One hundred issues ago, Dan Slott killed Peter Parker. A hundred issues before that, he presided over Peter’s Aunt May marrying the father of J. Jonah Jameson. My point is twofold. First: holy crap, Dan Slott really and truly has been writing “Spider-Man” for a good long time. The second is that this isn’t the first time Dan Slott has written a big finale for “Amazing Spider-Man.” Depending on how you count it, this is the third, or the fourth, or maybe the fifth (or the sixth?) big season finale he’s written, many of which have included Norman Osborn. As such, it’s a testament to his skill as a superhero comic book writer that each of those finales have felt different. It’s also an unfortunate truth that he has a deep body of work for us to compare this new story to.
Cover by Alex RossWritten By Dan Slott
Illustrated by Stuart Immonen
Inked by Wade von Grawbadger
Colored by Marte Gracia
Lettered by VC’s Joe CaramangaSPIDER-MAN will need to the help of friend and foe alike if he hopes to stop THE GREEN GOBLIN this time! The mystery of the RED GOBLIN is finally revealed, and it’s not going to be pretty for Peter Parker!
Love him or hate him, Slott has had an unparalleled run on “Spider-Man.” I’m inclined to love him. When Peter defended the city and his Aunt’s wedding from Doc Ock, it was a lot of fun (and included the zinger “ten arms, two legs, and a pizza face,” which is a pretty sick burn). When Ock finally defeated and killed his nemesis in ‘Dying Wish,’ Slott pretty much broke the internet. When Peter returned at the end of “Superior Spider-Man,” it was a great reflection on what makes him such a great superhero. While Slott’s final finale ‘Go Down Swinging’ is lots of fun, it doesn’t quite reach those same heights for me.
The core of the premise is really good. Norman Osborn has been cut off from his Green Goblin powers, so he turns to another terrifying Spider-Man nemesis: the Carnage symbiote. They merge and become the Red Goblin, and then . . . pretty much do what Norman does. He attacks people, says crazy stuff, laughs a lot, strikes up silly deals with his enemies. At its core, this is pretty much a classic Norman Osborn story.
Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing! Slott writes a fabulously twisted Norman Osborn. He’s almost as unhinged as the Joker, but somehow the public still thinks he’s an accomplished businessman and politician (hmmmm). His bad guy dialogue is fine, but it doesn’t have the same well, jokiness, of Batman’s greatest foe. “Hey sweetie. Lookin’ good. What about me? Be honest. Have I changed?” He asks his ex, before laughing hysterically. The joke you see, is that he has changed, because he’s red and bonded with Carnage now. When Silk and Miles Morales team up to take him down, he cracks himself up again when he calls them “two itsy-bitsy spiders.” I don’t need Norman to be a genius when it comes to mid-fight zingers, but I sort of expect more from Dan Slott. “Ten arms, two legs, and a pizza face,” this is not.
And most of the issue is devoted to a big old fashioned super hero fight. Anyone who follows my reviews knows that I’m cool with that. Done right, fight issues can be lots of fun. Slott remembers what everyone’s powers are and utilizes them in cool ways, there are personal stakes and relationships. Stuart Immonen does a fine job at keeping everything clear. Panels have appropriate impact. Splash pages are easy to follow. Everyone look distinct, even if they all look like twenty year olds. The kids look like tiny adults, and the old people look like wrinkly adults. But the fight is cool, and superpowers look appropriately super, and that’s the most important thing.
What strikes me as odd though, is the emotional core of the issue. There’s a lot going on here. There’s Peter’s long time fight with Norman, and the respect he feels for his fellow superheroes. There’s even a great moment with J. Jonah Jameson, who no doubt will play a huge role in the next, final issue. But none of that is the core of the story. Judging by who gets the most page time, the most twists, and the final cliffhanger, this is really a story about the Osborn family. Norman, Harry, Liz Allen and all the little grandkids are what’s at stake and… the issue doesn’t do a great job at making you feel for them.
Continued belowDon’t get me wrong, I care a lot about Harry Osborn. I was right there in the ’90s when the Osborn family was having all his parentage drama. But it doesn’t feel right for the finale. It doesn’t feel like Peter’s story, or Jonah’s. That can still all change for next issue, but if Slott wanted to sign off his gigantic multi-hundred issue run with a final showdown between the greatest hero and villains in comics, this isn’t it. This isn’t even the best Spidey vs Goblin showdown he’s ever written.
It’s not too many writers who get to end epic runs multiple times in the same series. That’s probably the biggest thing holding this issue back. Slott did a much better Peter vs. Osborn arc during ‘Dark Reign.’ He did a better Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin story at the end of “Superior Spider-Man.” He did a better finale to a long-simmering storyline at the end of ‘Big Time.’ If ‘Go Down Swinging’ is remembered as the fourth or fifth-best finale Slott did with “Spider-Man” it will still be quite an achievement, but it’s a shame that this very last, actually final grand finale couldn’t be the very best one.
Still, combining Norman Osborn with Carnage is such a cool idea.
Final Verdict: 7.7 – A really adequate Spider-Man superhero fight issue gets too bogged down in Osborn family drama.
