History ComicBook / GoDownSwinging

Peter Parker is at the lowest he's been - he's lost his company and his money, he's mocked by the world at large, forced to live in a pathetic apartment and crawled back to the ''Daily Bugle'' for work. Conversely, ComicBook/NormanOsborn is at the top of his game. Thanks to obtaining the Carnage symbiote, his Green Goblin powers are active once again and he's stronger than ever. And now, he's ready to crush Spider-Man once and for all. No one is safe as the deadly Red Goblin is born, gunning for Spidey and all of his friends and loved ones. Spider-Man must meet him head on and, if he has to, he will Go Down Swinging.

This story serves as Dan Slott's swan song for the ''Amazing'' title before he moves over to ''Tony Stark: Iron Man'' for the ''ComicBook/MarvelAFreshStart'' initiative. This is also the 800th issue MilestoneCelebration for the title.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:The threat of the Red Goblin is at an end and it seems that Osborn's brain is hopelessly scrambled and Peter has seemingly buried the hatchet with Jameson, Venom and Octavius, but Flash Thompson is dead protecting Spidey from Osborn's rampage and it seems that Normie still has a portion of the Carnage symbiote in his system.]]

** Similarly, Alchemax's artificial Anti-Venom material from the Venom, Inc. storyline is brought up as a potential weapon against the Red Goblin. [[spoiler: The Red Goblin destroys it before Spidey can get to it.]]
** [[spoiler: Those shards the Red Goblin shot into his targets were for more than just the initial damage, which is why he left as soon as he'd barely hurt Mary Jane. He retained control of them even over a distance and intended to use them to cause the agonizing simultaneous deaths of everyone in Peter's life.]]

* DeathBySecretIdentity: [[InvokedTrope Invoked,]] [[DefiedTrope defied,]] and [[PlayingWithATrope played with]]. [[spoiler: Jonah brings a gun and intends to execute the Green Goblin, reasoning that his knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity left him too dangerous to leave alive. Spider-Man takes the bullet himself rather than let that happen. However, the destruction of the Carnage symbiote at the moment of fusion with Osborn turns out to have caused a SplitPersonalityTakeover that makes Osborn unaware of Spider-Man's identity and believing himself to be Cletus Kasady, essentially killing his identity.]]

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: [[spoiler:Normie turns against Norman after the latter attempted to kill Liz.]]
* EvilHasABadSenseOfHumor: When Goblin attacks the Bugle, Betty Brant tries to stall him, only for him to call her out and then gloat that "I have a bridge I can sell to you" which Robbie Robertson immediately sneers at for its cruelty and tastelessness.

* HeroicSacrifice: Agent Anti-Venom surrenders what's left of his power to put Spidey back in the game. [[spoiler:He ultimately gives his life to give Peter a few extra seconds.]]
* HopeCrusher: Norman Osborn can't stand the fact that no matter how many people close to Peter he hurts, he never breaks his spirit, [[spoiler:in the finale, Norman on seeing Peter save random bystanders realizes that Peter actually really does care for these bystanders, and notes that if he had known that all along he would never have killed Gwen or Flash or anyone, but simply kill as many innocent people as he could. He then proceeds to bomb the hell out of Time's Square killing countless civilians while Peter, as Norman gloats, only saves five people]].
* HulkingOut: When Flash reveals he used up almost all of the Anti-Venom symbiote to foil Osborn's ultimate plans, the Red Goblin siccs his Carnage Glider on Symbiote Spider-Man to get him out of the way and then proceeds to murder Flash. Spider-Man Venomizes, rips the Carnage Glider to shreds, and punches Red Goblin across the city while roaring that he's going to eat his brains; though Flash uses his dying moments to calm Peter and the symbiote down.

** The first issue has Osborn interrogating someone in trying to get info about Spider-Man. [[spoiler:It turns out he kidnapped J. Jonah Jameson, who accidentally allows Osborn to remember that Peter Parker is Spider-Man. Jolly Jonah mentions the trope name in horror.]]

* NoSell: Miles Morales' Venom Strike, Clash's sonic waves, and even the Human Torch's flames all do not affect Red Goblin ''at all''. The only thing that hurts him is Anti-Venom's purifying touch, and he exploits Flash's morality to prevent him from using that against him.

* ShipTease: Since Slott is ending his run, he does his best to seed a potential reconciliation between Peter and MJ for Nick Spencer to pick up the baton (Spencer already worked on his script for his first issues when Go Down Swinging was hitting the stands, and made it clear that he wanted them back together) while still maintaining his status-quo (so as not to steal Spencer's thunder). Peter and MJ experience their romantic tension again, but MJ once again expresses fears about KeepTheHomeFiresBurning and worries for his life, but she also confirms that she needs Peter and loves him, and the story has Peter state that Aunt May and MJ are his family. MJ does[[spoiler:insist that Peter leave her apartment in his costume (because in MJ's current occuptation, having a hero leave is less awkward to explain than your former lover) but says, "Sorry Tiger". By the time, she, Venom, and Spidey stave off the Red Goblin, they are warmer towards each other for the first time since before ''Superior Spider-Man'' and MJ certainly gets miffed when Peter says that Goblin will go after MJ because she's near the top of the list of the people he cares about]]:

* TheStinger: [[spoiler:Horizon Labs is seemingly reestablished and Max Modell accepts a new colleague, a disguised Octavius, which Anna-Maria seems to recognize.]]

