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Superior Spider-Man #31 - Goblin Nation Conclusion

4

It's the series finale. Does that mean it's really the end of SUPERIOR Spider-Man?

The Good

Whether or like the idea or not, SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN is coming to an end. We've known it was coming since soon we'll see the new AMAZING SPIDER-MAN relaunch. Last issue Doc Ock made his move to help this happen but of course we can't help but remain skeptical. As a final issue, this concludes the Goblin Nation story, answers a lot of questions, and sets up the next phase for the characters.

Peter Parker fans will rejoice in seeing the return of the original costume. It's all a little surreal, especially with how fast it feels this turn around has occurred. There's plenty of craziness involved and Spider-Man has to deal with that along with trying to pick up where SpOck left things for him. There is a nice big feel to the story as we see Spidey go from scene to scene, trying to sort through the Goblin's attack. The run ins he has with others is cool. What will happen with Spider-Man 2099? The Avengers? Mary Jane? All this and more are answered here.

Dan Slott throws some curve balls our way. The story with the Goblin may be over but it does open some interesting doors. With Peter Parker back, he'll also have his hands full trying to sort everything out. If that wasn't enough, there's also a fourteen-page back-up by Christos Gage dealing more with the fallout from the events in this final issue. Again, it's a great way to sort through the craziness we've seen as well as help set the stage for AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

Giuseppe Camuncoli delivers the art in the main story. He has a lot of ground to cover and he adds to the big scope feeling of the story. He captures the look of New York City in the chaos of the attacks and gives plenty of detail to the rubble from each battle.

Note: You also get Dan Slott and Mike Allred's SILVER SURFER story from the ALL-NEW MARVEL NOW! POINT ONE issue.

The Bad

It's funny because there will be those saddened by the shift back to Peter Parker. There is the feeling that it all happens rather quickly. You could argue that it's taken 30 issues but in the last issue, the battle between Peter and Otto happened so quickly. Peter does get the chance to talk to a couple friends and associates. They're well aware of what the life of a superhero is but the conversations were really short and they were more than willing to quickly accept the explanation.

While I do dig Camuncoli's art, some characters, such as Aunt May or Mary Jane, looked a little off compared to recent depictions here.

The Verdict

Sadly, this marks the end of SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN. Many may have been waiting for the return of Peter Parker but there is a feeling we could have seen some more SpOck stories to be told. Dan Slott and Christos Gage do a great job in wrapping up the storyline but at times it felt a little too sudden. SpOck will be missed but, of course, we will be celebrating the return of the AMAZING Spider-Man as well. Goblin Nation reaches a satisfying conclusion and there will be repercussions to be dealt with. You owe it to yourself to check out how SUPERIOR Spider-Man's story ends.

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InVincibleVultrimidas14

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@jphu8414: All fair points, i always liked carlie over Mj. Anna marie is pretty cool but i think she is in love with Otto not peter. Example, Mj was ready to try with peter again then Otto swooped in and proved she loves Peter for Peter not anything else. I would think the same would go for Anna marie.

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Depressed_Insomniac

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10/10 (Great epilogue)

The things that are getting set up for Peter and Miguel are both very interesting. I think new surprises are in store for when it comes to Miguel's origins.

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Lykida

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Edited By Lykida

So, I watched Amazing Spider-Man 2 yesterday and came back home to read this issue. It's very obvious that the end of Superior was planned to come together with the movie, but it felt kinda right when I read it. I liked the talk between Carlie and MJ and I get why they turn away from him (but it's not gonna be permanent, of course). Everything felt a bit rushed though.

All in all I liked the Superior run a lot, but it's good to have Peter back. The future will show if the quality of the stories will stay the same. And I'm excited to see Spider-Man 2099 again in July!

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ForeverMan

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Edited By ForeverMan

I was underwhelmed by the concept of the Goblin reveal, and also with his utterly inexplicable escape. Those were kind of 2 lowlights of this entire volume tbh.

I really enjoyed the Superior Spider Man in general though. Shame that it's over but we knew it wouldn't last.

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KEROGA

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Edited By KEROGA
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Mezmero

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Well I enjoyed the issue despite my misgivings at ending this book in sort of a rushed way. A little too much acceptance from the supporting cast but that's to be expected when reading a freaking finale. I'm not quite sold on the Peter Parker character but even I have to admit it was pretty awesome to see him take care of business. I especially liked the part when he saves Anna Maria while focusing on not repeating what happened to Gwen. I think overall Slott did right by me particularly on the identity of the Green Goblin.

It was obvious from the get go that this was the kind of cunning and psychosis that only the true Norman Osborn could pull off. If you look back at certain issues there are some phat hints in the art that he was actually that Alchemax dude. I've always said it's the Goblin mask that makes him scary and not necessarily his face or civilian identity. I'm really interested to see how Slott plans to develop Norman in the future after that ending. Given the state of Carlie Cooper it might be that the serum hasn't completely worked on suppressing the Goblin persona.

