Superior Spider-Man #27.NOW
Goblin Nation Part One
31 Days Later…[1]
As the Goblin Nation goes on a crime spree across all five boroughs of New York, the superior Spider-Man can’t believe this is happening. During the time Otto Octavius took over the life of Peter Parker he shut down organized crime across the city. Now, as laughter fills the city, Otto’s spider-bots are not recording any of the incidents that are happening all over the city.
He curses this situation as he tries in vein to contact Spider-Island.[2] He now realizes that he was so focused on Phil Urich and Roderick Kingsley, on the wrong goblins. Seeing the Goblin Nation logo painted on the George Washington Bridge he now knows that Norman Osborn is back and he’s already lost the battle.
While in the mindscape, Peter Parker has taken stock of his remaining memories.[3] There are thirty which Otto Octavius accessed before dumping it all in a bid to take total control of Parker’s body.[4] That’s when Otto Octavius begins accessing the memory of the night Gwen Stacy had died. Peter wonders what Otto is up to, but ignores it so he can focus on trying to reclaim his body. Fearing that he might get discovered, Peter tries to find cover. Find a memory of his first battle with Doctor Octopus and is suddenly inspired to use Otto’s own memories as a hiding place.[5] However, when Peter enters Otto’s memories he realizes too late that what is left of him will become diluted and lost in the memories of Doctor Octopus. Suddenly, Peter finds himself pulled into Otto’s earliest memories, that of his birth. He tries to remind himself of who he is, but his voice quickly fades away.
Back in the real world, Otto Octavius has returned to Peter Parker’s apartment where he is busy trying to figure out how the Green Goblin compromised his spider-bots. He is interrupted by Anna Maria Marconi, who has noticed that “Peter” has been skipping meals and hasn’t slept in their bed since she moved in with him. She is also concerned that he is spending too much time working with Spider-Man that he is leaving a lot of Parker Industries business dealings to his partner Sajani Jaffrey. Otto, who is planning on proposing to Anna Maria, mentions that he wants to make her another partner.
Still, Anna Maria points out that even though he works with Spider-Man he should recognize when “Peter” is working himself ragged. This suddenly gives Otto the clue he needs to figure out how the Goblin managed to evade him and it’s due to a part of the Spider-Bots that are not his design. He then quickly calls Uatu Jackson to ask for his assistance on the facial recognition software that he designed. Shockingly, Uatu hangs up on “Peter” before he can explain why he needs his help.[6] That’s when Anna Maria notices that the mayor is on the news. Otto turns up the volume and hears how J. Jonah Jameson is denying that Spider-Man has anything to do with the Goblin Nation’s siege on the city.[7] Jameson, refuses to answer questions and has his driver take him to Alchemax. There, Jameson is taken into the basement where Tiberius Stone has been working on the newest Spider-Slayer robot.[8] Jonah is pleased with the work so far, but he wants one last addition so that Spider-Man knows it was Jonah’s hand that killed him.
Because Uatu keeps on ignoring “Peter Parker”, Otto decides to pay him a visit as Spider-Man. Uatu welcomes the hero into his home and they quickly discover how the Green Goblin hacked into the facial recognition of his spider-bots to evade detection. Spider-Man deduces as way they can track the Goblin Protocols to their source. However, when Uatu expresses his concerns about the Wraith, who also uses his facial recognition software. Spider-Man tells him to ignore this for now as there are more important tasks at hand. At that same moment, Yuri Watanabe has arrived at Parker Industries looking for Peter Parker. She wants to question him regarding the disappearance of her partner, Carlie Cooper. Unfortunately, Sajani Jaffrey has no idea where Parker is. Realizing that she has hit a dead end, Watanabe leaves vowing to find Peter Parker no matter where he is hiding.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man has begun tracking the signal from the Goblin Protocols. This had lead him into the sewers where the Goblin King blinds him with lights and welcomes him to his lair. Although he is surrounded by the various franchised super-villains recently recruited into his ranks he orders them to leave so he and Spider-Man can have a talk in private. The Goblin produces Carlie Cooper’s journal and reveals that he knows that Otto Octavius managed to take control of Spider-Man’s body. He is impressed and given their past criminal histories invites Otto into his criminal empire as his second in command. However, Otto is insulted by this offer and smashes the table. He tells the Goblin that he has become something far beyond a criminal and vows to shut down the Goblin Nation.
