PHILADELPHIA (AP) - After 50 years of spinning webs and catching a who's who of criminals, Peter Parker is out of the hero game.

The 700th - and final - issue was released Wednesday, and title editor Stephen Wacker says "The Amazing Spider-Man" series ends with a defining death and birth meshed among the Spidey mythos. Wacker said the teen from Queens has been put in every possible situation, except this ultimate one.

Dan Slott, who's been writing the Marvel Comics character for the better part of the last 100 issues, calls it "an epic turn."

While Parker's fate is sealed, Spider-Man's is not. His adventures will continue with next month's "Superior Spider-Man." But the man behind the mask is ... Otto Octavius aka Doctor Octopus.

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