The epilogue to the worldwide Ends of the Earth story arc is here, but is it worth a pick-up?  Read on.

The official description from Marvel:

ENDS OF THE EARTH EPILOGUE

Guest starring: Doctor Strange. Silver Sable. Doctor Doom.

The lackluster conclusion of Ends of the Earth (you can read the review here) sadly left enough strands to write an epilogue issue.  As a whole this could have been a major event for both the Spider-Man titles and the writers behind them, but instead we got a story arc that offered no real resonance as it tried desperately to make itself feel important.  This epilogue is much of the same as our hero deals with the loss he experienced in Amazing Spider-Man #687, and the results are mediocre at best.

To his credit Ty Templeton with the help of Dan Slott tries to bring closure to Spider-Man‘s latest scuffle with the Sinister Six, but sadly there’s not much here that’s worthwhile.  The dialogue works most of the time, but the story behind it is a passable one at best.  The script is thin as it offers a made up flashback in an attempt to yield a strong enough friendship between Spider-Man and the supposedly departed to make the ending of Ends of the Earth more poignant and powerful.

The art is solid enough but offers nothing that elevates this story arc above the mediocrity already established by the main issues in Amazing Spider-Man.  To Matthew Clark‘s credit he delivers detailed panels that carry the script fine, but the characters at times look a bit off.  It may be an artistic style and choice but it just doesn’t fit the narrative in this book.

This could have been an issue that brought closure to this story arc, but it doesn’t.  What we have here is mediocre story with passable art, that’s only recommended to the hardcore Spider-Man fans.

3/5