Tags
Dan Slott, Green Goblin, Hobgoblin, Humberto Ramos, Javier Rodrigues, Marcos Martin, Marvel Comics, Otto Octavius, Peter Parker, Spiderman, Superior Spiderman, Superior Spiderman #26
Superior Spiderman #26
Its time for the eagerly awaited Green Goblin Vs the Hobgoblin showdown, as the vicious battle for control of their crime empires begins. Now that he is free of the Venom symbiote, Superior Spiderman (Otto Octavius) lies to the Avengers, saying that traces of the symbiote were the cause of all his strange behaviour recently. Unconvinced, the Avengers decide to confront Superior Spiderman about the computer files he secretly deleted. Everyone is also unaware that the Peter Parker side of the Superior Spiderman resurfaced during Otto’s struggle with the Venom symbiote, and is now trying to find a way to regain control from Otto…
Superior Spiderman #26 spins an action packed web out of the aftermath last issues giant sized special, as the Avengers confront Spiderman about his actions, while all out war breaks out between the original Green Goblin and the original Hobgoblin. The Green Goblin’s activities in recent months, as he slowly took over organized crime in the city, have gradually encroached on the Hobgoblin’s schemes. Now we finally get the confrontation we’ve all been waiting for, as Osborn and Kingsley slug it out in a no holds barred fight to the finish.
I like how Dann Slott keeps the banter going between the Goblin’s, especially as they taunt each other. But are we really witnessing a fight between the original Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin? Although we haven’t actually seen Norman Osborn since he vanished from hospital, this Green Goblin certainly seems to be Osborn. There is a point where Dan Slott ingeniously weaves this into the narrative of the fight itself, which leads to a very surprising outcome.
Things become even more strained between Superior Spiderman and the Avengers when they summon him to Avengers Tower to confront him about secretly deleting his medical scans. While Otto-Spidey faces up to some difficult questions, somewhere in some bizarre mindscape of their shared psyche, the consciousness of Peter Parker scours the remains of his memories for some way to fight back against Otto.
Superior Spiderman #26 has three artists working on this issue, with the action split between Humberto Ramos, Javier Rodrigues, and Marcos Martin respectively. Having multiple artists working on an issue like this can sometimes affect the flow of the story, different artistic styles don’t always work well together either. On the whole I thought this issue looked great, the shift between artistic styles works really well, and actually manages to succeed in enhancing certain aspects of the story rather than detracting from it in any way.
Superior Spiderman #26 is another exciting issue by Dan Slott, every twist of the story means you never know quite what to expect next, the scenes in the mindscape as Peter explores what’s left of his memories are especially poignant, and the battle between the Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin reaches a thrilling climax.
