Rate "The Osborn Identity"

[oldschool]

So, I personally really enjoyed this just-completed arc in ASM. For me, it was probably my favorite storyline from this latest Volume (Vol 4?) of the ASM title and that surprised me as I didn't have high hopes for it from the advance solicits---but I was happy to be proven wrong. Despite some very over-the-top sequences and settings, which have become Slott's stock in trade for this title lately, I thought Pete/Spidey was written better than usual and I really enjoyed his chemistry with both Bobbi and Sable. Throw is some good supporting cast action and solid artwork from Immomen and I thought this was a big step up from Clone Conspiracy. Your thoughts?

[RD!]

Maybe a high C or low B. I will vote later

I liked the stuff with Bobbi, nice moments with May and Harry. The constant hammering that Norman is 'sane' was a bit annoying and I felt, much like clone conspiracy, it kind of stopped rather than coming to a conclusion. My favourite PI era story is probably the one with Mister Negative. Still liked it though, hoping the Otto arc will be a return to form for ASM.

Edit/ B

[nx74205]

I honestly didn't enjoy it all that much. There was a lot of buildup to this being the ultimate showdown between Osborn and Peter yet in the end this just felt like another chapter in the Parker/Osborn feud. There were some powerful emotional moments in the last comic, Spidey losing his cool as Osborn egged him on, but it all felt flat to me. The power of the scene in question (the death of Gwen Stacy) was undermined in my opinion by Parker's lacksadasical treatment of Gwen in the Clone Conspiracy and his callousness towards Spider-Gwen. If that moment still means so much to him, why is he so callow in all those interations of Gwen? Is it all the clones in his past? Maybe.

I liked the Bobbi and Parker dynamic as well as the character interactions between Peter, Harry and Sable, yet in general the whole arc didn't feel like Spiderman to me. There were to many outlandish vehicles and machine battles, chief of which being the battle between Spidey and Sable with the Metal Gear ripoff early on in the arc. Likewise the appeal of Spiderman to me at least is that Parker is always an underdog. His villians are normally stronger, the great ones like Osborn, Otto Octavious are always one step ahead of him, have better tech, better resources and somehow Spidey comes out ahead. This is all flipped on its head in this series, as we see Parker is the one this time with the all the resources, all the money, all the equipment needed to invade a soveriegn country. There was no drama here for me, no idea that he might actually lose, no suspense at how Spidey would actually win, because in this case he was the one with all the material resources to win. We see Spidey with all these gadgets, spiderbikes, spider planes etc, I mean he truly is the new Tony Stark of the Marvel Universe, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't exactly endear me to the charcter, and robs the narrative of much needed drama.

This arc wasn't all bad, but neither was it all good. I do like how we are slowly but surely seeing Peter losing everything yet again, this episode being one more nail in the coffin to Parker Industries. So that is something.

[UnknownEntity]

D in general

C- if generous

The treat for me was the Spider Man Norman slugfest. The whole siege of symkaria was so blech

[oldschool]

Maybe a high C or low B. I will vote later

I liked the stuff with Bobbi, nice moments with May and Harry. The constant hammering that Norman is 'sane' was a bit annoying and I felt, much like clone conspiracy, it kind of stopped rather than coming to a conclusion. My favourite PI era story is probably the one with Mister Negative. Still liked it though, hoping the Otto arc will be a return to form for ASM.

Edit/ B

Yeah, the "sane" Osborn thing really didn't do much for me either as it doesn't really distinguish him from any other evil corporate type and Slott sure went overboard on the exposition of his sanity. But it did help make that final page all the more satisfying for me; we are long overdue to see a real old-school Spidey/Gobby throw down.

[Spidey5640]

As oldschool noted, probably the best of the latest relaunch. Nice to see a real throwdown between Norman and Pete where you could actually follow it logically panel-to-panel so kudos to Immomen, although I would have thought with Pete's "Spider-fu" training, he'd be more than a match for old man Osborn. Slott definitely planting the seeds for the inevitable end of Parker Industries and it will be interesting to see how the next incarnation of the Green Goblin is handled.

