Superior Spider-Man vol. 5: The Superior Venom

This was probably inevitable in the title’s run.  Pitting the mind of Otto Octavius in Peter Parker’s body against one of Spider-Man’s most famous villains?  Clearly a great way to show us what the character is made of before the final arc.  The problem is that the storyline plays out exactly as you’d expect.  After a run-in with the Flash Thompson/Venom symbiote that leaves the wounded war veteran running to ground with his old friend “Peter,” Otto cooks up a plan to separate the two.  With the symbiote immediately breaking free and latching onto his old host, Otto then goes on a rampage of crimefighting throughout the city to demonstrate his new power that ultimately leads to the Avengers being called in to stop him.  It’s about as predictable and exciting as it sounds with the only real points of interest coming from seeing the further complications with Aunt May, Mary Jane, and the Avengers that Peter is going to have to deal with upon his return.

Now I can’t say that it’s all co-writer Christos Gage’s fault, but this ho-hum main story is coming in the wake of the excellent previous volume which regular writer Dan Slott did on his own and really got me excited for the title’s wrap-up.  After all, the really big hint we get regarding Peter’s return has to have been part of Slott’s plan all along and it falls totally flat.  If the way they’ve set up here for the character’s return is the way that they’re going to do it, then I’m really disappointed.  I was honestly expecting a lot more cleverness after Otto exorcised Peter’s “ghost” and memory back in vol. 2.  Humberto Ramos is really the best thing about the art.  The man’s effortlessly appealing style means that the story looks good and gives some much-needed energy to the proceedings.

Interestingly, Gage fares much better with the “Superior Spider-Man Annual” collected here as Otto takes on the Ghost Rider villain Blackout.  When the vicious vampire takes Aunt May hostage as a way to force “Peter” to sabotage Spider-Man’s equipment, he gets a firsthand lesson in seeing just how far his chosen opponent is willing to go in order to keep his loved ones safe.  Gage does a good job of demonstrating the brutality of Otto’s methods as well as illustrating how Spider-Man’s name has become synonymous with fear, more than anything else, in the city of late.  Javier Rodriguez provides some slick art that tells the story in a no-nonsense way and really sells what the writer is peddling.

Rodriguez also contributes to the “Goblin Nation” prologue issue, along with Ramos and Marcos Martin, as the final showdown between the Superior Spider-Man and the Green Goblin is set up.  Slott writes this one himself and it does a better job of getting the narrative back on track and building things up for the finale.  The Green Goblin throws down with the Hobgoblin to unify his forces, Otto burns his bridges with the Avengers, and we find out what happens when you distill Spider-Man down to his essential memories.  It’s good stuff, with strong work from all three artists, and I’m looking forward to seeing how Otto reacts to the overwhelming force presented by the Goblin Army now that he has properly alienated everyone else who can help him.

I’m also genuinely curious as to who the new Green Goblin is.  That’s mainly because Slott REALLY wants us to think that it’s Norman Osborn under the hood.  So much so that it can’t possibly be him.  In that case, who is it then?  Let’s hope that turns out to be a well-planned surprise, and that Peter’s return has a few of them to keep it from being as obvious as it’s set up to be here.  Even though there are some good reasons to be excited about the title’s impending finale, this volume infuses a good deal of caution into my anticipation of it.