Aunt May and Doc Ock heat it up in the romantic action drama that we’ve all been waiting for! The scenes are steamy and the stakes are high. Doc Ock shows he is more than up for the task and Aunt May is willing do anything for love. Join Dark Mark as he dives deep into the best Aunt May team-up issue since Golden Oldie! Be ready, Crawlspacers, you have an assignment!
Credit Where Credit Is Due
Story Title: Untitled
Writer: Cody Ziglar
Artist: Ivan Feorelli with Carlos Gomez and Paco Medina
Colorist: Rachel Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramanga
Cover Artist: Mark Bagley and John Dell and Brian Reber
Asst. Editor: Lindsey Cohick and Kaeden McGahey
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published: December 8, 2021
Remedial ASM 101
Peter is in a coma due to a fight with the UFoes and Ben is playing Spider-Man as an employee of the Beyond Corporation. Aunt May has recruited Doc Ock to help her nephew since the doctors are out of their league with the type of radiation he has succumbed to.
The Story – Pay Attention, This Will Be on the Test
Aunt May and Doc Ock join together in a little bit of crime solving and a whole lot of flirting – a WHOLE LOT OF FLIRTING (we’re talking Bond and Jinx level flirting here) – and from the ESU campus, they track down where the UFoes hid out and from there they discover where they are currently being held. Doc also finds out that the Beyond Corporation has something to do with all of this and goes a little nuts, which ruins his chances with May, who promptly ends their arrangement. However, even though he will have nothing to gain from this, he goes behind her back and provides the necessary cure to the doctors after all. Peter wakes up and all is good.
There are over a million words in the English language, and none of them are sufficient to express how much I am glad that the Marvel MAX imprint is no longer in operation after this little exchange…
OOTI (Onomatopoeia of the Issue)
On a scale of 1 (POW) to 10 (BLRKBQRKPQRBLNB), FWAMM rates a decent 6.5. It is the exact sound my dentist’s X-Ray machine makes when it works, so I assume that it is perfect for X-Ray here.
Analysis
The Ock Bling – How probable is it that we will see this again? Did anyone else think it was going to be some secret Ock-bot or surveillance device?
The Dynamics of May and Ock – this was well done. Maybe a little too over the top with some of the remarks, but I took in great fun as I believe this issue was meant to be. With May doing her nice routine while Ock was trying to be nice, but just couldn’t stop himself from being Ock, they played off each other very well.
Doc Ock – Maybe I am supposed to know this, but what do you guys think Beyond has on Doc Ock? He is VERY upset that they are involved in any of this, which is odd since I thought they were pretty much a company known to the public. Here, it sounds like they are operating in secrecy. Also, when this started, I thought for sure that when he worked on Peter, he would take a blood sample and then figure out that the radiation in his blood was from being Spider-Man. Then, who knows? Does he try to take away Peter’s powers? Does he try on Peter, but end up taking out Ben’s? But alas, it was not meant to be.
Language – I sure hope this becomes the new swear word on the Crawlspace.
First crazy town banana pants and now this! What is it with fruit and the Parkers?
Speaking of command of the verbal realm – this exchange is pretty much like EVERY conversation I have with Chi-Town.
Detention
Detention goes to me. I need to confess my greatest shame in comics. Back in the ‘80s, Conway was writing Spider-Man and, I don’t remember what the story was, but it was so bad that it inspired me to write a rather mean-spirited letter to Conway about it. I don’t remember the letter, but in it I said something to the degree of if he was going to write crap like that, here are a few suggestions for him. How about bringing Willie Lumpkin from the FF and pairing him up with Aunt May or rekindling that Aunt May and Doc Ock affair or better yet, how about a love triangle between the two? Well, I never heard anything back and later felt bad about my rather impudent response. Imagine my surprise, when in 1991, Spectacular Spider-Man #173 came out and Conway, on his way out, USED THAT STUPID IDEA! And I still don’t know if I am glad or not that my name was not associated with it.