This was a really cool idea for a comic that got me to read Spider-Man again. It gives a spotlight to two of Spidey's biggest villains as the both try to seize complete control of New York and truly prove who can defeat Peter Parker. They both were on even ground in terms of advanced technology. military might, enhanced strength and speed as well as preparation and organization but there was a very clear winner between the two of them.

The real winner is Peter Parker in the end but his life somehow has gotten worse. As much as I'd like to see Peter try to clean up this mess I'm probably not going to be following his continued adventures. I wish Dan Slott luck with Amazing and am looking forward to more Silver Surfer. Thanks for the accurate reviews @g_man and for getting me into this great series. Maybe somewhere in the SpiderVERRRSE! Doc Ock actually succeeded in creating a dystopia New York under his rule in Peter's body.

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Mapuia_Ralte

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The finale's a bit of a snore, why was everyone so ready to accept Spidey's story, is there not gonna be any backlash from Otto's actions at all? And why is Norman suddenly so weak and how is he able to run away so damn quick, I mean Miguel must have seen where he was going, one quick swing and he would have caught up. This issue didn't deliver much of the climax it should have. Gonna miss Otto though.

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Soleyu

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I have been reading spider-man for a long, long time now, and I got to say that I'm a Peter Parker fan to the bone, so in my case I was really glad to see him back. I had been avoiding most of superior because I disliked the fact that Otto was in the body of Peter Parker, mainly for personal reasons, the spider-man comics, specially Peter, got me through some really rough periods of my life, and seeing Peter die and his legacy and life being overtaken by Otto without any consequences, really put me off. Though I do gotta admit that it was an entertaining book (I actually bought and read all issues yesterday before reading this one).

Having said that, it was so, so good to see Peter Parker back at least, even if the finale was somewhat contrived and there were some inexplicable things happening -Norman escaping so easily, what?- I really liked the issue.

To be honest I actually like Slot's time as the Spidey writer, but I had some real problems with some of his writing choices in Superior like:

What the hell MJ?! What the hell everyone?! If there is one thing that has bothered me all through out Superior, is why the hell did no one notice that Spider-man was not Peter?! This is a world where symbiotes, mental control, mind parasites and even freaking skrulls (with the whole invasion happening not long ago!), and no one thought to check what is happening with SM, he even killed a guy for crying out loud! Are all of them idiots?

Getting back to MJ, MJ is supposed to be Peter's soulmate, the person that knows him the most in the world, why the hell did she not notice that something was wrong? She knows Peter, and when Peter does something incredibly uncharacteristic of him, she decides that there is nothing wrong, Peter has just turned into an asshole? What the hell?

And why the hell did no one call her out on it?! One of the problems with this issue is that this whole discussion that should have taken place, was just brushed off, hell that would have been a better way to break them up than what happened, she can't forgive herself for not noticing, and Peter disappointed that she didn't.

I mean, in general, every old secondary character, from MJ,aunt may to the other heroes, were made to carry the idiot ball in order to be able to tell Spock's story, which is... I would say bad writing but no,Slot is not a bad writer, it seems like I dunno, he was too focused on telling the story he wanted to tell instead of dealing with the natural repercussions of the change, so he ignored them.

That is the one thing that pissed me off the most in the whole Superior run, the whole idiocy of everyone, I mean the only one that figured something was wrong (using logic) without having been told anything about it is SM 2099!

Having said all that, I will keep reading SM, to see how everything turns out at least. I do hope that at least some of the things that I mentioned about will be dealt with.

Well, that took longer than I thought it would, I hope I did not bore anyone.

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BatLantern12

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I'm glad Peter's back, but I don't think I can keep reading Spider-Man with Slott writing. This whole Superior thing was just plain odd. Also, the way everything was left at the end of this issue I'm not liking the future of Spider-Man as long as Slott is calling the shots.

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Ijan092

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On the contrary popular opinion, I did enjoy this run. However, this last issue was horrible and it felt like it was forced down my throat. Everything between #30 and #31 happens so fast that is became hard for me to digest what was happening. I was expecting an epic conclusion to this series but what I got doesn't do justice to the entire series.

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Dasher-Dart

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Edited By Dasher-Dart

I'm kinda glad that Peter is back, but I'm a little worried about the new Amazing Spider-Man series. It seems like it's gonna be an attempt to milk money off the new movie. The comic is actually launching relatively close to the time when the movie is released and not the mention the appearance of revamped Electro.

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thewalkingdeadpool18

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The amount of butthurt fanboys is hilarious. Even some trying to say it's fanfic. You really aren't using that right if you think this is like fan fic looking at you @thedudemcdude Like it or not this was nothing close to fanfic. Crap like Superman/Wonder Woman is fanfic.

Anyway i've been on enough rants on why Superior was awesome and now it's going to go back to the same old boring reptitive crap we've been getting from Spider-Man for YEARS. I'll give the new series a chance but i know it will suck. Be the same old crap we've been getting from Spider-Man basically since they retconned his marriage with MJ. It's why Spider-Man has become boring and repetitive.

The issue was meh. Kind of lackluster of a series finale might be the worst issue of Superior i've read. But it wasn't a terrible comic just writing wasn't really there some stupid moments and felt very rushed finale.

@captainmarvel4ever You actually read a non DC comic?!

