While you probably won't learn anything new about Spider-Man, the X-Men or the Hulk in "The Arms of the Octopus," I have to give Mike Costa a lot of credit for creating an entertaining story featuring this unlikeliest of team-ups. The greatest strength of the Marvel Universe is the personalities of its characters, and "The Arms of the Octopus" is proof that personality trumps concept. Read Full Review

Michael Dialynas' art falls pretty well in line with the previous to issues. This is very much a crossover predicated on nontraditional, indie comic-style art. That's a big part of the charm right there. But Dialynas' work isn't terribly well suited to superhero action and spectacle. His storytelling is perfectly fine. It's just that the major action sequences lack the pizazz you might expect. Rarely has falling from thousands of feet in the air looked so simple and matter-of-fact. Read Full Review

Rachelle Rosenberg is good here, though, with her style never going overboard as she let the colors flow in the panels without creating chaos or severe clashes. There are always major elements in most panels that create contrasts, like grey robots against red backgrounds, or sunsets set against the Hulk with a grey silo. There isn't a whole diversity of colors, yet the more subdued choice do allow for a stronger focalization on the lower amount of details and elements in most panels. There may be problems with the art and the story may not be the most engaging, yet the dialogue, characterization, fun factor and the colorization manage to bring this whole tale to a rather satisfying, though non-ambitious end. Read Full Review

While the finale is definitely a creative course of events, it unfortunately comes off as feeling very safe and is bogged down by a whole lot of exposition. As of right now, it seems like this event won't carry over or play any kind of lasting role in the other titles (INDESTRUCTIBLE HULK, ALL-NEW X-MEN, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN). It's not a bad finale and I'm left feeling down the middle on it, but with a more expensive price tag on the cover ($4.99), I honestly can't recommend it unless you've really dug the previous two issues. Read Full Review

Costa wraps up "The Arms of the Octopus" nicely and stops just short of putting an after school special stamp on this story. There is definitely a message to be gained from this story and some incremental character development even happens. Costa successfully borrows the characters to be used throughout the crossover and returns them to their rightful owners. Undoubtedly this story might have attracted readers across titles, and Costa and crew provide a very solid adventure with spot-on characterization to entice those readers to check out the source titles for these half-dozen of Marvel NOW!'s most prominent characters. "Superior Spider-Man Team-Up Special" delivers the goods in the form of a fun story and effervescent artwork. I'm not demanding that Marvel make this an annual tradition, but Costa and Dialynas provide fun stories fit to entertain readers of all ages and interests. Read Full Review

There's a lot of talking (mostly Superior Spider-Man's internal monologue), which kind of bogs down the issue a bit. The art's okay " a bit messy in some scenes, a bit too plain and boring in sequences that should be dynamic and full of energy, but not terrible. The story also seems to go out of its way to make Octavius more likeable, which is pretty hard to swallow, and a bit out of character for the normally arrogant Superior Spidey. Read Full Review