The Amazing Spider-man #699 (Marvel): Dying Wish: Outside the Box, Review

Written By: Dan Slott

Penciled by: Humberto Ramos

Inked By: Victor Olazaba

We’re almost there…we’re almost at #700! But, not quite. Dan Slott surprised readers of the long standing comic series The Amazing Spider-Man by showing the apparent death of Peter Parker. Some readers were outraged, other readers, such as myself, enjoyed the creatively bold storyline.  Let’s see where Slott takes us, shall we?

#699 starts off where #698 left off; back in Doctor Octopus’ cell as doctors try to revive him. Doc Ock, or rather Peter Parker as Doc Ock, is revived and put back on life support. This gives readers a glimmer of hope for Peter’s life.

In this issue, Peter Parker realizes that since Doc Ock can access his memories, Parker can access Doc Ock’s memories too. So, he does just that and discovers how Octavius managed to switch mind’s with Spider-Man. He learned that using the helmet to control Otto’s octobot issues ago opened the door into his brain that allowed Otto to slowly take control.

Peter reluctantly enlists other super-villains in order to break Doc Ock’s body out of the prison. His new “allies” are The Trapster, Hydro-Man and The Scorpion. This causes Peter to have a major internal conflict about whether or not saving himself is worth possibly harming others.

Humberto Ramos has drawn another awesome issue. The images within #699 are creepy, especially the drawing of Aunt May–a dying Otto is no eye pleaser, either. 

I think the main draw of this series is the possibility that Spider-Man might lose his good-guy credibility with the people of New York. It’s terrible to think what might happen to Spider-Man if it isn’t Peter Parker under the mask, especially if the person under the mask is a super villain. 

With this storyline for The Amazing Spider-Man, Dan Slott has put himself up there on the list of best comic book writers of the past decade. His gripping tale of Peter Parker’s possible demise will be talked about for years to come. Dan Slott’s writing gets a full 10 out of 10 for this issue, and Humberto Ramos’ artwork gets an 8 out of 10. Overall, The Amazing Spider-Man #699 gets a 9 out of 10 rating from us here at Den of Geek.

Writing: 10/10

Artwork: 8/10

Overall: 9/10