Rebuilding a fractured mind, in the midst of a Goblin War!
My review for, Superior Spider-Man #25. Prelude to, Goblin Nation!
The Good
In this issue, writer Dan Slott sets up for the final story arc of this series, Goblin Nation!Following the events of a territory conflict between Green Goblin and the Hobgoblin (in prior issues); the two have finally decided that New York is only big enough for one Goblin! Plus, Peter Parker, slowly, takes steps to reclaiming his mind and body; and [the superior] Spock quits the Avengers after they try to discover the truth! If you are looking for a great place to jump on, this prelude issue is the best place to be! Especially, if you are interested in following Peter Parker's triumphant return in his monthly series, The Amazing Spider-Man.
I disliked, and liked, what Dan Slott did with this issue. Granted, the fight between Green Goblin and Hobgoblin could've been better with higher stakes and more action; however, it acted as the setup for the, Goblin Nation, story arc. This issue had no pacing problems; as everything that happened in this issue started-and-ended, with no one story feeling like it was taking up the entire issue. The main focus for this issue, was on Green Goblin and Hobgoblin's turf dispute. However, the other stories surrounding it (i.e. Peter Parker slowly reclaiming his mind and Spock quitting the Avengers) all helped break focus, from certain parts of the fight that made it feel a bit dry or cliche. And once the secondary story was introduced, it would go on for a while, then put the reader back into a more interesting element of the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin's fight. So Dan Slott did an excellent job on that part!
The Bad
One of my complaints with this issue was, The Avengers. Last issue, we saw that The Avengers were becoming very suspicious of, "What?", exactly is happening to Spider-Man. So to deal with that problem, they confront him [in this issue] and tell the reader, information that he or she already knows. This, "Are we going to kick Spider-Man out of The Avengers?", ordeal that happened in this issue, could've been handled in the last issue. There was no need to drag it out in this issue as, it didn't feel relevant or important in any way!
While I enjoyed seeing Green Goblin and Hobgoblin duke it out, I was expecting higher stakes! With talks of a, "Goblin War", for many, many, issues; you'd expect that the issue that FINALLY has the war, will actually be extremely exciting with high stakes! Instead, Dan Slott only gave more setup for the last story arc of this series, Goblin Nation. If Slott hadn't previously made the Goblin War, to seem like a big deal, this issue would've been great! But having been teased of a big brawl and, "Only one will survive!", type of scenario in previous issues; and finally making it to this issue, I was really underwhelmed and saddened. I feel like Dan Slott screwed up on his part, and didn't convey properly to the readers, that the Goblin War was going to just be a stepping stone to the, Goblin Nation.
The Verdict
3 out of 5. Next review, Superior Spider-Man #27.
