Ends of the Earth (Marvel Comics)
"Ends of the Earth" | |
---|---|
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Publication date | March – June 2012 |
Genre | |
Main character(s) | Spider-Man Doctor Octopus Sinister Six Avengers |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | Dan Slott |
Penciller(s) | Stefano Caselli |
Editor(s) | Stephen Wacker |
"Ends of the Earth" is a comic book storyline in The Amazing Spider-Man published by Marvel Comics in 2012. The villains of the story are the Sinister Six, who are led by Spider-Man's arch-enemy Doctor Octopus. Unlike the prior event story "Spider-Island" there is only one tie-in issue (a one-shot) instead of the multitude of tie-in issues involved with that story;[1] the story is completely contained within issues #682-687 of The Amazing Spider-Man. The storyline received positive reviews, with critics praising the action, the plot, and the art style.
Premise
The story is part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Spider-Man's first appearance.[1] "Ends of the Earth" will see Spider-Man fighting against the Sinister Six, who are led by Doctor Octopus. Despite Spider-Man leaving the Avengers in Shattered Heroes, the members of the team are supporting characters, and he rejoins the team at the beginning. The story was written by Dan Slott and brings storylines that have been running since issue #600 was released in July 2009 to fruition.[2][3] Marvel released several preview images for the event,[4][5] and has written an article about why each current member of the Sinister Six is important for this group.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
Plot summary
Lead-up
Main plot
After bringing a firefighter to the hospital for injuries sustained during an attack by Equinox, Spider-Man arrives at Horizon Labs and learns Mayor J. Jonah Jameson plans to shut down Horizon. At the Sinister Six's underwater base, Doctor Octopus tells the Six his master plan. Doctor Octopus activates a giant antennae called the Octahedral which in turn activate his satellites called the Octavian Lens. The Octavian Lens speed up the Greenhouse effect, raising the Earth's temperature. Hacking into the TV screens around the world, Doctor Octopus announces what is happening and reveals he also has technology to fight global warming. He says he can save the world so that he can be known as the man who "gave you the greatest gift of all...a future." Peter Parker dons a new Spider-Man costume he had prepared in anticipation for the Sinister Six's next attack and meets up with the Avengers, who are discussing how to combat this threat. Spider-Man states that the time to react is now.[22]
In a flashback, the Sinister Six are shown stealing objects from around the world to further their plans. In the present at
As the remaining five members of the Sinister Six depart,
Over the course of the next three days, Spider-Man, Black Widow and Silver Sable make hit-and-run attacks on the factories that are constructing Doctor Octopus' satellites. In Korea, they defeat the Rhino with Spider-Man's electrified webbing. However,
While Spider-Man, Black Widow, and Silver Sable are tracking down Doctor Octopus' location, Spider-Man's allies invade other facilities. In Japan, Big Hero 6 defeat Everwraith. In another facility, Sabra fights through an army of Octobots until she is shot by
As Spider-Man and his allies exit the factory, they see Symkaria being burned by Doctor Octopus' satellites. They are unaware that it is a ruse created by Mysterio and the Chameleon to distract them from the actual completion of the satellites. Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus again asks the people of Earth to aid him against those who are trying to stop his plans. He learns of Mysterio and Chameleon's actions and is enraged that Chameleon is battling Spider-Man in what Doctor Octopus believes should be HIS final duel with the wall-crawler. He takes control of Chameleon's battlesuit and tries to destroy Spider-Man, allowing Spider-Man and the others to realize Symkaria's destruction is fake. After defeating the battlesuit, Spider-Man convinces Mysterio to switch sides with the argument that $2 billion will be worthless if Doctor Octopus destroys the world. The team is led to a location in Guatemala where they are attacked by Octobot-controlled Avengers. During the battle, Spider-Man realizes all the inventions he has created at Horizon Labs have been hacked by Doctor Octopus.[27]
Although the Octobot-controlled Iron Man knocks out Hawkeye and Black Widow, Spider-Man's new kung-fu training allows him to defeat Spider-Woman while Silver Sable knocks out Captain America, who was holding back to give her a chance. Spider-Man immobilizes Thor by tricking Octavius into taking full control (making Thor unworthy to wield his hammer), and Mysterio frees Iron Man and Red Hulk by using an EMP to disable the Octobots. While Thor, Hulk and Iron Man fly up to destroy Octavius's missiles, Mysterio gives Spider-Man and Silver Sable a ship that can take them to Doctor Octopus's sea fortress, then escapes. Upon arriving, they are confronted by the Rhino (who welcomes Octavius's plan to destroy the world), who pins Sable to the floor as water begins to flood the corridor. Silver Sable orders Spider-Man to leave her. Spider-Man finds Doctor Octopus who traps him with all eight arms. Doctor Octopus reveals he has calculated that 0.08% of Earth's population will survive, with those fifty thousand remembering him as the greatest mass murderer of all time. Unable to convince Doctor Octopus that the heat he is generating will fry the brains of the survivors, Spider-Man breaks free and destroys his enemy's equipment. Spider-Man is left to mourn the death of Silver Sable as he is rescued by the Horizon Labs staff on their boat. Spider-Man asks the Horizon Labs staff to build a life support unit for Doctor Octopus.[28]
Aftermath
Spider-Man spends the next few hours searching for Silver Sable's body, but is eventually relieved by the Black Widow (with orders from Captain America) who tells Spider-Man to help escort Doctor Octopus to the Raft. Since he is the expert on handling Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man is given no choice. Though Captain America tries to comfort the web-slinger by reminding him that Silver Sable knew the risks, Spider-Man instead reminisces about a past adventure with Silver Sable and how he got to know her better. He confronts Doctor Octopus and tells him that since his satellites will be destroyed, he will die without leaving any legacy. The Avengers depart with a final scene of an Octobot floating on the surface of the water.[29] Octopus' story was continued in the November 2012 storyline "Dying Wish".[30]
After Dying Wish while Octopus's mind is in Peter Parker's body for the duration of the
In other media
In the 2012 Ultimate Spider-Man series, Doctor Octopus gains Hydra nanobots for most of season four. While using the nanobots, he heavily resembles his design from Ends of the Earth.
