STORY ARC: GOBLIN NATION
Farewell, "Superior" Spider-Man! The Green Goblin is back!
Slotted as a 5-Issue Story Arc, Peter Parker/Otto Octavious aka
The Superior Spider-Man faces one of his deadliest foes in a showdown that will end the title. From the aftermath of this battle, the Amazing Spider-Man #1 opens April 2014.
Begins: February 2014
Ends: April 2014
Premise: In the past year, Peter Parker has become a bare "figment" of Doc Ock's imagination. Only scant traces remain, and there appears to be nothing left for the former psyche to grab onto. Doctor Octopus in in control.
Using his great intellect, Otto Octavious has been amassing his power by coupling the abilities of his new Spider-Man body with science. Spider-Island, formerly the High Security prison known as The Raft, is his base of operations; there, he has been gathering and stealing all the high-tech weaponry of Spidey's greatest foes. New York has been in virtual lockdown as "Spider-bots" crawl through the city watching everyone. And although crime is at an all-time low, even the Avengers are suspicious that something is wrong with The Wall-Crawler.
Welcome to the Goblin Nation Reading Order.
Although this is going to be a small story arc, we're going to take a snapshot of it and provide the details and some of the artwork. If there's additional inclusions, they will be noted so as to give you a more complete understanding of the event.
Reading Order
Final Update: April 16, 2014
Prelude
P01 Superior Spider-Man #26
P02 Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #9
P03 Superior Spider-Man Team -Up #10
Main Story
001 Superior Spider-Man #27.NOW
002 Superior Spider-Man #28
003 Superior Spider-Man #29
Superior Spider-Man Annual #2 (Not an official All-New Marvel NOW! or Goblin Nation issue.)
004 Superior Spider-Man #30
005 Superior Spider-Man #31 (Ends the Arc and the Title)
The Goblin Nation Catalog (Amazon)
Detailed Summaries
Prelude: The Rise of The Goblin Cult
What You Need To Know: Since Spider-Man's assault on crime, the Green Goblin has been secretly taking over the underworld in New York City. His identity at this point remains a mystery, but he has been secretly building his lair and recruiting his henchmen. Unfortunately this didn't do well with The Hobgoblin, who quickly caught on and attacked. When we enter the "unofficial" prelude, the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin are duking it out to the death.
P01 The Superior Spider-Man #26 -
This is an unofficial start to the prelude of Goblin Nation. While the Spider-bots are patrolling the city, it appears they are completely blind to an all-out battle occurring between the Green Goblin and Hobgoblin. Walls are exploding and the wreckage is growing. Led to believe all is well, our "Superior" Spider-Man is leading a raid against AIM agents at the New York Harbor. Before he can commence, though, Captain America and the Avengers intercept him. They dispatch the villains and then Caps tells Spidey that his probation is over. The issue then cuts to a mindscape where Peter Parker, the original Spider-Man is trying to survive. He's got only a few of his own memories to hold on to and has no idea how to beat Doc Ock, eventually promising that he'll never give up. Back at the Goblin battle, the two agree to unofficial duel; whoever wins gets control of the entire horde of underlings and resources. When the battle commences, we're still not sure who is under each mask, but later Hobgoblin spots a legendary scar that only Norman Osborn should have and begins to lose confidence. The Green Goblin beats him down, winning the skirmish. The issue also moves to the Avengers Tower; with Iron Man in lead, reprimanding Spidey for his dubious behavior. While they are warning him, he decides to quit the team.
P02 Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #9 - Specifically states that it belongs between Superior Spider-Man #26 and #27. It is also unofficially part of this story arc prelude, but here for the important information. While patrolling the city, The Punisher and Daredevil bring Spidey down to them. They tell him that someone has stolen a "goblin glider" from one of Castle's safe-houses; the devil tells him that something eerie is going on in the city, but he can't quite pin it down. Eventually, Spider-Man leads them to his Spider-Island facility, showing them his upgrades. While they tour it, one of his hirelings turns out to be a goblin-aided spy and attempts to set some bombs off. He fails, but not before the three heroes learn that many if not all of his workers are on the take. Spider-Man is betrayed by his own army and still doesn't realize the Green Goblin is back!
P03 Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #10 - Immediately following the previous issue, Spider-Man, Punisher, and Daredevil are outmanned as they attempt to retake Spider-Island from Spidey's henchmen. They are obviously working for someone else, but Spidey won't admit it. Heading to a new level, Daredevil convinces the Web-head to flood the level and wash the men out; Punisher gets some trust as he camouflages hit shots behind Spidey. All this time, our wallcrawler - actually Doc Ock - trusts no one. In the end, though, answers begin to emerge when he sees a goblin tattoo on one of the assailants. It is then he realizes things are truly bad.
The Main Plot
Enter: The Goblin Nation
001 Superior Spider-Man #27.NOW -
This issue is part of the "All-New NOW!" collection, depicted by ".NOW" suffix as well as the official start of the Goblin Nation story arc. It's been 31 days since Spider-Man crushed the rebellion ranks on Spider-Island that we saw in
Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #9, but something is still wrong. As he looks over the city, he can hear the screams, rioting, and turmoil. Yet, nothing shows up with his Spider-bots. As he swings towards his base, he spots the Goblin murals on the bridge.
