It’s another Peter issue so we spend the whole story with … wait, with Norman? Norman goes all out to stop the Goblin Slayers and save the Spider-Gang. Kingsley goes full villain trying to kill Norman’s grandchildren. Norman unleashes his full hatred against Kingsley and realizes he can never be Spider-Man. The mastermind behind the Goblins Slayers is revealed. And … Peter returns???
(At no time in this issue is Spider-Norman in a sewer.)
CREDITS
Writer: Joe Kelly
Pencillers: John Romita Jr. & Todd Nauck
Inkers: Scott Hanna & Todd Nauck
Color Artists: Marcio Menyz, Marte Gracia & Erick Arciniega
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
PREVIOUSLY IN AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
In Space …
Peter faced Hellgate and decided to return to Earth (that’s about it).
On Earth …
Spider-Norman fought the Goblin Slayers at Oscorp. Brian was sent to a hospital after being infected with his and “Peter”s project. Ben decided he had enough of Peter’s life and left with Janine (making his part of this entire arc completely pointless). The Spider-Gang showed up to help Spider-Norman. Kingsley goes full villain as he decides to kill Normie and Stanley Osborn, taking over the organization from Alecto. Norman is seriously wounded as the Goblin Slayers advance.
SUMMARY
As Norman imagines the Green Goblin taunting him, the Spider-Gang fight the Goblin Slayers.
(Queen Goblin, Hobgoblin, Emily, Norman’s dad, Harry, Liz, Normie, Stanley, Norman, and … Ned Leeds?)
The Spider-Gang find themselves overwhelmed as Hobgoblin heads to the ‘burbs while talking with Mr. Gryffin.(1)
(I haven’t read this book since I was a kid, and yet I read “Mr. Gryffin” and immediately thought of it.)
Norman uses Miles’ Max Power ability to short out all of the Goblin Slayers, disconnecting them from their operators.
Norman uses an Oscorp security program called “Murmuration”(2) to destroy the remaining Goblin Slayers (we don’t find out until later, but it’s a flock of Goblin Gliders).
(If you know, you know.)
Meanwhile, at McCarthy Medical Center(3), Dr O.M. is trying to contact her son while waiting to hear about Brian, when survivors of the Oscorp attack – including Aunt May – show up.
In Westchester County, Liz Allan is with Normie and Stanley as the Hobgoblin shows up, but so does Spider-Norman, riding a Goblin Glider.
(“ROUND ONE, FIGHT!”)
Spider-Norman unleashes all of his hate and rage, defeating Hobgoblin, unmasking as he swings Hobgoblin’s sword but does not kill him.
(Ah, the old “make us think they’re going to kill them but they swing the weapon just to the side” trick.)
From the shadows, the mastermind behind the Goblin Slayers is revealed to be … Emily Osborn! Norman forgives her and passes out.
(Even with her appearance in the “Green Goblin” page, I didn’t recognize her. Also, does this woman look like a grandmother?)
Back at Norman’s home, he is recovering when … Peter Parker shows up! Norman collapses in his arms, with Peter telling him “You did great.”
(The reconciliation we’ve all been waiting to see!)
TO BE CONTINUED!(4)
INITIAL RESPONSE
So we’ve been alternating between a “Peter in space” issue and a “Spider-Norman on Earth” issue for 10 issues. The previous issue (reviewed by Marco) was a Spider-Norman issue. So this issue should have been a Peter issue, even if he had returned to Earth. But it’s not – he does not appear until the final page. If they had wanted to combine the two arcs together they should have had both Peter and Norman in the story equally. But they didn’t. And for some reason that really bothered me. On that alone this issue was a failure.
But maybe I’m just in a petty mood. The normal format of ASM is to have the story continuing from the literal previous issue, which this one (after 10 issues) actually does. And (stop me if you’ve heard me say this before) once again, the Spider-Norman story is much more interesting than the Peter story.
But then there’s that final page (don’t worry, we’ll get to it).
WHAT I LIKED
I love Norman’s internal conflict with wanting to be a good Spider-Man like Peter, but his angry, internal side keeps trying to get to the surface, with him eventually realizing he’ll never be a good man like Peter.
