As events continue to connect and build, three tales are told.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dan Slott
Art: Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba
What They Say:
The Green Goblin vs. The Original Hobgoblin! Plus: That thing that happened at the end of #25… That thing that raised all of those questions… You don’t have to wait any longer. You’ll get your answers THIS ISSUE! Honest.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Superior Spider-Man often has a lot going on within its pages and it’s worked out well in that while Octavius has been the big draw for me, there’s been more than enough elsewhere to chew on. Take this installment for example, where there are three main arcs going. After all that’s been said and done with the Avengers, they get really in his face to demand some answers and push an angle that definitely makes the whole privacy thing difficult, especially when he pulls out the Civil War card in a smart way. To be fair, it’s understandable when you have an organization like the Avengers to want to really know its members, but there’ve always been those that keep their costumed identities very distinct from others when it comes to their personal lives. It’s no surprise that it all turns into an area where Octavius uses it as an out at long last instead of sticking with the team. Which makes sense as, within the main book at least, it didn’t feel like he really needed to be a part of it.
The other piece that started to perk up recently goes back to the fact that Peter is still very much inside his body and mind, just occupying a smaller part of it. We had a good run of issues without him after Octavius seemingly won the mindwar, but as we see, Peter is still there. What’s interesting, if played out briefly, is that while Octavius did eliminate most of the Peter memories in there, there are a number of key memories that were shared and imprinted in Octavius as well. Those are the things that have kept Peter going and are also now what’s focusing him into remembering parts of who he was and the kind of resolve and will to survive and win. It’s all rather basic, but it gives us a piece of Peter to work with and we see how he’s attempting to truly overcome all odds here to come back and reclaim his body.
The other big story working here is the continuing ramp up of what the Green Goblin is up to. This has been simmering for the whole series as he works behind the scenes and has hijacked part of Octavius’ spy robot network to avoid detection. But he’s intent on taking out Kingsley at this point and coalescing his power in order to move forward with his own plans. It’s a bit chaotic – and there’s a heck of a lot of orange on these pages that makes it hard to tell who is what at times – but it’s fun seeing the banter and interplay between the parties involved as they have their mini war and then get all gladiatorial about it rather than wipe out each other in the process. There is, of course, a trick to part of it as well, but it provides the big action component to the issue and really helps to drive forward more of what Green Goblin is doing.
In Summary:
While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this series, I’ll easily admit that it is getting to that point where you do want to start drawing in the Peter Parker story more. If they were going to fully commit for several years, that’d be a different story as I’d feel far more invested in it overall with the way it would have so many sprawling changes. But within the context of the series at hand, it’s been a blast with the big and small moments and the interpersonal aspects as well. This issue really brings the three key points together with what’s going to drive events now as we get Green Goblin cementing his position, Peter getting ready for his move and Octavius feeling like he’s got it all under control in his superior way. The journey continues to be great, but I’m really curious to see just what the fall will be like.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: January 29th, 2014
MSRP: $3.99
