Issue(s): Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #124
Cover Date: Mar 87
Title: "When strikes the Octopus!!"
Credits:
Roger McKenzie - Writer
Greg LaRocque - Penciler
Art Nichols - Inker
Adam Blaustein - Assistant Editor
Jim Salicrup - Editor

Review/plot:
This is one of several fill-in issues that seem to have occurred due to the upheaval during the editorial transition from Christopher Priest to Jim Salicrup. For what it's worth, Priest has said that he would run a fill-in at the first hint that a creative team was running late, so it's possible that Salicrup just decided to run some stories that Priest had been holding in reserve. The fact that this fill-in was announced in the lettercol for last issue seems to confirm that it wasn't a case of lateness. This story, like the one in #120, is already stale, with the status quo having changed too much for this to fit into present day continuity.

This story is a traditional battle with Doctor Octopus, and it's a bit corny in plot and script. Doc Ock steals a radioactive something with the intent of creating a nuclear reactor that he will use to upgrade his powers...

...and Spider-Man heads out to stop him.

The fight ends with Octavius knocked out. Spider-Man tries to disable the overheating reactor on his own, while Ock's arms move his unconscious body about.

Spider-Man is forced to wake Octavius up to disable the reactor. However, a cave-in seemingly crushes Doctor Octopus after the larger threat is over.

Both Roger McKenzie and Greg LaRocque have done better, but it's a decent enough fill-in and it would have been nice seeing Doc Ock in his classic outfit in 1987 after his recent appearances in a dentist's smock.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: A response in the lettercol for this issue acknowledges that this story and the one in #120 take place in the past. There's no other indication of that; usually a little footnote on the front page is used to let us know (although last issue's lettercol did say that this issue would be a "never before revealed" Doctor Octopus encounter). Spider-Man says that the last time he saw Doctor Octopus was Amazing Spider-Man annual #15. So the MCP cleverly place this after Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #72, which has Octavius escaping from prison (after Dazzler #17) but doesn't actually have Octavius and Spidey meeting. Doctor Octopus' seeming death at the end of this issue is very short-lived, since he'll appear again in Peter Parker #73. Some other considerations (all of which work fine with the MCP's placement): Joe Robertson is city editor, not EiC, of the Daily Bugle, Peter is supposed to be grading term papers, and the dime store Indian in his apartment is visible.

References:

• As mentioned above, Spider-Man says he last saw Doc Ock in Amazing Spider-Man annual #15.

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A