Osborn #5 Review

Osborn 5

Writer-Kelly Sue DeConnick

Art-Emma Rios & Becky Cloonan

Colors-Jose Villarrubia

So, as any of you who have read my past reviews know, I really have been enjoying this storyline a lot. Did part 5 (the end) live up to the rest of the story? Keep reading to find out!

The Plot:

Last issue ended on the cliffhanger of the secret underwater prison being blown up, which I mistakingly thought was Norman and Norah’s submarine. By the way, that’s also the name of the sequel to Nick and Norah’s infinite playlist. Osborn and his mates make it out of the water okay, thanks to that weird spider guy’s blowing a weird air bubble around the submarine. The story then jumps to three weeks later at a senate hearing being conducted by the very shady Senator Morrison.  Norah is trying to tell the world about the underwater prison, and the various laws and constitutional rights being broken. What Norah dosent know is that she was manipulated and I think drugged, into having hazy memories of everything, and believing they were in South America. This was done on purpose so her testimony would be no good. Sen.  Morrison uses this and every opportunity he can to discount Norah’s testimony. Finally Sen. Muffoletto speaks out against the farce of a senate hearing, speaking the truth, even though she knows (and ends up being correct) that this will be the end of her career. Sometimes you just have to do the right thing. If only more senators were like that. Why in my day, those senate carpetbaggers…sorry, wrong review. Anyways, Norman, now a free man, meets up with June Covington and gives her, what I assume to be lots of money and phony documents, because she ends up getting a job as a doctor, and than as Norman’s in prison physician (after Norman turns himself in). The issue ends with Norah having intern Sarah buy her coffee and imparting the knowledge she learned from this whole ordeal.

The Good:

The art, again, very good. It looks a bit off from previous issues, but that could be because most of the panels take place in hard to make look exciting places like a senate hearing room, or the former Front Line offices. I noticed this issue featured Becky Cloonan filling in on some of the art, and that may be where its coming from. Still looks good though. I like the fact that this story ended with Norman in jail. Thats not what I expected to happen. I expected Norman to be a free man by the end, which to me would have been stupid. Theres no way Norman could survive long on the outside, not with every government authority and super hero in the world after him. Bin Laden may have avoided capture for years, but imagine if he was also running from Thor and Spider-Man and what have you.

The Bad:

Wow, was this issue (mostly) a disappointment. After the initial opening scene with Osborn and them getting out of the submarine, the rest of the comic was uneventful. Besides the ending scene with Osborn in prison, this story seemed like mostly filler. We got an uneventful senate hearing, followed by a scene with Norah bitching to Urich about People not caring about her story. By the end though she resolves to keep trudging on. I like the Norah character a lot, but for people who dont, I dont see this issue changing any minds. Its a real shame because the other four issues were so good, and this one was very meh (for lack of a better word). I would still recommend this story to people, as a story being 4/5th great is still pretty damn good. This issue was just so…not the big conclusion I was hoping for.

The Ugly:

Finally. finally, Osborn shows remorse about Gwen. In the end he just breaks down in tears, begging Buddha to forgive him his sins. It was a pretty touching moment. Okay, that never happened. No remorse about Gwen, that son of a bitch. *grumble grumble*

On an unrelated note, at Comic-con this past weekend, I picked up a not in super bad shape copy of ASM 31, Gwen’s first appearance! Im pretty happy with that purchase.

Overall:

2/5 Not that good of an ending, but the overall story gets a 4/5

Look out for my review of Fear Itself: Spider-Man. Coming soon!