Posted - July 18 to 20, 2014 | Updated : August 24, 2015

Marvel Knights Spider-Man 12

This is the last Marvel Knights Spider-Man issue of Mark Millar and Terry Dodson, so lets savor it. From the multi-villain slugfest of issue 11 this issue narrows it down to the just the Green Goblin. It's down deep and personal with Spider-Man and his arch-enemy.

The comicbook starts off by baffling me with something Peter Parker says to the Green Goblin.

Fifty-five? What has that got to do with anything?

Now, this comment by the Green Goblin to Peter Parker I understand very well.

That web fluid is genius-level, no question about it. How did Peter fit so much fluid in such slim cartridges? The web has a tensile strength that managed to catch falling building chunks last issue. The mind that made the web fluid is first class.

Oh, its location panel time. Just look at how Terry Dodson rendered this bridge. Wow.

Here's the score: The Goblin has got Aunt May, she is apparently on some kind of deadline situation. Spidey has no idea where she is in the city. MJ is in the Goblin's clutches about to be dropped just like Gwen. It's a very bad moment for the Spider. It's also the perfect moment for something to happen, and that something's name is . . .

. . . Otto Octavius! Note the neat sucker detail on the arms.

For a while there I thought Green Goblin vs. Doctor Octopus was an even match but Peter Parker calls it.

Nuts. The grudge match gives Spider-Man a much needed opening. And he takes it!

As expected, the Goblin doesn't go down that easily, in spite of that seemingly Hulk-level slam. Norman Osborn has the advantage for a while until.

This whole confrontation was intentionally setup in exactly this manner by the Goblin to remind Peter of the death of Gwen Stacy. From the moment Peter saw MJ in Osborn's hands on that bridge with hundreds of feet of deadfall to the waters below, Peter was livid with fear over the memory of Gwen's death. And so it happens: MJ is thrown, just like Gwen, by the Goblin, and Peter is in a position to catch MJ with his web, just like Gwen. When Gwen fell, Peter snagged her booted foot to catch her but the whiplash broke Gwen's neck. It is Peter's worst nightmare and it is happening to him again. He goes for it, but this time he takes a different approach.

It works!

It's not over, the Goblin is nothing but tenacious - and so is Doc Ock.

You know who or what finally decides the Doctor Octopus/Green Goblin battle? Fate. While Doc Ock is grasping the Goblin with his metal arms lightning strikes from above and they are both electrocuted and fall into the river.

While all this is going on, MJ and Spider-Man managed to embrace. Twice. Both times are worth showing.

Here's the first instance.

And here's the second.

More great Terry Dodson art. This one is a Spider-Man panel.

Love the lightning in the background.

So how does Aunt May get saved? Through a flash of both insight and remembrance Peter finds her in Uncle Ben's gravesite. Right in front of Ben Parker's tombstone. One is left wondering, if Aunt May is in Uncle Ben's grave, where the heck is Uncle Ben? The story never answers this one. Here's Aunt May and how she was kept alive.

Now this is a pretty icky picture because a while back the Goblin was talking about how Aunt May was "lying in her own mess" and something about "choking on her own vomit". Look at the panel above again. The little brown smuches all over. Is that poop? Gross.

Bottom line: Aunt May is saved.

It is the day after and the Black Cat, who had a huge chunk of the fighting back in Marvel Knights Spider Man 10 is recovering in the hospital. There's more to it though, as this panel attests.

Peter Parker has MJ at home and the Black Cat has a crush on him. The infamous Parker luck IS DEAD. When did the wallflower slash reject of the Lee and Ditko days turn into this chick magnet?

Millar's run is ending so he's wrapping everything up including the money angle.

This is bullshit! Everybody else gets crushed alive under money problems lasting for years. These kind of money quick fix seldom happens in life and sounds too good to be true. It sounds exactly like what it is - professional courtesy between comics writers: Mark Millar is going for a clean handoff to Reginald Hudlin, next issue's writer.

The issue ends with a flowery letter from Norman Osborn to Peter Parker. Here's a portion of it.

Let's see . .. the fights are not a sign of any real enmity. . . enormous regard . . . grateful for your attention. The letter runs on for a page and maintains the same friendly tone throughout. Totally insane. Totally Green Goblin. A nice way to end it Mr. Millar.

Since the first issue of Marvel Knights Spider-Man we've had four issues called "Down Among the Dead Men". Another four called "Venomous". And these last four called "Last Stand". But its all just one really long arc - a beautiful twelve issue tour de force from writer Mark Millar and artist Terry Dodson with Frank Cho taking over the art chores for an issue. In true Marvel Knights fashion, the storytelling doesn't shy away from showing death and blood - pretty hardcore fare relative to the standard superhero comic. Marvel Knights Spider-Man had a twenty-two issue run, so there's still a bunch of these wonderful issues for us to go through.