Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man annual #1
Cover Date: 1979
Title: "And men shall call him... Octopus!"
Credits:
Bill Mantlo - Writer
Rich Buckler - Penciler
Jim Mooney - Inker

Review/plot:
Amazing Spider-Man annual #13 ended with a resolution for the ghost of Kent Blake, but Doctor Octopus was still on the loose, so that's wrapped up here.

During Spider-Man's last fight in the Amazing annual, Spidey ripped off one of Doc Ock's tentacles. There's an extended scene here where Peter Parker tries to locate Octavius by analyzing the arm in ESU's lab, but it's a pointless waste of space because in the end Doc Ock summons the arm back to him and Spidey just follows it.

Mantlo adds a new weapon to Doctor Octopus' arsenal - the ability to generate an "ink-like gas" from his tentacles.

The cool thing about Doc Ock is that while he's nominally an octopus-themed villain, he doesn't usually play up the octopus angle. He's really just a mad super-scientist who happens to have mechanical arms. So it's probably for the best that this ink projection idea didn't go anywhere.

Along the same lines, Doctor Octopus has developed an "Octophere" sub-marine, but you know, that's pretty awesome and i'm not going to begrudge him that.

Spidey defeats Ock by focusing his attacks on the injured tentacle, which is very effective, to the point where Octavius devolves into some Gollum-like dialogue.

After Byrne's art in the previous annual, Rich Buckler is a bit of a disappointment here...

...and Mantlo's plotting is not as good as Wolfman's, which at least included the twist with the ghost.

Quality Rating: C-

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: Continues directly from Amazing Spider-Man annual #13. Doctor Octopus next appears in Daredevil #165 which refers to the events of these annuals. This must also take place after Spectacular Spider-Man #37 since that issue is referenced here.

As Andrew notes in the comments, Peter refers to having to pay for "my aunt's funeral bills" while arguing with Marcy Kane. The MCP, following the original Marvel Index, have this after the revelation that Aunt May isn't really dead in Amazing Spider-Man #200. But Peter doesn't confirm that Aunt May is dead until Amazing Spider-Man #196. And that begins a nearly continuous adventure that ends in #200, during most of which, Peter/Spidey's arm is in a cast. The one possible break in that run is in issue #199 when Spidey escapes from Mysterio and goes home to sleep (and then the cast comes off) but that period is explicitly just 24 hours during while he's sleeping with the cast on, and then "a few harried moments" after leaving his apartment before he's back on Mysterio's trail. So there's no room for these two annuals to take place. So i like Andrew's suggestion that the comment about the funeral bills is for arrangements that he had to put a downpayment on during the period that he thought Aunt May was dead.

References:

• The Doctor Octopus plot began in Amazing Spider-Man annual #13.
  
• Teaching assistant Marcy Kane shows up at the lab to apologize to Peter for helping spread the notion that Peter was a coward for expressing caution during the Swarm attack in Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #37. She called him "Pantywaist Parker". Apology not really accepted.
  
• Aunt May was temporarily in need of a funeral between Amazing Spider-Man #196-200.
  
• The fight with Doc Ock takes him to the interior of a ship at one point, and Spider-Man notes that he faced Octavius in the confined space of a ship once before. There's no footnote, but that would be Amazing Spider-Man #11.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

A few panels during Spidey's first fight with Ock early in the issue are swipes from Ditko's work on ASM #3; methinks Buckler was being told to draw it a certain way again.

The placing of this is odd. The MCU has it AFTER ASM#200 but in this annual, Peter refers to May’s funeral costs meaning it has to take place before that. We could no-prize it and say Peter still has a few outstanding expenses as a result of May’s supposed death.

The MCP is following the Marvel Index. The Index only covered the Amazing Spider-Man issues in detail, so it's possible that the comment about the funeral was missed. But i don't see room for this to appear while Peter thought May was dead anyway, so i like your No Prize explanation. I've updated the Considerations and added a Reference. Thanks Andrew!