Dan Slott's a Genius: The Superior Spider-Man vs. Urich's Hobgoblin

In this corner is Otto Octavius, aka Peter Parker, aka The Superior Spider-Man. He started off not all that great, as Dr. Octopus, and went through a variety of evil ambitions, from trying to fry the planet to taking over New York City. His last scheme was to rob Peter Parker of his identity, born of his dumb luck and Peter's better nature. His intention? Do whatever he wants in Peter's body. Peter, of course, stepped in, and gave Otto a sense of responsibility for his actions. Since then Otto has gone on to rid the city of more crime than Peter ever did, and kill a mad-man who was believed to be beyond all redemption, as well as cutting Mary-Jane loose for good so that way she'll no longer be in any danger. OK, so he went and became a bit big-brother-esque and brutalized a bunch of bullies, but no one's perfect, right? Right!

AND IN THIS CORNER!

A normal guy who accidentally stumbled onto the Green Goblin's lair, Phil Urich became a hero until his equipment broke. Unable to fix it, he wandered from place to place, and became a part of The Front Line. Disillusioned, he found one of Osborn's hideouts and went there to impress Norah. He accidentally bumped into Dan Kingsley in The Hobgoblin's uniform and killed him in a moment of crisis. Fueled by his refound power, Urich has gone on to become the Kingpin's right-hand man, and finally got the girl of his dreams. He completely hates his responsibilities, but fulfills them because of his power!

...do I smell a dark mirror, akin to the Amazing Spider-Man and the Green Goblin? Does the Hobgoblin show up in... Superior Spider-Man 14? According to Dan Slott, he will. The seeds for this confrontation were sown at the very beginning of the Big Time run. By the time we get to Superior 14 we'll have two very well-developed characters on a collision course. I just... wow. I'm amazed. This is truly a superior pair-up.