Welcome, dear readers, to another week of comics and commentary at Comics! The Blog! We kick things off, as always, by handing out awards for the Best of the week – beginning with two Award postings, followed closely by the past week’s Best.

And the noose around Otto’s neck tightens further.

art by Ryan Stegman and Jason Howard

As Superior Spider-Man nears its conclusion, every plot line has come together to make a giant mess for Otto’s last act. The Green Goblin’s army is complete and he’s making his big move against the Spider, and New York - all he has to do is take care of a Hobgoblin problem. Meanwhile, Otto continues to push any and all help he can get away for him, and Peter fights his way back into existence, because… comics!

Slott is joined by three fantastic artists for this issue, taking on sections of the story that seem to best suit their strengths. Even coming off an extra sized conclusion to the latest Superior Spider-Man, Humburto Ramos hands in some strong pages depicting the Hobgoblin’s opening salvo against the Green Goblin and his amassed army. Javier Rodriguez (the colourist and swing-artist for Daredevil) steps in to depict Otto’s confrontation with the Avengers, in which the Superior Spider-Man severs the ties with some of the only allies he has left. And finally, Marcos Martin returns to Spider-Man with some stunning pages of Peter Parker traversing his mindscape, bringing forth memories of Martin’s stellar arc near the beginning of Slott’s solo run on Amazing. The combination came together at what must have been the last minute, in the wake of Pascual Ferry’s unavailability to complete (or start, perhaps) the issue as solicited, and even under tight deadline pressures, this book sings. It’s a testament to the entire team’s talent and work ethic, and is something to be admired for sure.

As this book waits at the precipice of it’s final arc, I can’t help but marvel at what Slott put together. Marvel’s editor-in-chief Axel Alonso has long recently said in several interviews that he was not sold on the idea of Superior Spider-Man until Slott pitched him on the book’s conclusion, and sitting here, without the knowledge of how everything wraps, I can still see why. This story can go anywhere, and the fact that the ending has been mildly spoiled with Peter returning in April has done nothing to douse my enthusiasm. The ride to that point is riddled fraught with so much danger, I can’t wait to see how it all plays out. Regardless, we’re giving this book our <strong>Jay-Z Award for 99 Problemsing</strong>.