Superior Spider-Man #29 – Review

by Dan Slott, Christos Gage (Writers), Giuseppe Camuncoli, John Dell (Artist), Antonio Fabela (Colorist)

The Story: To say that Otto’s current life is getting destroyed would be an understatement.

The Review: Any arc or story needs to accomplish something. Either for the world or the character, something needs to change or have a certain impact on the ongoing process of something. Call it progression, evolution or development, any story needs to have something exciting happen in order to entice readers and ramp up excitement for whatever comes next.

In many ways, this is what both Dan Slott and Christos Gage manage to do in this very issue, yet in a way that is weird and grim, much like the tone of the series in general. Advancing the final storyline of the title, Goblin Nation, along, both writers gives plenty of things for fans to appreciate, yet doesn’t do so in the best of ways most of the time.

What they do right, though, is present the actual threat of the Goblin King as being credible. Showing his skills, resources, minions and the chaos that he is spreading in the city, the very menace he is does get across quite well. The character himself, in many ways, is no slouch himself, as he toys with Otto both physically and mentally, giving him a challenge that makes him desperate in many ways.

Where it’s a little bit more difficult to appreciate the book is in how dark it is, though. While the comeuppance of Otto has been a long time coming, the general sense of hopelessness and the powerless struggle of Otto isn’t always that entertaining. While it does comes as a natural progression to the storyline of this book as well as a fitting development for the character, it becomes a bit too much after a few scenes focusing on Otto losing badly. They say you usually gets what’s coming to you, but there’s a certain sense of dread at seeing Otto and everyone pays up because of an emphasis on the villain winning right now.

What they handle with a better balance is the supporting cast, showing what happens with J. Jonah Jameson, Mary-Jane, Miguel O’Hara and plenty of others. Including the many secondary and supporting characters that had been part of this run into the narrative, the escalation of the conflict as well as its effects is something rather interesting on its own, with many of the threads including those characters either becoming more prevalent or converging with the rest of the narrative.

What is certainly easier to appreciate is the work of Giuseppe Camuncoli, who gives a very chilling and very explosive pacing to the story, allowing an expansive look to the story without sacrificing panel and page spacing. Filling each panels to the brim with details while focusing on the essentials, notably the characters, the artist use the settings he develop to their fullest, allowing the backgrounds and sceneries to participate as much as the rest to the ongoing struggles on each pages. Even while the scenes do tend to participate, Camuncoli allows for the character to shine even more thanks to a mix between subtle and exaggerated depending on the character.

Goblin King, for the most part, benefits greatly from the line between the two, with a madness and a certain illusion of control presented within his expressions. Making him an exception in a sea of characters, many of the more subtle expressions attributed to characters like J. Jonah Jameson and Otto acts as good contrasts, letting the overwhelming presence of the Goblin King all the more powerful.

What’s also good, though, is the way Camuncoli jumps from traditional to experimental with his layouts, letting the story flow get a bit hectic to great effect. Adding to the calmer moments and the chaos in their own ways, the panels are simply magnificent at times, while others feel a bit more ordinary to let some facts get a bit more straight.

What’s a bit more mixed in the whole deal is the colorization, though, with the many details not always helping the work of Antonio Fabela. While he is certainly able to juggle with all the little elements, characters and precisions brought by Camuncoli, the very high amount found in each panels doesn’t allow for much room for the colorist to present the classical contrasts. In some pages, the artists pulls it off brilliantly, playing with shadow and brightness to bring out the best in terms of effects, yet at others the colorist pays a little too much to the overall elements to be completely efficient. Fabela shows his talent clearly, yet does not seem to have much space to impress more than he can simply cooperate.

The Conclusion: Bringing in the Goblin Nation arc to a whole new level while juggling many elements, the creative team shows a decidedly dark, yet ultimately interesting hour for the superior Spider-Man. It has some minor flaws, but it is a decidedly solid entry in the series.

Grade: B

-Hugo Robberts Larivière