** Spider-Man jumps in the way of [[spoiler:Jonah's attempt to execute Osborn in cold blood for the danger he posed.]]

* ShipTease: Since Slott is ending his run, he does his best to seed a potential reconciliation between Peter and MJ for Nick Spencer to pick up the baton (Spencer already worked on his script for his first issues when Go Down Swinging was hitting the stands, and made it clear that he wanted them back together) while still maintaining his status-quo (so as not to steal Spencer's thunder). Peter and MJ experience their romantic tension again, but MJ once again expresses fears about KeepTheHomeFiresBurning and worries for his life, but she also confirms that she needs Peter and loves him, and the story has Peter state that Aunt May and MJ are his family. MJ does[[spoiler:insist that Peter leave her apartment in his costume (because in MJ's current occuptation, having a hero leave is less awkward to explain than your former lover) but says, "Sorry Tiger". By the time, she, Venom, and Spidey stave off the Red Goblin, they are warmer towards each other for the first time since ''Superior Spider-Man'' and MJ certainly gets miffed when Peter says that Goblin will go after MJ because she's near the top of the list of the people he cares about]]:

* ShipTease: Since Slott is ending his run, he does his best to seed a potential reconciliation between Peter and MJ for Creator/NickSpencer to pick up the baton (Spencer already worked on his script when he started writing and wanted them back together) while still maintaining his status-quo (so as not to steal Spencer's thunder). Peter and MJ experience their romantic tension again, but MJ once again expresses fears about KeepTheHomeFiresBurning and worries for his life, but she also confirms that she needs Peter and loves him, and the story has Peter state that Aunt May and MJ are his family. MJ does[[spoiler:insist that Peter leave her apartment in his costume (because in MJ's current occuptation, having a hero leave is less awkward to explain than your former lover) but says, "Sorry Tiger". By the time, she, Venom, and Spidey stave off the Red Goblin, they are warmer towards each other, and MJ certainly gets miffed when Peter says that Goblin will go after MJ because she's near the top of the list of the people he cares about]]:

* DealWithTheDevil: Osborn gives Peter one of these - stop being Spidey or I'll murder everyone as slowly as possible.

* ShipSinking: The story arc spends its first issue gleefully wrecking another attempt at reconciliation between Peter and Mary Jane when she freaks out at seeing Peter's costume underneath his clothes. MJ tells Peter she'll always love him, but his web thing is still a deal-breaker. Making matters worse [[spoiler: She insists Peter leave her apartment in his costume (because in MJ's current occuptation, having a hero leave is less awkward to explain than your former lover) which allows an observant Norman to start joining the dots and regain his knowledge of Peter's identity]]

* {{Irony}}: Norman spent his appearances leading up to this event trying to find some way to restore his insanity, and once that's been done, remember Spider-Man's SecretIdentity. [[spoiler:Being linked to the Carnage symbiote as it's incinerated leaves him a babbling, giggling mess who can't even remember who he is, let alone who Spider-Man is.]]

* {{Irony}}: Norman spent his appearances leading up to this event trying to find some way to restore his insanity. [[spoiler:Being linked to the Carnage symbiote as it's incinerated leaves him a babbling, giggling mess who can't even remember who he is, let alone who Spider-Man is.]]

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Liz Allen engages in this after Norman blackmails her into signing over Alchemax's ownership to him, showing him the documents and outlines that he ''can't'' own it, ever. Unfortunately, Norman reminds her that [[ContinuityNod he worked for the company in his Mason Banks disguise]] and knows a workaround: the entire company was made with a beneficiary clause that would eventually see the company in Normie's hands, along with his legal guardian... or ''surviving'' legal guardian.

* NeverMyFault: [[spoiler:Osborn blames Harry and Spider-Man for Normie betraying him. Not once considering that he [[MamasBoy tried to kill his mother.]]]]

* TakingTheBullet: [[spoiler: Spider-Man jumps in the way of Jonah's attempt to execute Osborn in cold blood for the danger he posed.]]

* ObstructiveBureaucrat: Liz Allen engages in this after Norman blackmails her into signing over Alchemax's ownership to him, showing him the documents and outlines that he ''can't'' own it, ever. Unfortunately, Norman reminds her that [[ContinuityNod he worked for the company in his Mason Banks disguise]] and knows a workaround: in the event of Liz's death, the company's ownership would be transferred to Normie, along with his legal guardian... or ''surviving'' legal guardian.

