Waiting for Doctor Octopus

Ollie Osnick is excited about the news of his favorite super-villain, Dr. Octopus, has escaped from prison. When he shows up at his super-villains club where his fellow "super-villains" scoff at him, causing him to flip out and leave and start his own real super-villain career with the imitation Dr. Octopus arms he built.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man has returned home to find that his apartment has been robbed, and goes out and catches the thieves and recovers his stolen property. Out on patrol, he happens upon Ollie robbing a toy store and tries to stop him. After easily destroying his octopus arms, and realizing that Ollie is just a kid, he decides to take him out of there before he can be arrested, convinced that Ollie has learned his lesson.

Delivered at home, Ollie takes up a new obsession: Spider-Man and seeks to imitate the wall-crawler's powers, and dumps his wrecked Octopus gear. Passing by, the real Dr. Octopus happens upon Ollie's discarded work and scoffs at its primitive construction. While finally, Debra Whitman has gone to her psychiatrist because she believes she is losing her mind.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Man, Debra Whitman, Doctor Octopus (Osnick), Moon Knight, Doctor Octopus (Octavius)

Continuity Notes

• Among the tombstones in the cemetery are Gwen Stacy (killed in Amazing Spider-Man #121) and Elektra who was killed in Daredevil #181.

• The appearance of artist Rick Magyar in this story is exempt from the rules of the Sliding Timescale of Earth-616. All Marvel creators exist in the modern age in their relative prime.