Review by Frank Plowright

A bequest from Doctor Octopus’ time running Peter Parker’s body and life is Parker Industries, a technological powerhouse set up to play with the giants of the industry. With Octavius in charge it was dynamic and innovative, as to Octavius Spider-Man was a sideline, but Parker’s skill sets lie elsewhere. Although it was far from the focus of Spider-Verse, there were hints that prioritising Spider-Man dealing with costumed criminals now wasn’t the best use of Parker’s time. It’s brought home in an opening chapter where an important presentation is almost derailed by his absence.

Dan Slott collaborates with Christos Gage on the writing, and it’s a perfunctory story closing the toy box as Slott finishes this portion of Spider-Man’s career. His run has been so good for so long, that he can be forgiven an ordinary ending, except it’s not entirely that. The best scene over three chapters by some distance is his work colleagues pointing out a few home truths to Parker. The villain is also interesting, but then the Ghost always has been. He’s given a wonky disjointed quality by Humberto Ramos, whose art won’t be to all tastes for crossing a line separating viable exaggeration from distortion.

This isn’t as apparent on a back-up strip catching up with what the Black Cat has been up to of late. The chapters are brief, but the drama is compelling.

The final content is from an annual set before the three chapters ending Parker Industries, explaining why it’s still in peak condition. That, though, isn’t the point of Sean Ryan and Brandon Peterson’s showing Spider-Man attempting to return a lost phone. Without context that hardly sounds a thrilling premise, but it’s all in the extrapolation, and this is one of those sentimental and heartwarming Spider-Man stories that can work so well.

Cale Atkinson’s cartooning is great on a two page Aunt May story, but the jokes could be stronger. Much the same applies to the final strip from Jai Nitz and Ron Salas. You won’t be seeing much further work from Nitz, and this is a squandered opportunity offering very little and with ordinary art.

So, this section of Slott’s Spider-Man ends with a whimper, and Spiral separates this from Slott picking up again with Worldwide.