It’s a big month for the evolution of Ramos’ art style, as Spider-Man’s feet are longer 3 feet wide and 4 feet long. Ramos slowly gets less awful over time, and the feet thing is part of it for sure. Well, it’s early the next morning, and Spider-Man is swinging around, thinking about his career. He says he’s got to learn to rely on other people, and says right now, there’s only one person who can help him as he lands on the roof of his own building and asks Big John if he’s the one they call the Kiwi Kid. Really. But then we’re off to Ock & Zarour
This feels so out of character it threatens the entire premise. Ock proceeds to tell a slightly stupider but still familiar version of his childhood, which is stupider because of his dad. Tom DeFalco had it that Ock’s dad died in a construction accident in SMU 18. Here, he’s in the accident, but too proud to go to the hospital, still terrorizing his son from a bed where his leg was becoming gangrenous until he finally died of his injuries. Seems like just trying to heap more misery on the story.
Meanwhile, Peter tells Mary Jane he has to go. MJ is hilariously dressed in a skimpy outfit, theoretically to look sexy, but with Ramos drawing, that is categorically impossible.
There’s a recognizable cartoon of Tom Brokaw. Kind of mindboggling. I think that lady is the other cop who was talking to Garrett back in issue… 2? I forget. A homeless guy is brought to her, saying a guy gave her $100 to bring her a note. She recognizes Garrett’s writing and has all police personnel pulled out of the sewers. But we learn that the person who gave our guy here the note wasn’t Garrett, it was a guy “dressed up like an ostrich…”
I’m only running this next page because I have no idea what’s happening on it.
What’s with anyone in this page? Are they outside Ock’s house? What is going on? How about an establishing shot once in awhile!? This is awful. Next page cuts to Spider-Man, we don’t see anything else. Has Ramos ever heard of an establishing shot? Well, that lady, Captain Cleeland, is told the got everyone out of the sewers and that “the cameras are in place.” Then Spider-Man arrives.
What, indeed? I have no idea. But we’ll see next issue.