(“It was far easier for you, as civilized men, to behave like barbarians than it was for them as barbarians to behave like civilized men.”)
Spider-Boy wasn’t with the Spider-Gang. I don’t know when he disappeared from this group, but I like that he’s not here.
The Norman/Kingsley fight was great. This is what we wanted back in Goblins at the Gate – both of them fighting each other, in costume. Yes, Norman is in a Spider-Man costume and not the Green Goblin costume, and Hobgoblin’s costume is heavily inspired by Slott’s dumb Phil Urich/Hobgoblin outfit, but you take what you can get.
(Why does Hobgoblin have horns on his hood?)
I liked how when Norman decided to embrace his internal angry self, Kingsley knew something was wrong. Norman no longer had no interest in talking or bantering – he just wanted Kingsley hurt (or dead).
(Hobgoblin: “I’ve made a huge mistake.”)
Emily Osborn being revealed as Alecto, the person behind the Goblin Slayers, makes a lot of sense. She should have been on my suspect list. Maybe I just want to forget that Slott brought her back from the dead just for shock value.
Peter is back on Earth. No more alternating issues, and no more “Peter in space” stories Oh wait, he still has to save that planet. Is he going back into space to save them? Sigh.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
I love JRJR’s art in this arc, and I love me some Todd Nauck, but why have them both drawing this issue? JRJR has only had to draw every other issue for the last 10 issues, and you’re telling me he wasn’t able to draw this issue himself? (feel free to tell me the real world reason why he couldn’t and make me feel bad about myself for complaining about such a minor thing).
Miles is the only member of the Spider-Gang that matters in this issue. The rest of them are basically extras. You could have replaced them with Oscorp security guards.
I’ve always loved Kingsley as a villain, but something about him wanting to kill children just feels like a step too far. Before he got hired on by this group, he didn’t really *hate* Norman, did he? And now suddenly he wants to kill children to wipe out the Osborn name because maybe they’ll inherit his powers someday in the far-off future? And this was his idea, not the group’s.
For an issue where Peter returns to Earth, there is NOTHING about Peter’s story here. Nothing about what happened between the last Peter issue and this one:
- What happened to the crew?
- How exactly did they get to Earth?
- Where is the ship?
- Where is Raelith the Wretched?(5)
- Does Peter even know that Ben was living his life? He should have thought that everyone in his life thought he was missing/dead. How is he reacting to being gone for so long?
Like I said in a previous review, one of the biggest problems of these two arcs has been a time skip between each issue. Similar to the current (ending?) Ultimate Spider-Man book, time has passed since the last issue and events have happened, and we have no idea what took place. At least this issue takes place immediately after the previous one, but there is a huge jump between the last “Peter” issue and this one.
It really feels like the book is pushing a Norman/Dr. O.M. romantic relationship. Please stop this.
(“Norman, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number, so call me maybe.”)
That last page. You’re telling me that Peter has been away in outer space for weeks (months?), he gets home, has no idea what’s been going on while he was gone, and the first person he goes to is Norman Osborn??? Not Aunt May, not MJ, not Shay, not Jonah, not even Brian, but Norman freaking Osborn?(6) And all Norman needs is a hug and for Peter to validate him?
Someone on the Discord said that at least in the Zells run he had Peter say that he never fully trusted Norman and his relationship with him was just to keep an eye on him. But this Peter seems to have forgotten that Norman killed Gwen, “killed” his and MJ’s baby, “killed” Ben Reilly, and all the other crimes he’s committed. But this Peter is Norman’s BFF, ready to be there when he needs a hug.
WHAT THIS ISSUE MEANT OVERALL
Peter is back on Earth. No more alternating storylines. Will there be any consequences to Peter being gone, Ben living Peter’s life, and Norman being Spider-Man? Will any of Peter’s friends/family notice that the real Peter is back?
I guess we’re going to continue the Hellgate story, but personally I’d be more interested if they put that on the back burner for awhile and continued the Goblin Slayers story.
