generates a plan with Iceman (I guess Jean is barely holding it back, even though it's a vibranium/adamantium version of Abomination?). It feels like a missed opportunity for an extra bit of excitement, especially since the encounter with the other robot was so brief.
There's no denying Otto's quite a jerk as Spider-Man, but here, he's far more compassionate and forgiving with his allies. It's a special case with the young X-Men, but dealing with less trained individuals elsewhere has never really forced him to be particularly mindful of his manners. It just comes off as slightly out of character in this one.
The Verdict
While the finale is definitely a creative course of events, it unfortunately comes off as feeling very safe and is bogged down by a whole lot of exposition. As of right now, it seems like this event won't carry over or play any kind of lasting role in the other titles (INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK, ALL-NEW X-MEN, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN). It's not a bad finale and I'm left feeling down the middle on it, but with a more expensive price tag on the cover ($4.99), I honestly can't recommend it unless you've really dug the previous two issues.
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