midnight_sun's The Amazing Spider-Man #312 - The Goblin War review

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    Goblin Wars!

    Ok, I have to admit I'm biased about this issue. It's one of my absolute favorites, so it's difficult for me to be too critical about this. The only item that seems a bit too unbelievable is the fact that Harry got very good with the equipment very quickly, specifically the glider. Good enough to even take on a second-stringer like the second Hobgoblin. It never mentioned how long he practiced with it when he was crazy, but the "riding a bike" analogy applies apparently. What works for me is the fighting-for-my-family angle, which can account for his instant expertise.

    He proves he's still a bit crazy when he decides to face down a professional assassin without any real preparation. For some reason it works. Probably because this Hobgoblin is way too cocky to consider Osborn a real threat and pays for it in ego points.

    This issue required a bit more exposition than normal (I hit the high points and it still took a while to set it up). The casual reader may not fully understand the significance, but there are enough hints to let readers know that he went crazy and became the Goblin in the past; he's familiar with the equipment. Without that key fact, the remainder of the story would have been completely ludicrous.

    Michelinie and McFarlane do and a great job on this issue. The art is amazing, the pacing is great, and we actually see some character development for Harry. They omit some things from the recap panels that I think would have explained Harry's history a bit better, but that takes up valuable space and would probably come across as awkward since the recap is through Harry's memory - which is just returning.

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