Superior Spider-Man 31

Superior Spider-Man 31
Slott (s) and Gage (w) and Camuncoli (p) and Dell and Pallot (i) and Fabela (c) and Eliopolous (l)

Peter Parker is back and he's ready to start setting things right. Carlie explains a little of what's happened to him at Parker Labs and he sets off, gaining the trust of Spider-Man 2099 on the way and helping where he can as he moves towards the Green Goblin and Anna Maria. The two spiders fight their way to the Alchemax building and "rescue" Liz Allan and son Normie, as well as Tiberius Stone (all of whom are still, you know, pretty evil, but they pretend they're not). As 2099 leads them out, Peter heads for the roof where Goblin has Anna Maria strapped to a pumpkin bomb. Goblin quickly realizes it's Peter, not Doc Ock, and begins to flee. Peter follows and unmasks him, revealing that it is Norman Osborn but with a completely different face, one that will be less recognizable. Peter's mini-spiderbots flood Norman's face and inject him with the goblin cure just as Anna Maria frees herself from her bonds and flings herself from the roof. Spider-Man catches her and Goblin and brings them back down to the ground, where Goblin still manages to escape with the help of Liz Allan. Goblin is devoid of his strength and stamina but he's also cured of his madness; the next time he goes after Spider-Man, it'll be at full mind power. Spider-Man meets with Anna Maria and learns that she's totally in love with the Peter she knew and he realizes that not everyone gets to win.

Story
This is it, the big finale of the 31 issue SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. It's a strong issue, one that wraps up GOBLIN NATION nicely and one that ensures that the right people know Spider-Man is back to being Spider-Man. There are still plenty of hints at new possible stories and a bonus mini-issue at the end (written by Gage with art from Will Sliney and Edgar Delgado) shows where some of the people in his life might end up now (MJ is out of his life but still in the city, Carlie's leaving New York, Jonah Jameson has resigned). It's a story people knew was coming but no one anticipated a 30-issue run and it wraps up neatly here, setting Peter Parker up for a totally fresh start in just two weeks with AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1. 5/5

Character
Peter Parker is back from the kind-of dead so that's really the big character change to look at. He's instantly back to quipping and helping out non-lethally, returning immediately to "no one dies" mentality. The idea that his personality is so pervasive, that it's so intimately known to everyone, plays a role here as people begin instantly to trust him again, even despite everything that's happened. It's a nice moment when he quips at Goblin and Goblin instantly realizes it's Peter and not Doc Ock and it's a testament to the strength of Peter Parker. There are some things that feel maybe like they're being set right a little too quickly if only because we're expecting him to have a hard road back to being a hero, but it all works here and it's nice to see. 5/5

Writing
Spider-Man books still have a bit of a tendency to over-explain and this issue is no different. Typically I'd have issues with that but somehow Spider-Man feels grandfathered in to over-explanation (I don't always feel this way with Spider-Man but I'm feeling good that Peter's back). Still, I'm not sure I needed shots of what seems like everyone he knows going "well geez, at least he seems to be back to normal!" You can leave some things for us to find out. Also there's a bit too much 2099 talk here and UGH do I hate 2099 talk. Nervous about when the new SPIDER-MAN 2099 series kicks off because I'll have to put that hatred aside. Anyway, certainly on par with SPIDER-MAN writing, maybe a hair better. 4/5

Art
I often confuse (on name alone) Giuseppe Camuncoli with Marco Checchetto, which is totally unfair and often hurts how much I like the art in a book. I tend to be lukewarm on Camuncoli's stuff and I really like Checchetto's. In this issue though, Camuncoli shines. The art is easy to follow, even considering how much ground Spider-Man is covering, how many fights he's entering into, and how many characters look similar to one another. With Peter Parker's return, he has to come face-to-face with a slew of people and Camuncoli does them all justice. Solid work. 5/5

Miscellaneous
What more is there to say? Peter Parker is back.

Total score: 5/5




Sorry guys, got a bit of a busy day today so I'll be back later to review the other books I have scheduled for today but for now, this is just a single-issue review. Figured if any book deserved to have a light shined on it this week, it'd be this one. The blog kicked off with a single-issue review of the death of Peter Parker, seems fitting to dedicate a single-issue review to his rebirth.