Final Grade
It was a fun comic and since it was a .BEY, I was not expecting much Peter Parker or Spider-Man to be in it. I know some of you will automatically drop a few letter grades for no Spidey, but I felt it was warranted for this issue. The exchange between May and Ock was funny, the story moved at a great pace, and Peter is awake again. What more could you want (besides actual Spidey)?
A-
Homework
I am swamped with research papers right now (only twenty to go!) and as such am going to turn this review into an opportunity to facilitate learning for you the reader! You now need to complete these questions in the comments section:
- Your grade for the issue (bonus points for explaining why)
- What should the title be?
- What would be a good team name for Ock and May should Marvel decide to make a limited series team-up run?
- What will be the future of Ock and Beyond?
- Anything I’m missing? I’m telling you, I’m up to my eyeballs in high school writing. My brain is fried.
To get full credit, you will need to answer all of them, but you may submit incomplete work for a partial grade.
Speaking of research papers, this panel will somehow be going into my lessons for next semester.
Homework
You need to go here and vote for our very own BD to win fame and glory!
That’s enough for now, I’ve got to get those red pens going again. Next issue will be Chi-Towns, I think. Who knows. He’s got a list for us to follow, but I don’t know where it is at the moment and I can’t think straight. Did I mention I’ve been grading papers? Feeling rebellious. I’m not even going to proofread this.
‘Nuff Said!
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Oh good grief. It is nonsense like this that make ne wish they May died in the 90s. Death would be better than this BS.
Man, I must of been reading a different book. I gave this one a D on the podcast. Aunt May’s voice and actions were off big time for me.
Ha! Ha! You guys are great! I especially love The Old and the Restless! I am glad that there seems to be confusion on what exactly Ock remembers. I figured that as soon as I wrote that, five of you would say, “Well, in Ravencroft: Epilogue of Doom #6, Doc made a brainamizer that….” or something like that. If we have this much confusion, I am going to say it is safe to assume that no one at Marvel knows for sure either. If only there was a person whose job it was to keep track of that in certain books….
Sorry not to comment on each reply, but between last night and today, I knocked out ten more papers. I think I’m catching my second wind….zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
@Franz29
Sorry, I always refresh the page before posting, but it seems your comment didn’t load until I finished writing. I’m with you on Ock’s memories, it’s hard to make sense without him knowing Peter’s secret identity.
Which brings me to
@Sthenurus
On the contrary, I think he remembers (who knows how) being Spider-Man and thinks of Peter as a separate entity. Why would he think Parker Industries was his creation, then? But because his ego is big as Galactus’s hunger!
Anyway you’re on something about his being distressed by the inconsistencies in his memories, IMO.
A for me! That’s the title I always wanted but never knew I did.
It’s been twice now that Otto has saved Peter from death by toxin. Does that make them even for the superior arc?
I am really enjoying this beyond arc. It allows the supporting cast to shine in ways they never did before.
Title: Yametei Kodasai!!!
Limited series: the old and the restless
Ock will be pissed at “his” legacy being picked cleaned by “vultures”. We all know how proud this old octopus is …
My understanding is that Otto remembers the body switch. He remembers being Peter Parker… But as soon as the mask was on he forgot about what he was doing as spider-man. Hence why he is so pissed about it: he got gaps in his memories that do not make sense. And he knows these are IMPORTANT information he forgot about.
Mark, if you think that little exchange is something, then you should reread page 11, where Ock embraces May with the excuse of making the techno-gizmo work and she says “It’s turned on!”. Look at their faces. Even the guy in the apartment comments in the next panel about taking whatever they’re doing “literally anywhere else”. Oh pineapples, it’s terrible!
Sorry, I have to disagree with the Ooti. The real worthy one is on the penultimate page. Ock frees a guard from his tentacle and the poor guy seems to cough or sneeze with a big KRASH!. Now, that’s the sound of a sneeze! (No, seriously, what’s going on there? Did someone understand the meaning of that sound?)
I don’t think the flower was anything more than a gift, but you know your Doc Ock, so maybe you’re right.
As for Beyond, it’s not that they’re operating in secret, it’s just that Infinite Solutions was a facade company covertly linked to their business. As for why he is outraged, I think it’s just because of them using his technology for Ben’s suit, thus “stealing” from him.