GRADE
C
If I was grading this on my expectations that this should have been a “Peter” issue and not a “Spider-Norman” issue, it would have gotten an F. How do you combine the two arcs with an issue where it’s 99% Spider-Norman and Peter shows up on the final page and does nothing?
But enough of my pettiness. This issue was going to get a higher grade, but that final page … Peter showing up on the final page is bad enough, but for him to hug Norman and tell him “everything’s going to be all right”?
NEXT TIME, IN AN ALL-NEW ISSUE OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN …
(So is the half and half here indicating Peter back on Earth but still in his new suit? Or is that other half still Spider-Norman?)
FOOTNOTES
(1) Wondering who this Mr. Gryffin is? You should have read the backup story in the recent Amazing Spider-Man annual. But even if you did, you still wouldn’t know who he is.
(2) According to Google, “a murmuration is a mesmerizing, large flock of starlings flying in synchronized, shape-shifting patterns, creating vast, swirling clouds across the sky, named for the low ‘murmur’ sound of their wings and calls as they move together in unison just before dusk.”
(3) Not a real place, but has appeared in Marvel comics multiple times, most well know for where Jane Foster received her cancer treatment. Hmm, I feel like I’ve used this footnote before.
(4) In the next actual issue!
(5) If they have something like this revealing Raelith the Wretched’s fate next issue, I’ll give it an A+.
(6) This reminded me of when Peter came back to life at the end of Endgame and the person from his personal life we see him go to for a hug is … Ned? Not his Aunt, but Ned??? They couldn’t have gotten Marisa Tomei for one day to film a scene of them reconciling after he literally came back from the dead?
@(Still) Dark Mark:
I remember hearing they were going to adapt Killing Mr. Griffin and was excited, but from what I remember this was right after Columbine so they renamed it to “Scaring” instead of “Killing” because the idea of a film where students kill their teacher was not a good idea at that time. From what I heard it wasn’t a good film either way.
Without know what “murmuration” meant it wasn’t that clear what happened in the story. So I actually liked that a comic book taught me something. I remember as a kid learning new words and meanings from reading comics. But know what murmuration is, I was able to figure out that Norman had a flock of unmanned Goblin Gliders swarm in and attack.
I wasn’t thinking about who Alecto was, so the reveal of her as Emily was a pleasant surprise. I’d rather this than some rando who blames Norman for killing a loved one (although I still think Emily should have remained dead).
While I would like to think that next issue will reveal that Peter has been back for awhile and it’ll tell us what he’s been up to, I don’t think that’s gonna happen. At the start of Peter’s outerspace arc I thought “Wait, suddenly Peter’s in space? Well, maybe they’re eventually going to show us what happened to get Peter from Earth to outer space, and what happened during all of that time.” Nope! So I don’t expect Kelly to do that here with Peter being back on Earth.
I just can’t see Peter encouraging Norman to continue being Spider-Man. And Norman at the end of this issue seems to have come to the conclusion that he cannot be Spider-Man. So I’m thinking this is the end of Spider-Norman.
R.I.P. Poochie” #NeverForget
The 1980s were great in fleshing out supporting characters without giving them powers. More of that, please.
Wait, I can *delete* other people’s comments? Why am I just finding this out now?
@Evan Berry:
Yes, that was the haircut from the A Flock of Seagulls lead singer, a reference to my “a flock of Goblin Gliders” description of Norman’s Murmuration protocol. I mostly know of that haircut from a joke in The Wedding Singer.
As far as I can remember, we saw Emily in ASM #800 (?) when Slott brought her back from the dead, and then JMD’s flashback mini. But as far as I know she hasn’t been seen since. So having her return here makes sense for someone who wants to make Norman pay for his crimes.
I also had no idea what murmuration was and had to Google it. But it’s a good idea, to have a bunch of unmanned Goblin Gliders acting in a flock as a weapon.
The only good thing about MJ being Venom is that it’s apparently an end to her being Jackpot.
