Synopsis:
Hobgoblin arrives at one of the Tinkerer's shops. He informs the Tinkerer of the destruction of Shadowland and asks that he fix his gear before abruptly leaving in a panic. The Tinkerer then opens a secret door to the back of the shop, where Tiberius Stone (whose been cowering there for weeks like the little weasel that he is) is working. With Kingpin out of the way, Stone no longer needs to hide from him. He agrees to do one final job for the Tinkerer, to fix Hobby's gear. While doing this, he thinks about the millions of ways to get back at the various people who've hurt him (including "Spider-Man"), declaring that they "MESSED WITH THE WRONG NERD!" (dude, seriously?).
Elsewhere, the "Superior Spider-Man's" minions and Spider-Bots are scouring the remains of Shadowland for the bodies of the Kingpin and the Hobgoblin. Carlie Cooper (whose investigating the site along with Captain Yuri Watanabe) pulls "Peter" aside for a quick chat, asking how on earth he can afford all the minions and equipment. SpOck answers that the cities helping out and she can ask Mayor Jameson. The body of Smedley Kornfield is soon unearthed, leading everyone, including Ock, to believe the Kingpin is dead. SpOck takes off, instructing Carlie to contact him once the Hobgob's bod is found. Carlie tells Yuri that she's all but certain of her "crazy theory about Spider-Man", relaying what "Pete" told her to Watanabe, who decides to do some investigating as her vigilante alter ego, the Wraith!Meanwhile, Phil Urich is in trouble. Despite bagging a fat check from the Bugle for his Goblin footage, it's not enough to cover his rent to Roderick Kingsley, the original Hobgoblin, or his fixed gadgets. After a call from Kingsley, Phil resorts to robbing banks per his suggestion.
All the while, Spider-Ock becomes frustrated at his inability to locate Hobgoblin. He muses in his lair
whether he should commit 100% to Spider-Man and abandon the life of Peter Parker, only to put that thought out of his head when he receives a call from Anna Maria Marconi.
Realising that the Hobgoblin is unknowingly piggybacking off of his Spider-Bot hack and that this could tip Spider-Ock off to his schemes, the Goblin King shuts the program down temporarily and instructs his men to lie low for awhile, wondering aloud how well "the wannabe" will do against the Spider.
The call from Anna Maria turns out to be a summons to the Chancellor of ESU's office. He tells "Parker" that he'll be receiving a full credit despite his "spotty" attendance, at which point Otto kisses up to Doctor Lamaze. While leaving, Anna tells Peter that she cares about their future, which pleases Otto (I think that was the look on his face anyway?) though "unfortunately" he has to leave as the Hobgoblin has been spotted.
SpOck wastes no time in attacking Hobby, who is also furious at Spidey for ruining his job with the Kingpin. He attempts to kill SpOck with his flame sword, but Stone (who is observing not too far away) turns the device off via remote, which leads Otto to regain the upper hand. Gobby then retreats and discards his costume. Having tagged him with some Nano Spider-Tracers, SpOck is able to listen in on Phil bursting into the Bugle offices demanding an advance on his Goblin footage. SpOck then activates a feed broadcasting on every channel, instructing everyone in the city to contact him if they find the Hobgoblin, exposing his identity as Phil Urich (oh snap!)..
Thoughts:
Okay, this is actually going quite well. The story has not at all gone the way I was expecting, but unlike the last story arc, that's actually a good thing. Despite the huge amount of plot elements Dan Slott is juggling around, he manages to keep a balance between them for the most part. I was relieved to finally get a moment of contemplation with Otto Octavius, never mind the fact that it took us a total fifteen issues to get to this point, and the idea he brings up about abandoning the Peter Parker persona is very intriguing.Since Phil Urich has been soooo annoying in his appearances as the Hobgoblin, I actually found it quite amusing to watch his life come crashing down his pointy ears. "Since when did
being a bad guy become a job?" The Goblin King is becoming rather compelling as a master manipulator, and it was nice to see him exercise some common sense unlike Otto. I was also interested in the fact that both his and his assistants faces was kept obscured, much how it was in the original comics, Unless it's a fake out and its just ol' Stormin' Norman, I'm expecting a twist regarding the Goblin King's identity.
I didn't care for the way Mary Jane was characterised. After fifteen issues (not to mention all the guest appearances and team-up series) she's just now entertaining the thought of something being wrong with Peter? That's respect for your supporting cast right there. She should have been suspicious a long time ago.
Humberto Ramos' draws some good panels for the most part, although that shot of Happy SpOck is just wrong. To quote Scott Pilgrim, "that is eeeevil!"