[oldschool]

As oldschool noted, probably the best of the latest relaunch. Nice to see a real throwdown between Norman and Pete where you could actually follow it logically panel-to-panel so kudos to Immomen, although I would have thought with Pete's "Spider-fu" training, he'd be more than a match for old man Osborn. Slott definitely planting the seeds for the inevitable end of Parker Industries and it will be interesting to see how the next incarnation of the Green Goblin is handled.

Yeah, I am more than ready for PI to go away; where I really liked Pete at Horizon Labs (and wish that lasted longer), PI is way over the top for the character.

[Flash Fan #1]

It was an okay arc, but it could've been better, I guess. As someone mentioned above, the Symkaria ordeal didn't do anything for me, either.

The showdown between Peter and Norman was good, but something about it felt hollow. That last page definitely brought my hopes up for the next time they cross paths, though. I really wanna see what Norman has up his sleeve for the future.

[oldschool]

It was an okay arc, but it could've been better, I guess. As someone mentioned above, the Symkaria ordeal didn't do anything for me, either.

The showdown between Peter and Norman was good, but something about it felt hollow. That last page definitely brought my hopes up for the next time they cross paths, though. I really wanna see what Norman has up his sleeve for the future.

I am surprised to see so many "D" ratings; it may be because, as you noted, something about the Peter/Norman showdown felt hollow----it seemed like an alternate universe version of them, probably because of the large chunk of their history has been wiped away with Norman not knowing Peter's identity. The other part that makes it feel hollow is Norman not in the green jammies; it's like Peter going after Justin Hammer or any other rich industrialist. Time for Gobby to dust off the glider and get crazy again.

[RD!]

I am surprised to see so many "D" ratings; it may be because, as you noted, something about the Peter/Norman showdown felt hollow----it seemed like an alternate universe version of them, probably because of the large chunk of their history has been wiped away with Norman not knowing Peter's identity. The other part that makes it feel hollow is Norman not in the green jammies; it's like Peter going after Justin Hammer or any other rich industrialist. Time for Gobby to dust off the glider and get crazy again.

I think you're right, without the history between them remembered any Norman/Peter story feels weaker, but I did like the fight in the snow.

I'm ready for PI to go away now, more than ready, but I still prefer it to Horizon personally. That felt too unrealistic to me -- funny that Peter running a global corporation seems more realistic than a job where he can goose his own hours I know.

My main problem with PI is that Peter did nothing. Otto started the company, then he manipulated stocks or whatever excuse was given, to make it big. Since Superior, Peter hasn't had any real struggle

[The Rhino]

This story was too big to be an effective spider-man story, honestly. I don't like the idea of Spider-Man basically invading another country without any real consequences (We will see how the whole shield boycott plays out, I guess). I also don't really like team-up stories and I especially am not very much a fan of Mockingbird (never really fleshed out in the Spider-Man stories I've read) nor Silver Sable (just seems like a character ill suited to be a part of the Spider-Man cast. Takes away from Spider-Man as the everyday hero.). So I rated this story a D. The last fight with Osborn was cool, but short and not enough to save an otherwise disappointing story.

[The Negative Zone]

I liked it, however I think a lot of stuff could have been explained better.
+Silver Sable and Mockingbird got their moments to shine.
+ Spider-Man saving an entire nation is something that I'll remember fondly
+ The no powers and no gadgets thing was my favorite part
- The latest volume in general seems more predictable than Slott's previous work. We can all already tell about the seeds of PI's end.

[John Ossie]

It was alright but at the same time there was nothing there to make me change my mind about dropping the book after Osborn Identity was done either so I give it a ''C''.

[Vegeta]

The art was good and I was glad Silver Sable was alive (and not randomly turned into a villain or something else lame). Everything else was disappointing. D minus.