Review- GREEN GOBLIN: A LIGHTER SHADE OF GREEN

GREEN GOBLIN: A LIGHTER SHADE OF GREEN (Marvel, 2011; Softcover)

Collects Amazing Scarlet Spider No. 2, Green Goblin Nos. 1-13, Spectacular Spider-Man No. 225, and Web of Spider-Man No. 125 (cover dates June, 1995- October, 1996)

Writers: Tom DeFalco and Terry Kavanagh

Artists: Scott McDaniel (1-4, 6), Mark Bagley (Amazing Scarlet Spider No. 2), Sal Buscema (Spectacular Spider-Man No. 225), Bill Sienkiewicz (Spectacular Spider-Man No. 225), Steven Butler, Josh Hood, Kevin Kobasic, Darick Robertson and various inkers

My first reaction when I was rotating through my stock to reload my queue was You've gotta be kidding me. Why on Earth did I buy this? I have a policy of if I bought it, I have to read it, so I dove headlong into it, and you know what? It's not half bad storywise. If you like Tom DeFalco's traditional superhero comic book writing then you'll like this. The fourth Green Goblin is a reluctant “slacker” hero who tackles the Rhino, Arcade, and the Sentinels, among others. He never wins by skill and always seems to barely avoid a beatdown. 

The artwork can be hard to swallow at times, though. So much comic art of the '90s is painfully stylistic and dated, relying more on flash and gimmicks than substance and creativity. Scott McDaniel handles several issues and is okay, but Josh Hood is an artistic abomination. His work raped my eyes. This was clearly comic book amateur hour, and I can't believe that he was paid for this work.

Yup, this passed for "art" at one time.

Jim Novak's lettering is so sloppy that is stabs at my eyes and makes me want to vomit. It's horrendous and completely unprofessional. It's no wonder comic sales were in the toilet during this time period.

Junk Food For Thought rating: 1.5 out of 5.

The OCD zone- I adore these chunky monkey quasi-phonebook trade paperbacks.

Linework restoration rating: 5 out of 5. Were these digital files or merely high resolution scans? Film? Plates?

Color restoration rating: 5 out of 5. Were these digital files or merely high resolution scans? Film? Plates?

Paper rating: 4 out of 5. Thin, high gloss coated stock. It's thin but I can live with it.

Binding rating: 4 out of 5. The glued binding on these thick trades is solid. I like it.

Cardstock cover coating rating: 5 out of 5. Marvel uses a thick lamination on their cardstock covers that is highly durable and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

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