Marvel’s solicitations for December are out and the House of Ideas has some surprises in store for fans--the tear-stained final issues of long-running series featuring top echelon Marvel heroes including Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America.  Amazing Spider-Man #700, which will ship in December along with issue #699, will be the final issue of the long-running ASM series.  Writer Dan Slott has joked previously that he will have to go into hiding after the events in ASM #700 are revealed, so could Marvel be attempting to do to the mainstream Peter Parker what it already did to the Ultimate universe version of Spider-Man?  Spidey has been seen in several of the Marvel NOW! promo art pieces, so his demise might not be at hand, but it is likely that there will be major changes for the web-slinging wallcrawler.
 
ASM #700
Marvel’s solicitation copy for ASM #699 would appear to indicate that Spidey’s longtime foe Doctor Octopus may be about to breathe his last, and that Doc Ock has knowledge of Peter Parker’s secret identity.  The cover image for issue #699 shows Spidey caught in the grasp of Doc Ock.  Special guest appearance by the Lizard, the Spider-Slayer, and other Spidey foes all hint that Spider-Man is in for, if not actual temporary extinction (there’s no permanent “death” in comics for a character of Spider-Man’s stature), at least a bit of a bit a rough patch.  The wraparound cover for ASM #700 appears to be some sort of summation of Spidey’s struggles both against a plethora of foes and to find love and approval from a succession of female characters who share the front cover with the web-slinging hero.
 
Most likely Spider-Man will make some sort of triumphant return under the aegis of Marvel NOW! and with a band new creative team.  Such will also likely be the case with Marvel's Wolverine title, which according to the December solicitations will end with issue #317.  Like Spidey, Wolverine is just too popular a character to go for very long without a solo title.  The other title marked for its demise in December is Captain America, which will end with Captain America and Black Widow #640.  Since Marvel has already announced a Marvel NOW! Captain America title by Rick Remender and John Romita, Jr., whether the House of Ideas will want to continue with a second Cap team-up title or not is certainly open for debate.

Stay tuned for further developments.