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mickeymayhew

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back to the boring old status quo then

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TheDudeMcDude

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@thewalkingdeadpool18:

What part of Doc Ock switching minds with Peter Parker and killing him, doesn't sound like fan-fiction? Also, if you think Spider-Man is boring, then what part of Superior Spider-Man was interesting? It was nothing but repetitive dullness with an annoying protagonist, what made Superior Spider-Man interesting? The fact that Otto beat the crap out of people that looked at him in a way he didn't like or ridiculous Spider-Mechs? Stop saying that Superior was "fresh" or "unique" because it wasn't, it was just a prolonged gimmick that sadly people bought into.

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thewalkingdeadpool18

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@

@thedudemcdude:

Because it was far more intresting then anything Spider-Man has done in the past like 5 years, you're just some butthurt Peter fanboy. You really need to learn what fanfic is. What you described? That's comics.....that's the type of shit that happens in comics nothing about is fanfic. It's alot harder for something in comics to be considered fanfic when comics can go extra super crazy or unique. Really the only thing fanfic like in comics is making two characters have a relationship because some fanboy out there wants them together because he likes both even if they're not right for eachother. Like Superman/Wonder Woman which is some bullcrap fanboy/girl fanshipping. Seriously a comic made about two superheroes who shouldn't even be together in the first place? That's fan fic. Just because you're a Peter fanboy who cried his self to sleep every night because "CHANGE! OH NO CHANGE! I WANT PETER TO DO THE SAME CRAP OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR THE ANOTHER 70 YEARS!" doesn't make a story fanfic. What's intresting about old Peter Parker? Having him lose someone or be blamed for a death every freaking year because apparently he didn't learn enough about death? Having the same old J.Jonah.Jameson go back and fourth on Spider-Man overall having extremely stupid reasons to hate him and no matter what he does it's the same crap over and over again? Or lets just get rid of good stories and just have him fight a specific villian for 6 months even if it's something stupid you could've solved in one issue is that the good Spider-Man? Or him still acting like a 15 year old since his creation? Maybe the constant retelling over and over again about Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacys death, and the Venom symbiote since those are like the only intresting things to happen to that Spider-Man. Is that what you want? Probbably because you know "CHANGE!" Spider-Man has been rinse, wash, repeat for so, so many years now. The reason for that is because of crybabies like you who want to read the same comic over and over again.

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TheDudeMcDude

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@thewalkingdeadpool18:

It's true that Peter's stories have been nothing but complete repetitive crap for years, but guess what, that's not a fault of the character, that's a fault of the editor and writer. Slott is the person responsible for all of the same crap for the past 5 years, because he's the one who has been writing the series and has done nothing but create silly contrived gimmicks, that do in fact feel like fanfiction. Next to blame is Quesada for constantly wanting to keep Spider-Man as he was in his creation. As for everything else you've pointed out, I redirect you to my latest blog entry:

My Thoughts On Superior Spider-Man

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thewalkingdeadpool18

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@thedudemcdude:

And Superior gave us something new and actually intresting to Spider-Man instead of the same old crap it was well written but again you're crying in your sleep because comics shouldn't change and boohoo Peters dead. It is far from fanfic learn what fanfic is.

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TheDudeMcDude

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Edited By TheDudeMcDude

@thewalkingdeadpool18:

Did you even read the link to my blog, i specifically said "I'm not saying change is bad. Most status quo changes have been great like Age of Apocalypse, Dark Reign etc. My point is that while other status quo changes are interesting and add a different point of view of the characters, Slott doesn't add anything to the characters and approaches things through gimmicky sales tactics."

Please, what was interesting about Superior Spider-Man? It definitely wasn't Otto, he was as boring as watching paint dry. It wasn't the story, it was just a typical "Freaky Friday" knock-off like most other mind-swap stories in the world. So please tell me, what was interesting to see Otto as Spider-Man? Was it because you said "Oooh" and "Aaah" when Slott showed you silly Spider-Mechs, like a parent distracting a baby by jingling their keys?

You're right about one thing though, I shouldn't call this fanfiction, that's an insult to fanfic writers everywhere, who probably care more about telling a compelling story than Dan Slott ever has.

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thewalkingdeadpool18

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@thedudemcdude:

No i'm not going to read your crappy blog because i already know this comes down to a comic book fanboy whose afraid when comics change stuff. The story was very intresting seeing someone Spider-Man fought for a long time take over and live Spider-Mans life and know what it's like. It was intresting to see how much he was messing up Peters life but making his own as Peter better along with him truly being the better Spider-Man. Slott did wrtie a compelling story which is why he's where he is and you and fanfic writers are where you are. He has talent he did the first intresting well written thing to happen to Spider-Man years but the butthurt Peter fanboys will cry because crybabies like you are afraid of change in comics. I could go on but i'll leave you with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns9NOVJrLFg

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ScarletBatman

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So we're back to the boring status quo where everyone hates Spider-Man, he has no friends, no job and is plagued by Parker Luck. Yay. I want to read that all over again. :/

Superior should have been allowed to just continue on and on. It was such a great comic.

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