We've seen the Sinister Six step up to a whole new league of villainy, and it's been really refreshing to see Spider-Man " and by extension, Dan Slott and his Amazing Friends " rise to the challenge accordingly. Amazing Spider-Man #684 is no exception. This issue isn't about toys and gadgets, but about looking at a villain in a new way, about finding something new in what can seem like an endlessly churned superhero universe. We've seen the Webslinger take down two of the Sinister Six " if the following chapters are anything like this one, I'm excited to see what tricks The Amazing Spider-Man has up his sleeves. Read Full Review

This might have not been the best issue for the Ends of the Earth, but that does not mean this issue was not awesome. With every issue of Ends of the Earth I thought everything was done perfectly. The only thing I disliked in this issue was that all the Avengers still were down from the Sinister Six's attack from last issue. I understand the Sinister Six is strong enough to bring down the Avengers for a little while, but I did not expect them to still be down in this issue. I just think they are much stronger than that. So, I say pick this issue up and read this story arc! Read Full Review

The story makes a LOT more sense than the last several issues and the addition of Ramos on art turns a "meh" book into something that is very good. Read Full Review

The Sinister Six have done the impossible, they’ve beaten The Avengers. Watching The Sandman in his element is a blast, but Spidey still has few tricks up his armoured-sleeve, courtesy of Horizon Labs. This is turning out to be one hell of an exciting story arc, of course it helps to have Humberto Ramos (Crimson) as your penciller. Written by Dan Slott. From Marvel Comics. Read Full Review

Things aren't looking good for Spider-Man. He's forced to continue fighting in a different manner. No longer can he just rely on his spider-powers, now we're seeing him use his brains more and more. It's great to see a change in the overall battle against the Sinister Six but feels a little odd that Spider-Man needs the Avengers and scientists at Horizon Lab to help him out. Doc Ock (and Dan Slott) have raised the stakes in this confrontation and it's not over yet. Humberto Ramos' art is always fun to see but with his style differing from Caselli's in the past two issues, it creates a distraction. Slott is doing big things in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and I don't know how he's going to top this story. Read Full Review

Gone is Stefano Caselli from "Ends of the Earth" it seems, and in his place is regular Spidey artist Humberto Ramos. Thankfully, due to the rather isolated nature of this issue – a bulk of it relegated to the desert with a limited number of characters – the art is far less cluttered and more suited to Ramos' stylistic artwork. While the action sequences are still a bit spotty when it comes to clearly blocking the action, the characters are more effectively rendered with stronger detail and body language. This is the prettiest Ramos' work has looked in a Spidey book in quite some time. Read Full Review

Ends of the Earth rockets onwards, and this issue brings us to the midpoint. We still aren't sure exactly where the story is headed, but it is clear that it will be a bumpy ride for all involved. If Slott, Ramos, and Caselli continue in this vein of high octane action mixed with witty dialogue and wonderful character moments, Ends of the Earth, like the rest of Slott's work on the title, will easily go down as one of the best Amazing Spider-Man arcs in years. Read Full Review