Superior Spider-Man issue 31 came out today and I’m not even a little bit ashamed to admit that I have been looking forward to this all month. This issue represents both the conclusion of the Goblin Nation story as well as the last issue of the Superior Spider-man run. So, with some spoilers ahead please sit back and let me give you a post mortem of this issue.

 I am only reviewing this issue here, I will be posting a video review of the series as a whole over the next week or so. this stuff takes time to do! 

Firstly there’s that cover…

This is the end of a long run that is essentially a single story arch broken down into sub-arch’s so I was please to see the smashed glass across the image is made up of covers from previous issues.  Its a nice touch that you can really appreciate in the included digital copy. It zooms in really nice. My only criticism is the fact that pretty much dead center of the page we have Spider-Man’s cod piece. Something that once I noticed drew my attention more than it should have. I actually think that the broken fragments were such a strong image that this cover could have done without Spider-Man entirely.

The first page opens to a wonderfully drawn page that gets straight into the plot with the Goblin gloating to Anna Maria with a ‘Goblin nation’ (city) in the background. The image struck me mostly because its so understated, this isn’t a two page spread or over done city scape, its classic Spider-Man and it’s done well.

The story moves on at a rapid pace with Peter trying desperately to make sure he hasn’t missed anything while he was gone, asking Carlie to lay out everything as quickly as possible. Within a few pages Spidey is back with his buddy the Spider-man of 2099 who takes little convincing that Spider-man was Doc Ock but he’s better now. At a blisteringly fast pace we, as readers just try to hold on as the plot rockets by  we are eventually greeted with the final battle between Osborn and our web headed hero. There is a wonderful moment of revelation when The Goblin realises that he’s facing Peter not Octavius  he doesn’t require any convincing, one quip about man-bags is all it took for him to realise. Its really a wonderful bit of dialogue.

The Story climaxes with the rescue of Anna Maria that has definite echoes of Gwen Stacy’s death. We also have Pete’s realisation that Anna Maria loved the man that Doc Ock was pretending to be and he will have to ‘deal’ with this when his life returns to normality. The moment is touching and a little disconcerting. Anna Maria has become one of my favourite characters in this run and I would hate to see her written out of the book when it switches over to Amazing Spider-Man again.

This is where the main story ends but kicks straight in with a small gallery of every issue’s cover, then we are treated with  a ‘backup’ called “Actions have Consequences” written by Chistos Cage and Drawn by Will Sliney. its visually not as deep as the main portion but the story is a short taste of Pete dealing with the fallout of the series including an attempt to apologise to the Mayor, if anything it’s a real preview of a story setting up Carlie leaving and MJ’s decision to have a Parker free life

Gwen Stacy is mentioned again in this backup and I can’t help but wonder if we are going to see her return some how. With MJ and Carlie both out of Pete’s life and we must assume that any relationship with Anna Maria is out of the question as he essentially killed the man she loved we see peter at a romantic loose end and with all these subtle Gwen mentions I think we may see something involving her soon. It’s purely speculation but I think there’s something there.

What did I think of the issue? - I have issues with how Doc Ock gave up in the previous issue and in this one I can’t see what Peter did that Doc Ock wouldn’t have done  so why he ‘gave up’ is beyond me entirely, but that’s an issue with this whole arc. As for this issue specifically. It felt final and left me with a warm glow. I think we’ll me seeing more of the Spider-Man of 2099 in coming issues and the whole set-up with Alchemax (or whatever its called) may be a potential plot line for Amazing Spider-man coming in two weeks.  - All in all, it was a great issue and a fitting end to the run. If i really think about it it maybe my favourite single run of comics since ASM ended.

If you have missed this run then now is a great time to start grabbing those Trade Paper Backs or if you jumped off Spider-Man when Doc Ock took over, now’s a great time to get back into it with ASM #1 just two weeks away.