I’m the wrong person to ask about the MJ/Venom response. I am not the target audience for those storylines. I know people love the mythology around the symbiotes and I do not look upon it with disdain – I just don’t like it very much. Maybe symbiote fans are all abubble over the MJ reveal. I agree with you that she has established issues with symbiotes so to me it doesn’t make a lot of sense, though I guess it could be said she has dealt with them in a similar way that Peter has dealt with his Norman issues. I have Marvel Unlimited, so I should probably read some of those MJ issues, but…
Oh yeah, I forgot the good review, Craig! I know he requires us to say that or else he will delete our comments. Thanks for the reminder. 🙂
@Mark and whoever else would like to share their opinion – Has the response to Mary Jane as Venom been positive so far? I would have thought that readers would be annoyed at Marvel for making the new Venom someone other than the purported suspects. In addition, the initial pushback when it was heavily suggested that Mary Jane was Jackpot in Brand New Day (I think), even when she wasn’t, didn’t really count for much, I guess, since she later got Jackpot “powers.” I never really liked her as a superhero — especially Venom — and it’s not because I don’t think she’s a strong woman or something like that, but just because I would think she’d want nothing to do with a symbiote, given what happened when Venom debuted.
Oh, and great review, Hornacek!
@Evan – Ah! What I don’t know about songs could probably fill a medium sized library. I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who missed what was going on in the murmuration scene.
Emily just needs to never be mentioned again. I think we can all agree to just forget she ever re-appeared and move forward. I think that supporting characters are so important as is – by making them more than what they should be, the core of the character is often ruined. Take Mary Jane – she is a love interest and an anchor for Peter (in a good way). By giving her superpowers and a Venom suit, she fails to fill that role. Flash is another example, though his importance in later-life Peter is not as much as MJ. I don’t have a problem with fleshing supporting characters out a bit more, but by altering them too much, such as turning the victim of Norman’s cruelty, Emily, into a criminally psychotic mastermind… oh well. Marvel doesn’t consort with me before writing stories. Probably for the best in most situations.
@Mark – My music notes emojis didn’t appear, so you couldn’t tell from my post that I was trying to indicate singing. It’s a response to Craig’s “If you know you know” statement, as well as the reference above it, in his review. I guess you don’t.
What’s fitting is that those lyrics matched my sentiments when I saw Peter comforting Norman at the end.
I could make a great Shawshank Redemption reference out the cover, but I’ll spare you.
The reveal of Emily Osborn as the mastermind didn’t really do anything for me at all. Didn’t we last see her working with Demogoblin or something? This revenge scheme seems sort of a hypocritical move on her part, in that case.
I looked up what a murmuration was, too, but the significance of that term didn’t come across for me in the story, either, Mark, so you’re not alone there. I don’t know if it was the art or what.
Nice Spock and Mr. Griffin allusion. When I taught ninth grade and we would have free read time, once students found out that the Killing of Mr. Griffin book was about killing an English teacher, it became a popular one for them to grab and read. 🙂
Evan – I have no idea what you’re referencing. I’m not going to look it up and will just assume it is a Shawshank Redemption allusion.
I’m glad you explained what the murmuration did in they story because while I knew the definition, I was not at all sure what it did in the story. I’ll assume it was my own stupidity and the fault of a cleverly crafted and drawn out story.
I wanted to like this story. Norman vs. Kingsley? Bring it on! But Emily as Alecto? What the heck? Though the name Alecto is clever (one of the three furies in Greek mythology (no, Chi-Town, not furries)).
I am glad the stories are now merged. If we want to tell two stories each month, that was what made satellite titles like Spectacular wonderful. Bring those back! I have to assume that Peter has been back and learned what happened before arriving at Norman’s. There is no way to make it make sense otherwise. Maybe next issue is going to go back and tell the story.
Next issue’s split costume does show Norman’s costume on the Spidey side, but given the accuracy of the covers lately, I don’t know how much we can bank on that. If we can, I guess Peter is going to encourage Norman to don the red and blues and fight side-by-side with him, though this last issue is a good place to end Norman’s Spider persona.
R.I.P. Poochie
“And I ra-a-an, I ran so far awa-a-ay!”