written by Zeb Wells
penciled by Ed McGuinness and Todd Nauck
inked by Mark Farmer, Wade Von Grawbadger, and Nauck
colored by Marcio Menyz
Were I not reviewing these issues so egregiously late, I would probably give each of them an individual review, but, well, I am late, and considering that the weekend is basically done and in a few hours I will be putting my nose back to the old grindstone that has kept me from reviewing anything for several months now, I am just going to squeeze three issues into one review. Fortunately, because there is a bit of story decompression at work here by Zeb Wells, it won't be that hard to capture everything that's important.
Peter Parker aka Spider-Man has discovered the Green Goblin's nefarious plans, and for a change, it doesn't involve Norman Osborn destroying his life, or taking over something or other, nor, for that matter does it involve Norman Osborn at all: the Goblin, having tasted Peter a few issues ago courtesy of having been injected into him through Kraven the Hunter's magic spear, now wants to make Peter Parker his permanent place of residence, and has basically set in motion the process of transferring all of Osborn's assets to Peter. It doesn't help that, when the Goblin persona, or Osborn's extracted "sins" first took residence in Peter's mind, it left a little bit of itself behind in order to manipulate Peter into doing its will. Given the challenge he faces, Peter won't be able to handle this alone, but fortunately, he's got quite a few people in his corner, including Ms. Marvel, Curt Connors, Otto Octavius' former arms, the Living Brain, and Rek-Rap, the Spider-Man copycat from Limbo. Together, will their efforts be enough to stop the Goblin's evil plans, or is Peter Parker doomed to spend his days as a vessel for one of the greatest evils he's ever known?
That's a pretty silly question, of course, the answer to which any fan with half a brain can guess, but really, it's not so much about the destination as it is the journey, and to Zeb Wells' credit, as he guides this particular story to the finish line, he keeps things moving along at a very decent clip, with plenty of thrills in each of these issues. In issue #51, the now Goblin-possessed Peter takes on the Sinister Six and, unburdened by compunction or even a basic sense of humanity, he wipes the floor with them. In issue #52, he takes on Ben Reilly who, due to the brief time he spent using the Winkler device, knows the evil plans the Goblin has for Peter and sincerely wants to stop him, and in issue #53, Peter finds himself confronting the Goblin.
My only major regret regarding these issues is that Ed McGuinness, no doubt having to endure the extreme pressure of putting out so many issues in so short a time, has to share art chores with Todd Nauck, who is an entirely competent artist in his own right, but whose work, next to that of McGuinness, looks quite shockingly ordinary.
All told, these issues make the anticipation for the final chapter all the more exciting!
8.5/10
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