Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli pull out all the stops to bring you the beginning of a concluding arc befitting of a series that subverted plenty of expectations.
Written by Dan Slott
Illustrated by Giuseppe Camuncoli
Inked by John Dell
Colors by Antonio Fabela“Goblin Nation” #1 (of 5)
• The so-called Superior Spider-Man has failed. Under his watch, the Green Goblin took control of New York’s underworld. This is all Otto Octavius’ fault. Now it’s his responsibility to take the Goblin down.
• Win or lose, this shall be Otto’s greatest battle. Whatever you do, don’t miss the first chapter of the biggest event in the entire Superior Spider-Man Saga!
• The End starts here. Superior Spider-Man versus… THE GOBLIN NATION!
We begin issue #27 as so many issues of “Amazing” and “Peter Parker” began – Spider-Man is in over his head as a hero, but even more so in his personal life. What Otto had initially made look easy, has now become the same impossible balancing act that always made Peter a compelling character. Though Doc Ock has done more with the Peter Parker name than Peter Parker ever had, he’s becoming such a ghost at his own company that early ‘New 52’ Oliver Queen would be insanely jealous. You see, he’s finally discovered the villain that has been planting roots in his city through almost this entire run: the aforementioned Green Goblin.
If you’re a reasonable and even halfway seasoned comic book reader, you always knew that Peter Parker would make his way back into the suit. The first issue of “Superior Spider-Man’s” final arc, ‘Goblin Nation’, sees Dan Slott nudging those chess pieces ever more closely to that outcome. By the time 31 issues have run their course, Dan Slott will have run the Doc Ock version of Spidey through a gauntlet capped off by the ultimate Spider-Man boss fight: Norman Osborn himself. Slott’s has always played with the chip on Otto’s shoulder, whether it was playing second fiddle to more successful scientists, or here, up against the only standing threat to his “heroic” takeover of New York City. Slott has called Doc Ock “Spider-Man’s greatest foe”, but we all know – and Dan Slott knows – that it can’t be anyone other than Green Goblin. For someone who so epically tore the Spidey fan base in half, Slott is a master of crowd-pleasing comic book moments.
That’s much of the reason why the way he and Camuncoli handle the final standoff between them is so compelling. It’s not that issue #27 is oh-so-amazing or anything. It’s just as good as any other issue of Slott’s run. But it’s that Slott’s “Superior” run has been ramping up to something like this the whole time. It feels like it practically writes itself, but it’s because of what Slott has been doing for months and years now. And to know that this is the way the run ends is Slott’s opportunity to pre-plan an end-point before everything got dragged out. That’s not a feat to brush off.
The ultimate showdown deserves a top notch art team to take things up a notch. Camuncoli has been a Spidey staple for pretty much as long as Slott has been writing the character, but his work has never been as sharp and refined as it is here. Since the early days of Lee & Ditko taking Peter Parker through hallucinations, dream sequences, and the occasional Mysterio scare tactic – supernatural or erratic visions have always been a part of the character. Peter is doomed to revisit the tragedies in his life through these sequences for as long as we read about him. Issue #27 gives us a brief glimpse into Peter’s otherworldly trip as it stands, and it consists of him traveling past classic “Amazing Spider-Man” sequences. Camuncoli crafts these as a memorably dark psychedelic trip into both he and Otto’s past. Antonio Fabela’s dark green color scheme here is a particular highlight.
But the cherry on top is the way Camuncoli revels in drawing the first face-off between Octavius and Osborn. Osborn and his army of some of Marvel’s goofier villains actually become sinister and slightly imposing under Camuncoli’s vision. Green Golbin himself is as unsettling and sinister as he’s ever been, especially when you consider how relatively calm their first direct interaction is. The deliberate visual pacing and tension can be cut with a knife – to use a tired metaphor. The improvement in the consistency of Camuncoli’s line is never more apparent than in this sequence. I recalled a couple of Vulture-centric issues of “Amazing” from a few years back, where Camuncoli’s characters were blockier and rougher by comparison. It’s worth mentioning that Camuncoli is inked by John Dell here, which was also not the case then. The entire product is stronger in its current form.
For all of my hyperbolic praise, let’s make no mistake – “Superior Spider-Man” is what it is – a cape comic. But with Dan Slott at the helm and an art team that includes the very best work of Giuseppe Camuncoli, to date, “Superior Spider-Man” is one of the best examples of what cape comics still have to offer in the year 2014. Subversion of genre and character tropes, re-explorations of classic comic book errata, and the best in slam-bang action.
Final Verdict: 8.5 – Buy
