4. Superior Spider-Man #24 by Dan Slott, Christos Gage and Humberto Ramos (Marvel)
I thought Marvel were slipping when they went an entire week without releasing an issue of Superior Spider-Man but they're back yet again with another addition to this fine series! Otto has separated the Venom symbiote from Flash Thompson and bonded with it to create - Superior Venom! And Otto's going to prove that where Peter failed to control the symbiote, he will succeed, setting out to show New York City what the Superior Venom is capable of. Meanwhile, Carlie Cooper is the Goblin King's hostage and holding out on revealing all she knows about Spider-Man and his odd behaviour lately - but the Goblin King has ways of making her talk... Otto actually is able to control Venom unlike Peter, at least at first, so Spider-Man doesn't become all giant-mouthed, drool-slobbering, snake-tongue Venom but rather a thicker-necked, kinda monstrous version of Spidey - so Superior Venom is different and similar to non-Superior Venom is some ways. There's a really touching scene where Anna Maria, Otto's girlfriend, reveals her dismay at Aunt May's reaction to her appearance in the last issue (Anna Maria is a little person), which I thought was very sweet, and the Carlie Cooper/Goblin King storyline is really enticing too. Goblin King does do something shocking to Carlie that upped the stakes for the character that I'm looking forward to seeing develop in the next issue. The symbiote does seem to be winning out over Otto towards the end of the issue. He's livid over May and then MJ, who recognises Venom when she sees it, and Otto's even wearing the black jacket (though thankfully he's not dancing down the street to James Brown). If things seem like they're building up to a big finish, the final panel puts it over the top. Three big forces are assembled (hint) and ready for a big showdown in the next issue, which will be double-sized - can't wait!