Superior Spider-Man #26 Review
I feel cheated…
There isn’t much to cover in Issue #26 of Superior Spider-Man as Otto once again gets out of things way too easily, so let’s wrap this review up in a few paragraphs.
The issue begins with the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin going to war with one another at an abandoned Ozcorp factory, with Hobgoblin having a bunch of villains and offering money and franchises for whoever kills the most of the Green Goblin’s men and the goblin in question himself. How the battle started beyond the declaration of war last issue is still up in the air, but it ends abruptly with the Green Goblin calling for a time-out. I’m serious, he calls a time-out and Hobgoblin agrees because it’s being costly to him in the long run when the Green Goblin reminds him Spider-Man has an army.
Cut to Otto ordering his men to protect a shipment from what looks to be AIM when the Avengers show up to have a word with him. He tells them he’s busy, so they just take down both sides to hasten things and then tell him his probation is over. Didn’t Captain America take him off that during the first Superior Spider-Man team up? Whatever, not important given the things that happen later on.
We then go to Ghost Peter, who finds that damn near all his memories are gone besides the ones he shared with Otto during their initial transfer in Amazing Spider-Man #700 and the ones Otto perused through on his own. That’s bad because it means that he won’t remember a great deal of his life even when all of this is over. Worse, he couldn’t beat Otto when he had all his memories and allies, so what chance did he have now? Realizing that, he falls into despair on his knees and wonders what he should do.
Now back to the goblins. Green Goblin and Hobgoblin decide to go mano-a-mano, winner takes all on who reigns as the Goblin King. Now, why villains decide to have rules in the middle of the war escapes me, but they go head-to-head with pumpkin bombs while calling each other fakes, listing others who donned their opposite’s masks as Legacy Characters. Hobgoblin gets in a shot when insults Harry Osborn, nailing the Green Goblin in the chest with a spiky metal ball of death.
Then we go back to the Avengers and Otto in the Avengers Tower, where he’s reminiscing about ASM #700 where Peter pushed him out of that very window while in Otto’s original dying body in an attempt to reclaim his body. He’s broken out of his thoughts when Iron Man brings up the charges of him wiping their medical database of his scans and he claims its to protect his secret identity and states that’s exactly why Iron Man and Captain America had that god awful crossover, Civil War.
They say his excuse about being affected by Venom isn’t going to fly given the timing and Wolverine says he can have a psychic up there in minutes, but Otto points out that Peter’s been accused of acting strange tons of times and asks what makes it so much different than before. They states it because he’s an Avenger this time, which I personally call BS on given all the shit the Scarlet Witch has gotten away with, and Stark decides to take a look at those files himself. Given he’s not an idiot barring certain moments, that causes Otto some stress.
At the same time Ghost Peter gets a second wind because all the memories left behind are those defining moments for him. The moments where he’s been tested to his limits, memories where he’s defined himself as Spider-Man. So I expect him to show up soon enough for a rematch over their body soon enough.
Cut to the goblins where, despite having what looks to be his chest caved in, the Green Goblin stands and the Hobgoblin recognizes the scar on his chest as where the glider impaled him and calls him Osborn (which I won’t believe until I see his face). Green Goblin lays on the beat down and strangles the Hobgoblin to death at that instant, despite taking two knives to the ribs. Thus he apparently earns his men as Otto quits the Avengers, saying he needs no help, just as the Goblin King takes the men back while his Goblin Knight stays behind.
Ironically, the Green Goblin had a point when he called Hobgoblin a fake. With Phil being a bit more savvy about checking the body, as he killed Kingsley’s brother wearing the suit when he tried this himself before, he notes its really not Kingsley behind that mask this time and decides to destroy the body so no one knows and Green Goblin keeps Kingsley’s men under his control.
In the end, Kingsley had split town to France and hypnotized his manservant to take his place, doing the same to some other poor bastard. He’s decided to lay low for the time being and toasts to Osborn on his victory as a graceful loser as the issue ends.
At this point I can’t help but feel that the Superior Spider-Man was solely written to reboot the Amazing Spider-Man continuity without changing the base details, a legitimate way to destroy Peter’s life and start from scratch for new readers once March or April rolls around. They broke him up with MJ, turned Carlie to a goblin, messed up his relationship with Black Cat, killed his close ties with the Avengers, and generally speaking turned him into a menace like long before.
Anyway, this isn’t too hot of an issue for me, but as a prelude to Goblin Nation its somewhat important and the story did progress, so it gets a 3 out of 5.
Superior Spider-Man #25 Review
Wham Issue Ahoy!
Otto’s time as Spider-Man is coming to an end for more reasons than one, and the end can be seen here in Issue #25.
The issue begins with Otto dealing with those poor bastards working for Kingsley when the Avengers show up to stop him, while Kingsley himself is getting into the game since the Goblin Kingpin of Crime has decided to screw him over. The Avengers are putting up a good fight, but Superior calls in his own reinforcements in his Spider-Minions. As they departed, the Goblin Knight (Phil Ulrich) records their reaction so he can pinpoint a weak point.
