3. Superior Spider-Man #25 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, and Humberto Ramos (Marvel)
This is it - the beginning of the end of Superior Spider-Man! In this final, bumper-sized part of the Darkest Hours story arc, Superior Venom takes on the Avengers in an all-or-nothing fight as the Goblin Underground prepares for total war. And who's that making a surprise cameo? It's... I would say spoilers but the news has leaked for a number of days now and I mentioned it in my intro - Peter Parker is coming back! This issue is his first appearance in months, confirming that ol' Pete is still around, albeit still in ghost form, and is somehow going to find a way to get Otto out of his head. It's a pretty cool entrance too as he's gotten his strength back and plays a big part in separating the Venom symbiote from Otto. The other major character appearance in this issue is the Green Goblin, or Goblin King as he's now calling himself, taking centre stage as the biggest and baddest of the villains Superior Spider-Man's gone up against. Joining him is the second big shocker - Carlie Cooper! Well, it's not that much of a surprise if you read the last issue but her revised appearance certainly is. Think Jack Nicholson in Batman '89 - there's even a panel that references that scene. Does she give up Spidey's real identity? Is Green Goblin really Norman Osborn - or someone else? A lot of the comic is the massive fight between the Avengers and Superior Venom and his minions which is ok, but I'm not a huge fan of overblown superhero fights. With Peter, Carlie, and the big action scenes, you'd think that was enough for this issue - but you'd be wrong! More surprises are in store, I just won't go into them in this review you'll have to read the comic to find out. Unsurprising is the crisp writing from Slott/Gage and the terrific artwork of Humberto Ramos whose Goblin designs are remarkable and, in the case of Carlie, unnerving! As enjoyable as Darkest Hours has been, there's one more issue to go before what's likely to be the final Superior Spider-Man arc, Goblin Nation, begins with Peter returning for All-New Amazing Spider-Man in the spring. I've said it before but I'll say it again, if you like Spider-Man at all, you really should be reading Superior, it's going down as one of the greatest Spider-Man arcs ever. And #25 is a corker - check it out!