Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Jan Bazaldua & Rafael Pimentel
Color Artists: David Curiel & Protobunker’s Dono Sanchez-Almara
Cover Artist: In-Hyuk Lee
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Reviewer: StoryBabbler
Normie Osborn has been through a lot, but even after everything he’s still hanging in there as the new Red Goblin. While Normie and his new symbiote called Rascal have been doing what good they can, a new threat emerged in the resurrected Phil Urich, aka the Goblin King, and his new Goblin Nation. And now Phil Urich has hired the supervillain mercenary Crossbones to take out Normie. Read Red Goblin #7 to see who comes out on top.
Review:
Ok, I’ll admit that I just caught up with this series for this review, and it’s a bit of a doozy. From the outset, the concept of making a Red Goblin series felt like a quick cashgrab that wasn’t meant to last except for a handful of issues. However, this series has been able to make it work for what it is, particularly with all of the developments connecting the main character Normie Osborn to Dylan and the current Venom run. Naturally, there are some differences in how the new symbiote looks and acts in both series, but it works for now.
Picking up from the previous issue, Rascal has gone berserk as the Red Goblin and is attacking indiscriminately while trying to find Normie’s friend Tim Anders who was kidnapped by the new Goblin Knight by orders of the resurrected Phil Urich, the Goblin King. However, not all is well in the Goblin King’s house as he decides to hire the mercenary Crossbones to take out his own Goblin Knight. While that’s all happening, Rascal is running amok until someone intervenes: Miles Morales Spider-Man.
One thing this comic is able to do well is balance the action for Normie and Rascal vs. Miles and the action between Crossbones and the new Goblin Knight. As such, readers will have to wait an issue or two before Red Goblin and Crossbones finally clash against one another. And the action is drawn well here, for the most part. There are developments on both fronts as the fights for both Red Goblin and Crossobones are resolved while immediately setting things up for the next issue.
The major downside is that Crossobones doesn’t get to be a big threat this issue. He has a solid introduction and gets some hits in when facing the Goblin Knight, but he ends up losing in a very comedic manner that it deflates his menace. Then there’s the dialogue, most of which is written well, while on some parts, particularly in Crossbones’ fight where it comes off as trying too hard to lean into some modern slang like how the Goblin Knight takes a Stark pen from Tim that he’s messing around with and refers to Tony as a “cringey tech bro”. Thankfully this type of dialogue has a relatively minor presence in this comic at least.
Final Thoughts:
Red Goblin #7 continues the chaos set up in the previous issue as Normie’s new symbiote Rascal goes berserk before it’s stopped with a little help from Miles Morales Spider-Man. On the other hand, Crossbones shows up to fight the new Goblin Knight, and it’s entertaining but also somewhat deflates his menace near the end of their fight. The comic does a fine job with the fights thanks to the art, as well as wrapping them up and setting the stage for the next issue.