In the Goblin Underground…Carlie’s gone. That serum fucked her up and turned her into a literal goblin, not some mask, and did something to her mind. You know Peter is going to feel guilty about that when he comes back…more on that later though. Anyway, to prove her loyalty, the Goblin Kingpin (Who claims to be Norman Osborn, but I’ll believe it when I see it) wants her to go out into the fray and paint the town red.
Back to the fight, Captain America is calling in all the avengers except Iron Man since he knows that Venom belongs to Flash Thompson and Iron Man goes to Parker Industries to assist Cardiac and come up with a plan. Logan gets knocked around without his healing factor and, because this is after the Avengers in Space or whatever, the people are quick to draw lines and start smashing the Spider-Bots as the Goblins go hunting. Carly, or whatever she’s going by now, makes short work of one of them while the Phil finishes the poor bastard to send a message to Kingsley.
Otto is still laying on the beat-down until Stark shows up without his armor, having given it to Flash, who tries to reclaim the symbiote. The symbiote, however, decides it wants to be on it’s own and in control. It’s at this point that Otto learns that maybe fucking with Venom wasn’t a good idea and tries to cast it out, but he can’t on his own.
Cue Ghost-Peter to the rescue! Venom is freed from Otto and goes back to Flash, while Otto bullshits his way out of trouble again. Meanwhile Kingsley and the Goblin Kingpin decide to go to war, Captain Watanabe frees Mary Jane from her questioning but warns she’ll keep an eye on her and Peter, and Aunt May wonders if Peter’s on drugs. Otto takes steps to nip this in the bud by meeting with Mary Jane and blaming the symbiote, thinking he’s fooled them all.
But, things unravel as Stark notes the test they did and the results were deleted by Otto, cue them calling him in for questioning as the story ends. There’s not much left to say except we are at the precipice of the end of Superior Spider-Man in about 5-6 Issues, with a relaunch of the Amazing Spider-Man. What this means for Otto, no clue, but Peter is getting his body back and ditching the cool tech. Now, we all knew this was inevitable, but…what’s going to happen to Anna is my question. She doesn’t deserve this sort of thing…
Anyway, this is another must-have issue, so it gets a 5 out of 5.
Uncanny X-Men #16 Review
Don’t do drugs kids, or Magneto gets angry!
Everyone else has had some character development on the staff somewhat, but not old Mags. So we get this lead up into his own upcoming series in Issue #16 of Uncanny X-Men.
The issue begins with a follow-up Pro-Mutant rally at the same campus that the Blockbuster Sentinel ran amok in, where Magneto is having a vivid daydream of slaughtering them left and right. He’s pissed off because until now they’ve done nothing while his people have suffered and their problems comes from humans. He’s so pissed off he bites his lip until blood comes out and he snaps back to reality, where Agent Dazzler (Mystique) meets with him.
As usual she knows nothing, he doesn’t trust her, but then she starts cross analyzing him and states that what the world is focusing on is Scott and no one really paid much mind to him. She basically baits him into going to Madripoor, where a mutant suddenly runs the show and has taken over. Naturally, his interest is peaked so he dons a suave hat and goes on vacation here.
If you don’t know, Madripoor is essentially a hellhole in the Marvel Universe. That’s saying something. Even more so when we see some kids going to get Mutant Growth Hormone (drugs) from a bar while some dude is getting his ass beat on the street.
Mags walks into the Bar and starts asking around for some info after a drink. They don’t take to kindly to that and the bartender cracks him over the head with a baseball bat and tells them to take him out back and gut him. Now, at this point they didn’t know it was Mags they were screwing with, so he makes it clear by controlling their guns and knives and beating the hell out of them until they tell him to go to the Hydra Tower.
There he runs into The Blob, Sabertooth, Silver Samurai, and the new Queen of Madripoor, Dazzler. Well, at least for a few seconds before she dropped the disguise and shows she’s Mystique. She wants to offer him a seat at the table, since he’s given them a chance, but he brings up the MGH that’s on the streets. While she says it was all in play before she got there, and to be fair it probably was given the place, he says that while Charles wanted co-existence and he wanted them to be the dominant species, this ain’t going to fly since kids and drugs don’t work for either.
Magneto flips his lid, has Silver Samurai stab Mystique, whip out bullets that he controls and basically tears through everyone and brings down the building. Now, Mystique and Sabertooth will probably be fine, but it makes a point. He’s clearly unhappy with that place and leaves, but he doesn’t return to NXS and the issue ends with a prompt saying to check him out in his own Solo series.
…What can I say, this issue was excellent. Mags showed that what Mystique had been building up was not what he had in mind. They weren’t the dominant species or co-existing, but wallowing in the waste of drugs and sin. He wants the mutant race to flourish and it won’t as long as MGH and Sentinels are floating around, so he’s going off to do something.
A must-have issue, it gets a 5 out of 5.
Fanfic Recommendations 20
Fanfics I have wrote that have been updated:
Summary: Due to a chance meeting with Kariya before the events of Fate/Zero, Shinji strives to follow in his uncle’s footsteps and save Sakura from damnation of the Matou Clan. To do so, he must make many sacrifices and will endure pain like no other to compete in the next Holy Grail War, including becoming a Spellcaster—all for Sakura’s sake. An AU Fate Stay Night story.