To that regard, am I the only one puzzled on Ock’s statement about Parker Industries? So now he remembers his time as Superior? Did he get his memory back offpanel at the end of the last infamous storyline? Or the writer just didn’t get the memo on Ock’s status quo?
For the assignment, let’s see:
1. I don’t give grades. (Because if I did, I would be a teacher again, so I would demand a salary)
But I have to add May sure is flirty with a criminal who menaced to end the world, multiple times. The girl likes bad boys, apparently.
2. The Hug of the Octopus!
3. Sense and Sensibility
4. Read the solicit.
5. Dunno, maybe there’s something in the text above.
@RoMe00150
He is. Like, trying to get less concussions.
When did Ock recover his memories about the Superior period and the Parker industries stuff. I was under the impression he didn’t remember that because if he does it means he knows Peter is Spider-Man.
Grade: B+ (this was a better issue than the main title. Loved May being proactive and keeping Otto in his place.
What should the title be? The Octopus and the (Gray) Panther
What would be a good team name for Ock and May should Marvel decide to make a limited series team-up run? The Octopus and Mrs Parker (like Scarecrow and Mrs King, to REALLY date myself)
What will be the future of Ock and Beyond? Ock will try to take them down. ben will fight him then Janine will tell him off and he’ll switch sides. Peter will reclaim the name and webs.
Anything I’m missing? I’m telling you, I’m up to my eyeballs in high school writing. My brain is fried. – Good luck with it. It’s almost the holiday break so you have that to look forward to.
Nicely done. Gotta admit, the conversation piece smite was a good. You scored a goal with that one. Almost regret not reviewing this myself…almost.
1) Same grade as you and for all the same reasons you pointed out. (that was easy)
2) You MAY come in, the DOCTOR is waiting for you. (he he).
3) “Armed Wheatcakes”
4) I think he will tear it down and that will be the end of it. It’s all ego. He just wants to destroy it.
@Mark — I didn’t read this issue, so I feel I must reluctantly forgo the assignment and shamefully accept an incomplete for the course — but when I saw that you created an assignment (i.e., more grading) when you’re in the throes of grading research papers, I thought maybe you’re a glutton for punishment.
I will, however, contribute some title suggestions, if I may:
1. Wheat Cakes and Pineapples
2. Ben There, Done That
3. “Mrs. Parker, You’re Trying to Seduce Me.”
4. FWAMM Bam, Thank You, Ma’am
I was going to come up with a Doc and Marty / Doc and May reference, but, alas, no time travel in this issue.
Really tangential side note:
Every time I see “.BEY” in an issue number, I read it as “Bay” for some reason — but it just so happens that I’m rereading The Count of Monte Cristo (for the third time — it’s my favorite!), and the word “bey” appears:
“‘Oh, they are simple enough,’ replied the host. ‘It seems the fellow had been caught wandering nearer to the harem of the Bey of Tunis than etiquette permits to one of his color, and he was condemned by the Bey to have his tongue cut out…'”
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “bey” means:
“1 a: a provincial governor in the Ottoman Empire
b: the former native ruler of Tunis or Tunisia
2—used as a courtesy title in Turkey and Egypt”
Works Cited:
Dumas, A. (1846) The Count of Monte Cristo. (D. Coward, Ed.) Oxford University Press.
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Bey. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved December 9, 2021, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bey
Always confused about Ocks new body, like what’s to stop this one from getting damaged like his old pre deal one?
Hey, I’m going to try to take the test without doing the reading first, (this is just like highschool)
1. Incomplete, because the main story is not about the REAL Spider-Man.
2. The Superior Aunt May
3. The Octopus and Ms. Parker
4. Who cares, as long as they go away soon and let me read Spider-Man comics, with, you know, Spider-Man in them
5. My deepest, deepest thanks to you guys, for reading this stuff so I don’t have too. I feel like the reviews might entertain me more than the comics would.
Final thoughts… All kidding aside, I don’t begrudge anyone enjoying this story right now, if you like it I am happy for you. I really am. It’s not for me. I’m not giving Marvel any money until Peter Parker is the main character of this comic again.
But at least I have the review…