Writer Zeb Wells is heading into his final arc on Amazing Spider-Man, but for his penultimate trick, he gives the saga of Norman Osborn a surprising finale that is exactly what the Green Goblin deserves.
The saga of Norman Osborn's reform has been going on for some time, with his "sins," embodied in his Green Goblin persona, having been drained from his body and a kinda 'good guy' Norman left in his place.
In Amazing Spider-Man #54, Norman Osborn's "sins" are finally reckoned with, and Peter Parker's possession by the Green Goblin is resolved. And while it's not quite what readers may have expected, it's a perfect ending to a story that has been the best part of Wells' long run.
Spoilers ahead for Amazing Spider-Man #54
When we last left Peter Parker and Norman Osborn, Peter was possessed by the essence of the Green Goblin and transformed into the so-called Spider-Goblin, while Norman Osborn was impaled with the spear that was once imbued with the Green Goblin personality (lots of comic book science at work!).
Picking up right where the previous issue left off, Amazing Spider-Man #54 by writer Zeb Wells, artist Ed McGuiness, inkers Mark Farmer, Mark Morales, and Wade von Grawbadger, colorist Marcio Menyz, and letterer Joe Caramagna finds Osborn and Parker trapped behind a steel door, with Kraven the Hunter refusing to let anyone in to interfere with them. Only the remnants of the Living Brain's artificial body are inside with the mortal enemies.
Spider-Goblin reveals that he's had Osborn transfer all of his stake in OsCorp and his financial holdings to Peter Parker, with a plan to take over Peter's body forever, with all of Osborn's resources. Mustering his strength, Osborn stabs Peter with the spear, which now has a portable version of the mind-controlling Winkler Device attached to it thanks to Peter's engineering. This traps the Goblin personality inside (again, Comic Book Science). Attempting to destroy the Goblin completely, Peter smashes the device - but this only releases the Goblin.
Though Osborn tries to take the Goblin back to ensure that Peter will be free of it, the Living Brain, which has formed itself into a helmet, convinces Peter to allow the Goblin back into his body. When he does, Osborn puts the Living Brain helmet on.
Trusting the Living Brain, Peter once again absorbs the Goblin persona. But this time, with the Living Brain's psychic encouragement via the helmet, Peter's internal self is able to fight and destroy the Green Goblin persona, seemingly once and for all - leaving both Peter and Norman free of the Goblin's will.
If you're thinking this sounds a little like the Superior Spider-Man speedrun, yeah, it kinda is. But motifs are often revisited in superhero comics. And in this case, the result is that Norman Osborn, who has been delicately rehabbed over the last several years into an unlikely mentor and even ally to Peter Parker, is allowed to continue his journey from being one of the Marvel Universe's worst villains into one of its most compelling redemption stories.
Of course there's always the chance that a future creator decides it's time for the Green Goblin to return, but for now this is a gift to fans who hoped that the finale of the Spider-Goblin saga would forego the easy route of simply resetting Norman Osborn's status quo (myself very much included).
Wells' run on Amazing Spider-Man will conclude with the upcoming #60 (McGuiness is staying on with incoming writer Joe Kelly). But before then, Wells has one more arc in which the rivalry between Spider-Man and Tombstone that's been budding since the opening story of his run will finally conclude. That story starts in Amazing Spider-Man #55, on sale August 14.
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