Now he realizes that the Green Goblin is back! The issue then cuts to Peter Parker's psyche in the mindscape; he's got 31 memories left supporting him. Suddenly, he gets an idea to invade Doc Ock's memories one by one. He starts with the villain's birth. Back in the physical world, multiple things are happening. Spider-Man realizes that the Green Goblin has hacked his bots facial-recognition software and we see that J.Jonah Jameson has just about got the new Spider-Slayer on line. Meanwhile, Spidey heads to software-maker, Uatu, and learns that the bots are being sent a hack signal that he can track. He follows it into the subway tunnels and comes face-to-face with the Green Goblin and multiple super-villains under his command. Instead of fighting, though, Goblin sits down and tells him he knows everything: that he's Otto Octavious! He offers Ock a position as his second, which sets Spidey off and the battle begins. Green Goblin almost electrocutes Spider-Man, but it turns out to be a hologram; Spidey is controlling it safely from a VR room in his lair. While boasting, though, the Goblin unveils his surprise assault on Spider-Island; Menace, Goblin Knight, and hundreds of goblin minions fly in undetectable and blow the place to bits!
002 Superior Spider-Man #28 - Spidey flees his island as it is blown to smithereens. He's go some of his resources, but most of his work is lost. Across the city there is panic; Jameson has now re-purposed the Spider-Slayers as Goblin-Slayers and promises to take the goblin threat down. In the meantime, the Green Goblin's master plan is underway. He begins sending his troops out to attack those close to Peter Parker. Carly has been transformed into "Monster", she goes after Pete where he works, but begs him to help her when she manages to gain control for a few seconds. Mary Jane, sensing the tactic, dons a couple web-shooters. She drives around town attempting to gather all of Pete's relatives and friends. In the last few issues, Pete's new girlfriend, Anna Maria Marconi is coerced into a car by Lily Thompson. Unfortunately, it's actually Menace!
003 Superior Spider-Man #29 - This would be the issue where everything that can go bad for Otto-as-Spidey happens. Having faked his death in the media, Parker works on transforming Carly back from her goblin form. Suddenly, he gets a phone call; Gobbie knows what he's up to! Taunting him, the Green Goblin tells Spider-Man he's got a hostage, giving him the location for a showdown. But not before blowing up every location that was ever important to Otto Octavious. Now enraged, Otto heads there as Spider-Man. Fearing the hostage my be his Anna Marie, he's surprised to see Goblin holding Don Lamaze. So, he attacks anyway. The Goblin is disappointed; as Spidey pops out his extra arms, he hacks into their tech and has them attempt to kill him. Don attempts to get in the way and is impaled. Spidery then heads further into the trap; suddenly he's attacked by numerous Spider-Slayers. Jameson is on screen saying he's done playing nice. They almost kill the web-slinger until Spider-Man 2099 shows up, deactivating them with his own tech. This Spidey wants answers, knowing something is wrong with our web-head. But before they can resolve their conflict, Norman Osborn's face shows up; he's reactivated the Slayers. They're attacking again!
004 Superior Spider-Man #30 - This may be the best issue of the event, if not the entire year. Otto-Spider-Man is confounded, abandoning Spider-Man 2099 to fight for himself. In the midst of trying to save one of the people he previously helped, he gets lost. He doesn't know what to do. Suddenly, the psychic image of Peter Parker appears, making him jump and do the right thing. There's a mental dialogue as the two decide that Peter Parker is truly the Superior of the two. Otto takes himself back to his lab and expunges his memories. His last heroic act is to destroy himself, giving the Spider-Man body over to Peter Parker so he can save Anna Marie. Fully back, Peter Parker dons the original Spider-Man costume. It's time for the real, Superior Spider-Man!
005 Superior Spider-Man #31 - Marvel tries to wrap up the entire "Superior" series in one issue as Peter Parker returns to his role as the Wallcrawler. Having synthesized a cure with Carlie, he finds Miguel O'Hara and faces the Green Goblin. Almost immediately, Goblin realizes that Otto Octavious is gone. Amidst the fight, Spidey unmasks the villain and finds out he is Norman Osborn; still, his face has been altered. Apparently Norm is now messing with his true appearance. Before all the reasons behind this get answered, Spidey puts the cure to Goblin and rescues Otto's girlfriend. Goblin is now captured, but in the transfer, one of the Alchemax employees sets off a Spidey-sense feedback jammer. The Green Goblin gets away! The remainder of the issue is about tying up loose ends. Now back "from the dead", Peter goes through multiple scenarios...with Mary Jane, Carlie, Aunt May, and even J. Jonah...trying to make things right. By the end of the issue, we don't know if things have worked out; surely there's a lot more to be done. Either way, the process of returning Peter Parker is on. Also, Norman Osborn is hiding out in the sewers and lamenting that he can change his face to look like anyone. It appears that he's already preparing for a comeback.
Goblin Notes
Your Comments Are Welcome
Goblin Nation is a small Story Arc, but with as with typical Spider-Man events, it will be fairly popular. If you have any comments or opinions - something you see wrong or heard that can make this Reading Order better, please feel free to chime in.
