Spider-Man: The Octopus Agenda (Spider-Man) Hardcover – November 7, 1996

In "Spider-Man: The Octopus Agenda", Diane Duane concludes the trilogy that began with "Spider-Man: The Venom Factor". Back in New York following his Florida trip (covered in "Spider-Man: The Lizard Sanction"), Spider-Man/Peter Parker investigates the role of Russian mobsters in the money laundering and toxic waste smuggling crimes of the previous two installments. Venom returns once again as an unlikely ally to aid Spidey. This novel best sums up the trilogy when Spider-Man muses to himself, "It was a big, tangled web, and now here was another strand of it, while he remained the same small spider in the middle, trying to make sense of the weave, trying to unravel it, and at the same time doing his best not to be strangled by it in the process" (p. 74). Like the previous novels, Duane ably adapts the 1990s Spider-Man continuity to this prose format, though a great deal of the story will feel dated to modern readers. Duane's portrayal of the role of the Atomic Energy Commission and the government's generally laissez-faire attitude toward international crime and arms smuggling seem almost charmingly naïve when viewed through a post-9/11 lens. With that in mind, readers familiar with the 1990s comics can still enjoy this story and the twinge of nostalgia it brings.

This was a book I read over and over(just like The Venom Factor). A perfect, funny, and exciting end to the wonderful saga of books starring Venom & Spiderman that Diane created in 1994. But why did it have to end!? Anyway, you HAVE to read this! It's to cool to miss!!

I enjoyed this book because the story was extremely well written,and the imagery elements make you feel as though you're in the book. And with the addition of venom, the book gets a 4 out of 5!