Spider-Man and his compatriots Black Widow and Silver Sable have been traversing the world trying to shut down Doctor Octopus’ satellite manufacturing plants in an attempt to stop him from the scheme he’s cooked up to… well… cook the Earth.

At the finale to ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ #684, the world leaders had decided that Spider-Man’s tactics were a threat to Doc Ock’s proposed plan to stop global warming. Spidey and his team had been named as enemies of the world and an order was issued to stop them at all costs.

As this issue opens, Spidey, Widow, and Sable are battling the Rhino at another of Ock’s satellite plants. After Rhino’s out of the picture, S.H.I.E.L.D. arrives on the scene. But, instead of coming to Spider-Man’s aid, they’re there to arrest him!

Now Spider-Man and his pals are on the run and Doc Ock has placed a call to the villains of the world to aid the remaining members of the Sinister Six in protecting his satellite plants. Spider-Man, in turn, places his own call for the non-government b-list heroes (Union Jack, Kangaroo, Titanium Man, and others) to help with his attack.

As the issue closes, Spider-Man realizes that his hit-and-run tactics on Ock’s plants may not have been enough as ‘Ends of the Earth’ goes from (already pretty) bad to much much worse.

Dan Slott… what else can I say about the man? He has rapidly earned his reputation as the Spider-Man writer of our decade. He just seems to understand the character and his universe in ways that not many writers have managed in quite a long time. ‘Ends of the Earth’ continues the trend of great Spidey stories and makes for a wonderful way to celebrate Spider-Man’s 50th anniversary.

The artwork this issue is by Humberto Ramos, who’s worked with Slott off and on for a lot of Spidey stories, including ‘Spider-Island’. His manga-esque cartoon style is a great fit for Spider-Man’s world when things get chaotic as Slott is wont to do.

Verdict: Buy

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #685
Written by DAN SLOTT
Art by HUMBERTO RAMOS and VICTOR OLAZABA
Cover by STEFANO CASELLI, LORENZO DE FELICIC, and GABRIELE DELL’OTTO