Superior Spider-Man 28, Indestructible Hulk 19

Superior Spider-Man 28
Slott (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Fabela (c)

Spider-Island has been bombed and Spider-Man takes what equipment he can with Robot and flees, leaving his Spiderlings to try to fight off the Goblins. Spidey heads to Parker Industries to try to concoct a plan, where he's set upon by both Sajani, mad that he's been gone for so long, and Wraith, who believes he may have a hand in Carlie's disappearance. Speaking of Carlie, she joins all of them in her new Goblin costume and deformations and chases Peter and Sajani through the building. Eventually Peter pushes Sajani into a separate room, assuring her that Monster will follow him, which she does, and it gives Carlie a chance to talk to Peter without spectators. She needs Doc Ock to fix her brain in only the way he can so that she can be saved and so she can tell him of what's coming next. Meanwhile, MJ has been gathering up friends and family of Peter's, having realized it's Goblin attacking the city and Spider-Man, to keep them safe. Unfortunately, she misses Anna Maria and Lily Hollister, the Goblin known as Menace, gets to her first.

Plenty happening as GOBLIN NATION continues. Slott's created a pretty good tone, and one that he's usually pretty good at maintaining and controlling, a tone of war and destruction. Spider-Man has the best-known and biggest supporting cast of any of the Marvel heroes so when a war is waged on Peter Parker, there are a lot of moving parts. On top of that, Spider-Man never has just one issue to deal with so, on top of Goblin's attack, J. Jonah Jameson has launched "Goblin Slayers" into the city, though MJ recognizes them as Spider Slayers. Slott's always been good at threading multiple storylines and multiple antagonists through a story and it making the story read pretty quickly in the midst of it all. Of course, he tends to have more words per issue than some of the best at it (looking at you, Kirkman) so the over-explanation can sometimes slow one of these fast-paced, high-energy issues down, but he always manages to tell a compelling story and build the characters up through it. Even with three or four concurrent plotlines all led by different characters, Slott's going to make sure we see enough of everyone to get the full feel for it. Should continue to be a good event moving forward.

Indestructible Hulk 19
Waid (w) and Raapack, J. Bennett, R. Jose and Grummett w/ Kesel and Hennessy (a) and Staples (c)

Banner has been thrown out of a moving jet by the newly Terrigenesis'd Randall Jessup, whose new form seems to feed on anger, making it stronger and calming down the other person. Like most Inhuman powers, it's a reflection on the person, as Jessup was always the one to try to stop fights and smooth situations. Unfortunately now, it means that Banner is falling from the plane and can't Hulk out. He resorts to breaking his own finger to surge Hulk back out. He leaps into the air to battle Jessup's new form while his other assistants parachute out of the plane. Hulk realizes that the monster's eyes are the key to his absorption and keeps Jessup from looking at him. Able at last to keep his anger, he defeats the monster and reverts Jessup back to human form. They try to find a cure for him only to find, right as Banner thinks he's done it, Jessup being kidnapped away by one of the numerous evil organizations out there intent on experimenting on new Inhumans. Hulk tries to stop the kidnappers but fails, making it look like, to all Banner's assistants, Hulk killed Jessup or something.

One of the cool things about the Inhuman mutations, as it's been explained during this REALLY prolonged event, is that they tend to reflect the person as much as they're just a cool power. Thanos' son Thane held the power of life and death (well, really death and worse death), the new Inhuman in IRON MAN is a giant jerk, and now Jessup absorbs anger. It's a particularly neat idea because that mutation does reflect Jessup but it also acts as a perfect foil to Hulk. This is pointed out fairly often in the issue, even going so far as to compare the fact that Jessup was at the bomb site when Banner's Terrigen bomb went off to Hulk's origin. When I first realized what Jessup's monster form was, it felt very much like it could have been a situation where it was just a writer saying "this is a cool foil to Hulk and I can do anything so here he is!" There's a new Sonic the Hedgehog cartoon coming out (guys, shut up, I'm pretty well-connected) and the teaser for it shows a scene where Robotnik has created a robot named "Burn-Bot" that Sonic quickly figures out doesn't actually burn anything and blames Robotnik for "false advertising." It's played as a laugh moment, a moment where you're siding with the cool and funny Sonic for pointing this out but behind it, you know the writers named it Burn-Bot just to have that joke and it's not a worthwhile joke to introduce such a stupid concept. I should really get back to talking about Hulk but ANOTHER EXAMPLE is something comedian Kumail Nanjiani brought up about Casino Royale. The stakes at the poker game aren't as high for the audience because it's writers writing a poker game so the incredible fact that Le Chiffre has four of a kind but is beaten by Bond's royal flush isn't as incredible. ANYWAY, this monster could have been that sort of situation but instead, thanks to Inhuman/Marvel canon, Jessup's transformation makes sense and acts as a perfect foil to Hulk. Pretty cool stuff, you guys.