Reception
- The Amazing Spider-Man #682 received a rating of 8.0 out of 10 from IGN,[33] and a score of 8 out of 10 based on 13 reviews on Comic Book Roundup.[34]
- The Amazing Spider-Man #683 received a rating of 6.5 out of 10 from IGN,[35] and a score of 8.2 out of 10 based on 12 reviews on Comic Book Roundup.[36]
- The Amazing Spider-Man #684 received a rating of 7.5 out of 10 from IGN,[37] and a score of 8.2 out of 10 based on 8 reviews on Comic Book Roundup.[38]
- The Amazing Spider-Man #685 received a rating of 6.5 out of 10 from IGN,[39] and a score of 8.1 out of 10 based on 6 reviews on Comic Book Roundup.[40]
- The Amazing Spider-Man #686 received a rating of 7.0 out of 10 from IGN,[41] and a score of 8.1 out of 10 based on 11 reviews on Comic Book Roundup.[42]
- The Amazing Spider-Man #687 received a rating of 5.0 out of 10 from IGN,[43] and a score of 7.9 out of 10 based on 13 reviews on Comic Book Roundup.[44]
- The Amazing Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth special received a rating of 6.0 out of 10 from IGN,[45] and a score of 5.2 out of 10 based on 1 review on Comic Book Roundup.[46]
- Avenging Spider-Man #8 received a rating of 5.5 out of 10 from IGN,[47] and a score of 5.7 out of 10 based on 7 reviews on Comic Book Roundup.[48]
Collected editions
Title | Material collected | Published date | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|
Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth | Amazing Spider-Man #682-687, Spider-Man: Ends of Earth #1 and Avenging Spider-Man #8 | August 2012 | 978-0785160052 |
Spider-Man: Big Time: The Complete Collection Vol. 3 | Amazing Spider-Man #677-687 and #679.1, Daredevil (vol. 3) #8, Amazing Spider-Man: Ends Of The Earth #1 and Avenging Spider-Man #8 | February 2015 | 978-0785192152 |
References
- ^ a b "Comic Book Resources: Axel-In-Charge: Guest-Starring the "Amazing" Dan Slott". 3 February 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
- ^ "IGN.com: Dan Slott discusses the next big Amazing Spider-Man storyline". 13 December 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Comic Book Resources: Slott Takes Spidey to the "Ends of the Earth"". 13 December 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Marvel: The Sinister Six Vs. Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth". 24 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "IGN.com: Marvel starts teasing their next big Spidey story". 23 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Marvel - Ends of the Earth: Doctor Octopus". 29 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Marvel - Ends of the Earth: Chameleon". 5 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Marvel - Ends of the Earth: Sandman". 2 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Marvel - Ends of the Earth: Mysterio". 5 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Marvel - Ends of the Earth: Electro". 1 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ^ "Marvel - Ends of the Earth: Rhino". 12 March 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2012.
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #600
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #642-647
- ^ Invincible Iron Man #502
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #648
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #659-660
- ^ Avengers Academy #14
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #676
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #653
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #680
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #681
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #682
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #683
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #684
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #685
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth one-shot
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #686
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #687
- ^ The Avenging Spider-Man #8
- ^ The Amazing Spider-Man #698-700
- ^ The Superior Spider-Man #7-#8
- ^ The Superior Spider-Man #30
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #682 Review". IGN. 21 March 2012.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #682 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #683 Review". IGN. 4 April 2012.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #683 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #684 Review". IGN. 18 April 2012.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #684 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #685 Review". IGN. 3 May 2012.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #685 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #686 Review". IGN. 23 May 2012.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #686 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #687 Review". IGN. 13 June 2012.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man #687 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Amazing Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth special Review". IGN. 16 May 2012.
- ^ "The Amazing Spider-Man: Ends of the Earth Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ^ "Avenging Spider-Man #8 review". IGN. 20 June 2012.
- ^ "The Avenging Spider-Man #8 Reviews". ComicBookRoundup.com. Retrieved 2021-01-08.