However, when the Goblin King tries to shoot the web-slinger with a finger blast, he quickly discovers that he had been dealing with a three-dimensional hologram. Spider-Man, from his hideout at Spider-Island, was too smart to wander into the enemy camp alone.[9] However, the Goblin King was prepared for something like this and orders his Goblin Nation to attack Spider-Island Two. Within a matter of minutes, the army of Goblins destroy the former prison.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Man, Goblin King, Yuri Watanabe, Anna Maria Marconi, Sajani Jaffrey, J. Jonah Jameson, Liz Osborn, Tiberius Stone, “Miguel O’Mara”, Uatu Jackson, Goblin Knight, Menace, Monster, 8-Ball, Mauler, Tumbler, Ringer, Hitman, Unicorn, Answer, Killer Shrike, Melter, Gibbon, Living Brain, (in flashback) Mary Octavius, Torbert Octavius
Continuity Notes
This is the number of days counted here are not clear. I’m assuming it’s been 31 days between issues. Which could be possible since, according to the Marvel Chronology Project, points to 10 different appearances between issues, which could account for a passage of a month.
Otto mentions here that he crushed “descents in his own ranks”. He is referring to how he found Goblin Nation members among his Spiderlings. See Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #10.
The memories that are on display here are:
Spider-Man refusing to stop the burglar that would eventually go on to murder his Uncle Ben from Amazing Fantasy #15.
One of Spider-Man’s battles with the Juggernaut. They have fought many times in the past. The first time was in Amazing Spider-Man #229-230.
Spider-Man being separated from the Venom symbiote. It’s not clear when this was. Spider-Man wore the symbiote from Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #8 until Amazing Spider-Man #258.
The first time Peter and Mary Jane kissed. This happened in Amazing Spider-Man #143.
Another is the time the Green Goblin murdered Gwen Stacy in Amazing Spider-Man #121.
Lastly, there is a memory of Spider-Man’s first battle with Doctor Octopus from Amazing Spider-Man #3.
When Otto Octavius took over Peter Parker’s body in Amazing Spider-Man #698-700, he had full access to Peter Parker’s memories until he discovered that a remnant of Peter Parker’s personality still existed in his mind. He sacrificed the majority of these memories to destroy Parker in Superior Spider-Man #9. Despite Otto’s best efforts Parker endured and resurfaced in Superioer Spider-Man #19.
Peter can’t remember if he has tried this in the past. He did, back in Superior Spider-Man #3.
Uatu Jackson created facial recognition software back in Amazing Spider-Man #663. Otto forced him to install the software onto his spider-bots in Superior Spider-Man #5, when he was trying to track down Massacre.
Jonah has been blackmailed into supporting Spider-Man since the web-slinger recorded Jameson order Spider-Man to kill the Spider-Slayer. See Superior Spider-Man #11-13.
When Tiberius Stone comments about how time was a factor for how quickly they built this robot, Miguel O’Mara — his assistant — quips “you have no idea”. This is a nod to the fact that this is actually the Miguel O’Hara from the year 2099. He has been trapped in the present day and attempting to steer Alchemax from becoming the tyrannical mega-corporation in his own time. See Superior Spider-Man #17-19.
This holographic projector was previously used by Stunner. Spider-Man took it into his custody in Superior Spider-Man #21.
Topical Referenes
Uatu Jackson notes that “Peter Parker” attempted to contact him on Skype, Twitter, and Facebook. These should all be considered topical references because these are real-world social media platforms.