Fanfics that I have found interesting and have recently been updated:
Poke Wars: The Defervescence 9
A Pokemon Fanfic
Summary: Humanity’s genocide is at hand, but the road to utopia won’t be an easy one. Unforeseen consequences have forced me to remove those unfit for my paradise. By the end of the day the world will never be the same, and those remaining exist because I will it. Sequel to Poké Wars: The Incipience.
A Fate Stay Night/Sword Art Online Fanfic
Summary: Ilya likes to play video games, and in the time she has remaining, Shirou is more than willing to play the new VR game with her. But when they are trapped inside the game, [Sword Art Online], they determine something even more distressing: Kayaba Akihiko is definitely a Magus.
A Sword Art Online Fanfic
Summary: What if Akihiko Kayaba had created the Death Game of Alfheim Online rather than the floating castle of Aincrad—a world in which the nine player races are in competition to escape the game, and player killing was not a crime but rather a predictable product of human nature and tribalism in the face of mutually exclusive goals? AU reboot of the SAO universe. **SPOILERS IN REVIEWS**
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: What do you get when you cross several interdimensional god like beings, raw boredom, a world of Naruto that went wrong, several years worth of off screen training, common sense, insanity, humor, sarcasm, the Log, explosions, plot, and overall chaos? Apparently a lot of headache medicine for Tsunade. May the Games Begin. Sequel to Yet Again With A Little Extra Help.
A Fate Stay Night Fanfic
Summary: Sometimes, the tiniest of changes can have the greatest impact on the world. One chance encounter goes in a new direction, and the course of the Holy Grail War is irrevocably changed…
A Naruto Fanfic
Summary: The 2nd Shinobi World War left Uzu destroyed out of fear. Its inhabitants were left slaughtered or scattered. However, what if the members of Uzushio’s famed Uzumaki weren’t as scattered as people thought? What would it mean for one Uzumaki Naruto?
Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #3 Review
The end is nigh?
Okay, the winter break is over and comics have returned to being their usual selves, so I’m back with my review of the end of the current Ultimate Universe. That’s right, they’re relaunching it in the spring. But more on that after the review of Cataclysm: Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #3.
So it starts with two pilots attempting to land a plane, ignoring when the military tells them that they need to break off since there isn’t a New Jersey anymore. It goes poorly and they pass by Galactus. This goes about as well as you expect.
It then skips back to Miles being a dunderhead and revealing himself to his father. Jefferson take it poorly, although it is somewhat understandable since he believes Miles killed his Uncle and led to the death of his Mother. Now, Miles could make several arguments in his case, like his Uncle being the reason he gained his powers and used him before trying to kill him, but there isn’t enough time.
You see, that plane got swatted out of the sky and came down right in their neighborhood so Miles had to go be a hero, leaving his father behind to cry over everything. At the scene of the wreck Jessica tells him to put his mask back on and they get to rescuing the survivors. Guess who’s inside that plane?
None other than John J. Jameson, who Miles manages to get him to safety just as the thing goes up in a fireball. They need to evacuate everyone as soon as possible before the whole place goes up, when Cloak and Dagger pop in to help with his teleporting thing. After the first wave of people are gone, the plane blows up a little more and the tail wing comes crashing down to crush hem, but Bombshell swoops in and blows it to ashes.
The team is all together and JJJ tells them all that when this is over, he’s going to change their lives. Hopefully in a good way, considering they’re saving him like he saw Peter doing during Ultimatum. With that taken care of, Miles goes home to find his dad missing and looks upset about it for a second before Captain America tells him they’re coming to get him, ending the Cataclysm version of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man.
So now it ends where Ultimate’s Last Stand #2 did, with Miles heading off to the 616 Universe in hopes of finding the Reed Richards of that universe and getting him to stop Galactus. Now, I want to say Jefferson is a douchebag for spurring his son away, but it’s mostly the circumstances. Miles springs this on him during the end of the world, so you could understand he’s a little stressed.
Therefore, I’m waiting until things pick up after the relaunch to see what’s going on. If they sit down and talk about it, without him kicking the boy out of the house, then I’ll keep my opinion of him high. Otherwise, another shitty parent.
Issue gets a #5 out 5 for heroes being heroes.
Now, on the subject of the relaunch. They’re ending Ultimate Comics Spider-Man this year and no other Ultimate series has a solicitation in March except one called ‘Survive’, which is the aftermath of Cataclysm. However, it became made clear that they are relaunching in April, as they did after Ultimatum, according Comic Book Cast 2.
Better than nothing I suppose, but since I only review the Spider-Man right now it remains to be seen if I’ll cover it. Chances are good if its a team book with the kids and Jessica, but if its the Ultimates then screw that. They’re dysfunctional as hell.
Edit: Apparently they are releasing the new team book under All-New Ultimates…way to be original, Marvel. Oh well, at least Kitty might be in it.
Twilit Dreams Circle 