Superior Spider-Man 27, Secret Avengers 15

Superior Spider-Man 27
Slott (w) and Camuncoli and Dell (a) and Fabela (c)

GOBLIN NATION is finally in full swing (SWING, guys, like how Spider-Man swings, are you with me on this?) as the glitch in Spidey's spider-bots has finally become apparent to the controversial hero. After a slew of these anomalies, Spider-Man throws himself into his work, ignoring his responsibilities to Parker Industries and Anna Maria. Finally he tracks down Uatu Jackson, who designed the facial recognition software in the spider-bots, and the two of them realize that Spidey can use the program's constant refresh to track where the block is coming from. He goes down an abandoned subway line and finds himself face-to-face with the Green Goblin. The two talk and Goblin reveals that, through the captured Carlie's journal, they've discovered who Spider-Man really is, offering to partner with Otto to rule the city. Spider-Man rejects him and prompts Goblin to attack. Fortunately for Spidey, he had sent a hologram of himself in from Spider Island. Less fortunately, Goblin doesn't cede victory so easily and orders a strike from his troops waiting just outside Spider Island.

Even though the players have changed, this is shaping up to be a classic Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin fight. I've talked plenty about how Otto is a new sort of Spider-Man (whether or not you believe he's superior), one who relies on planning and preparation more than Peter ever did. In that respect, it makes this battle more of the sort of chess game style battle than you usually see out of this pair, which is largely driven by irredeemable actions by Goblin met with inconsolable rage by Spider-Man. This one will still have some of those points to it, particularly as Otto takes it extremely personally whenever he's outplayed, but the opening gambit here finds Otto sending in a hologram to scope out the area while Goblin lays siege to Spider Island. That's not even to get into the subplots of J. Jonah Jameson commissioning new Spider Slayers, a testament to how much he hates Spider-Man right now given that the last appearance of the Slayers ended with his wife's death, and ensuring that Spider-Man knows that they work by his hand and the fact that Peter is still trying to work his way out of his own body's memories to gain control of the body itself. He throws himself into Otto's memories to hide and finds himself almost immediately swept up in them, hoping to retain himself as he lays low to plot and plan against Otto. Need another subplot? Captain Watanabe is still after Peter for the disappearance of Carlie Cooper and the Avengers are still suspicious of Spider-Man. Geez, you guys. There's still a lot of ground to cover before April's AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 1.

Secret Avengers 15
Spencer and Kot (w) and L. Ross (a) and M. Wilson (c)

All of the active Secret Avengers are in the same place now as Clint breaks into Bobbi's quarters to get her out, only to discover that her memories are shattered and that she's incredibly confused and unsure of what's happening. At times she remembers Clint and that she killed Taskmaster and why that was bad but at others she forgets everyone around her. They escape and rejoin Natasha and Fury who, with the unseen help of Mentallo, defeated the Shang-Chi adaptoid. Together, they all make their way for the submarine they arrived in but Forson has other plans. He orders his small team to prepare for attack, commanding them to take Mockingbird down first as she has the most intel on AIM. Before he gives the order to take the shot, the team is accosted by Yelena Belova and instantly she and Mockingbird begin to wrestle. They disappear from view for a moment and, as soon as Mockingbird emerges, Forson has his sniper take the shot, killing her instantly. Clint jumps to her aid while Fury and Natasha take care of the rest of the team. As they pile into the submarine, Clint still carrying Mockingbird, the camotech on Mockingbird disengages to reveal that it was actually Yelena Belova who was shot and who is now in their possession.

Neat little trick ending though it was somewhat telegraphed by a Chekhov's gun style mention of the camotech as Clint rescued Bobbi in the first place and as we don't see "Belova's" body after Mockingbird stands. Still doesn't exactly tell us what's happening with Mock but we can likely assume it's something and not just "oh, she's dead too, Belova killed her but now Belova's dead." There's also some weight to parts of this issue that involve Maria Hill and MODOK working out the kinks of their new and very strained relationship, including the hint that Forson has a double agent working in SHIELD (surprise, SHIELD is beset by double agents and corruption). Luke Ross' art is impressive here and manages to stay emotive even in the midst of big fight scenes, which is always tricky. At times, the style of the book's art and the book's layout confuse unnecessarily, including a long sequence where Fury duels with a sniper, but you can more or less get easily past it just knowing it's a fight scene and Fury wins, all set. There's still one more issue of this iteration of SECRET AVENGERS before it nearly instantly reboots in March but this issue does a nice job setting up the ending of this little story.