** [[spoiler:Flash discovers Spider-Man's secret identity, overhearing Silk refer to him as "Pete", and uses that information to reason out who Red Goblin's targets are. [[DeathBySecretIdentity It's short lived, unfortunately]], as his revealing this to Peter is immediately followed by the Red Goblin murdering him.]]

** [[spoiler:Flash discovers Spider-Man's secret identity, overhearing Silk refer to him as "Pete" and goes on to use that information to figure out who Red Goblin's targets are. [[DeathBySecretIdentity It's short lived]], unfortunately, as his revealing this to Peter is immediately followed by the Red Goblin murdering him.]]

* GodzillaThreshold: To deal with the threat of The Red Goblin, Eddie Brock willingly offered ro let Spider-Man borrow the Venom Symbiote and spider-Man took it.

* {{Irony}}: Norman spent his previous appearances trying to find some way to restore his insanity. [[spoiler:Being linked to the Carnage symbiote as it's incinerated turns him into a babbling, giggling mess who can't even remember who he is, let alone who Spider-Man is.]]

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Spidey delivers a long-overdue one to the Red Goblin after [[spoiler:Normie finally turns on him and his plan has begun to fall apart.]]
-->'''Red Goblin''': My empire. My heir. My future. All gone. My entire family turned against me! [[NeverMyFault AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, SPIDER!]]\\
'''Spider-Man''': [[SarcasmMode Yeah, that totally tracks.]] Wow, you really are a nutball, aren't you, Gobby? Fine. Go ahead. Put that ''all'' that on me! I'll take it!\\
'''Red Goblin''': You have ''no'' idea where I'd be without you around! You're the one always getting in my way!\\
'''Spider-Man''': HA! You finally cracked a good one! You know who's under this mask. [[IronButtMonkey I'm the world's biggest screwup.]] So what's that say about ''you?''

'''Spider-Man''': [[SarcasmMode Yeah, that totally tracks.]] Wow, you really are a nutball, aren't you, Gobby? Fine. Go ahead. Put that''all'' that on me! I'll take it!\\

'''Spider-Man''': HA! You finally cracked a good one! You know who's under this mask. [[CosmicPlaything I'm the world's biggest screwup.]] So what's that say about ''you?''

* GodzillaThreshhold: To deal with the threat of The Red Goblin, Eddie Brock willingly offered ro let Spider-Man borrow the Venom Symbiote and spider-Man took it.

** This is quickly followed by Harry ramming a Goblin Glider through Norman's chest. Sadly, it doesn't end up doing much to hurt him this time.

* DeathBySecretIdentity: [[InvokedTrope Invoked,]] [[DefiedTrope defied,]] and [[PlayingWithATrope played with]]. [[spoiler: Jonah brings a gun and intends to execute the Green Goblin, reasoning that his knowledge of Spider-Man's secret identity left him too dangerous to leave alive. Spider-Man takes the bullet himself rather than let that happen. However, the destruction of the Carnage symbiote at the moment of fusion with Osborn turns out to have caused a SplitPersonalityTakeover that makes Osborn unaware of Spider-Man's identity and consumed by the persona of Cletus Kasady, essentially killing his identity.]]

* TheReveal: [[spoiler:Emily Osborn didn't really die giving birth to Harry; she'd faked her death upon realizing what a monster Norman was and in fact, "Emma" was really Emily.]]

* SignificantWardrobeShift: Spidey will re-don the black costume for his final fight with the Red Goblin, a change that will stick around into the ''Fresh Start'' era. [[spoiler:Subverted in which the black costume is actually the Venom symbiote borrowed from Eddie himself and that it actually leaves during the final fight at Peter's urging so he can settle things with Osborn.]]

-->'''Red Goblin''': My empire. My heir. My future. All gone. My entire family turned against me! [[NeverMyFault AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT, SPIDER!]]
-->'''Spider-Man''': [[SarcasmMode Yeah, that totally tracks.]] Wow, you really are a nutball, aren't you, Gobby? Fine. Go ahead. Put that''all'' that on me! I'll take it!
-->'''Red Goblin''': You have ''no'' idea where I'd be without you around! You're the one always getting in my way!
-->'''Spider-Man''': HA! You finally cracked a good one! You know who's under this mask. [[CosmicPlaything I'm the world's biggest screwup.]] So what's that say about ''you?''

* CallBack: Cruelly invoked by the Red Goblin as he throws Liz Allen through an Alchemax tower window, while musing about what it is with [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied "[me] and blondes in high places".]]

* CallBack: Cruelly invoked by the Red Goblin as he throws Liz Allen through an Alchemax tower window, while musing about what it is with [[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied "me and blondes in high places".]]

* CallBack: Cruelly invoked by the Red Goblin as he throws Liz Allen through an Alchemax tower window, while musing about what it is with "[[ComicBook/TheNightGwenStacyDied me and blondes in high places".]]