By: Kelly Sue Deconnick (writer), Emma Rios (art), Jose Villarrubia & Matt Wilson (colors), Clayton Cowles (letters) & Alejandro Arbona (editor)
June Covington back-up by: Warren Ellis (writer), Jamie McKelvie (art), Matt Wilson (colors), Cowles (letters) & Arbona (editor)
The Story: What will become of Norman Osborn now that he’s locked up on The Raft? How about start a secret cabal of followers and get moved to a secret holding facility with some really interesting new villains!
What’s Good: The best thing about this issue are the new nasty-folks that Ms. Deconnick establishes and the promise of what might be a new team of super-villains under Norman Osborn’s guidance. As we watch the story unfold and Norman Osborn is transferred from The Raft to this secret facility for the seriously demented, does anyone even doubt that he will somehow use his calculating charisma to run the roost with the other prisoners and break out with a ready made team of bad dudes? That will very, very fun to watch because some of these bad dudes seem interesting, including one who is a member of some nasty reptilian alien race that wants to kill all humans (Cool!).
What is also good is Emma Rios’ art. What sets artists like her apart is that they’re doing complete pencils and inks. I really like to see an artist do that instead of relying on the colorist to do all the shading. There are also a few pages in this issue that just have insane amount so detail. I think prior to this, Ms. Rios has mostly done outstanding back-up work for Marvel and also filled in here or there when an artist didn’t finish their work in time, but this is (I think) her first featured artist role for Marvel and it looks like she just knocked herself out. It’s always fun to watch a new(er) artist that is still super-hungry! Not only is their personal work wonderful to look at, but with newcomers like Ms. Rios around, established artists are going to have to stay on their toes.
What’s Not So Good: This book would be a lot better if it didn’t have the Norah Winters story in it. Some of that is personal preference: I just don’t happen to enjoy using the intrepid reporter as a plot device to show the story. Just show the story because the Norman Osborn part of this story is way more interesting. Norah is an interesting character from the Spider-universe, but she really hasn’t cracked C-list status. Maybe this will be her breakout series, but I kinda doubt it.
Also, who thought these Green Goblin tattoos were a great idea? They are kinda neat as a story-telling element the first time you see them but it has limitations. Is every reveal of the next person who is secretly working for Norman going to show them disrobing and the reader catching a glimpse of a Goblin tattoo in the mirror. Gasp! And how hard would it be to catch the conspirators? Just bust the local tattoo parlor and find out who has been getting Goblins. I should be clear that this isn’t a criticism of the creators of this issue as this theme is running throughout the Spider-books. It just seems like a plot element that is going to age badly.
My only artistic complaint is of an editorial nature (because there is nothing wrong with Ms. Rios’ drawing). Why must every artist give Peter Parker slightly different hair? Norman Osborn has “iconic” hair and you would never see him drawn with messy/spikey hair. Again, I don’t blame the individual artist (or even the individual editor) for this, but do wonder why Editorially (note the use of a Big “E”) Marvel can’t have a style guide for Peter Parker’s hair. Just take some picture of a random dude in the mailroom and tell the artists to adhere to that.
Conclusion: Deconnick and Rios have created an interesting world of possibilities for Norman Osborn.
Grade: B-
– Dean Stell