YMMV / Go Down Swinging

• Broken Base: Some fans regard the arc as a welcome return to form for Slott after the lackluster Parker Industries arc, others regard it as a long, extended boss fight for the simple sake of having a big battle to round out Slott's run.
• Creator's Pet: Otto Octavius- despite having no relevance to the plot whatsoever- shows up in the finale to save Aunt May, revealing that he's been stalking her this entire time, just so Peter can give him a wash for all of his previous villainous actions. Then Otto goes onto have the final page in the 800th issue dedicated to giving him a Happy Ending and sending him off to his own Spin-Off.
• Epileptic Trees: With news that Spidey is donning the old black and whites for his final fight with Osborn, and preview pages for #800 showing that the suit has a brand new look had people thinking this isn't going to be a new suit, but actually the symbiote from the Venomized mini-series that's gonna stick around. They were close - the symbiote was actually the actual Venom symbiote, but it doesn't stick around.
• Funny Moments:
  • Goblin Childe attempts to assassinate Aunt May by knocking on her door as Normie, pretending to be lost, then transforming. Superior Ock gets the drop on him, and in their scuffle, May's response gets...percussive.
    Goblin Childe: Thought you were supposed to be so smart! Hurting Auntie May is the best way to hurt Spider-Man!
    May: What...utter...NONSENSE! *whacks GC with a kitchen table* Oh! When I think of all the times I babysat for you, Normie Osborn! I BAKED COOKIES FOR YOU!
    GC: You put raisins in them! You deserve to die!
  • And while this debacle continues, it suddenly escalates with a very unexpected visit:
    J. Jonah Jameson: (remotely piloting a giant Spider-Slayer robot) Stand back, May! J. Jonah Jameson is here to save the day!
    May: What on Earth is going on here?!
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: With Donny Cates revealing in ''Absolute Carnage" that the Venom symbiote regained its knowledge of Peter's secret identity when bonded to him, and Peter seemingly in full awareness of this, his letting the symbiote leave is even more heartwarming.
  • Also revealed in Absolute Carnage is that unlike in previous times with Eddie and the Venom symbiote where Peter would not forgive them, despite both of them forgiving Peter, the events of this book finally has Peter let go of his grudge against Venom. Allowing Spider-Man and Venom to move on from uneasy allies to genuine friends.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • Eddie being willing to come save MJ from the Red Goblin despite the bad history between the two. In some people's opinion this is what sealed his Heel–Face Turn for real as the Eddie of a few years ago would almost NEVER think to do this. He and the Symbiote later even show up for Flash's funeral as a sign of respect.
  • Doctor Octopus jumps into the fray to protect Aunt May from Goblin Chylde, even throwing himself into the path of Red Goblin's blades to save her. When Peter asks him why he would do this, Octavius admits that some of Peter's memories and conscience are still floating around in his head, and that he couldn't have allowed a sweet old woman like May to be harmed.
    Spider-Man: There's a lot of bad blood between us, Otto. But this... in my book, it just bought you a clean slate. Where you go next? That's up to you.
  • When Peter separates from the Venom symbiote as part of his gambit to get Osborn to ditch the Carnage symbiote, it expresses concern for his safety and he assures it that he'll be alright before telling it to go back to Eddie and be careful of the flames surrounding them.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • Norman, desperate to regain his powers and Goblin persona, resorts to obtaining the Carnage symbiote and bonding with it, which also unleashes the Green Goblin persona. What do you get when you combine two of Spidey's most psychotic and sadistic enemies into one? The Red Goblin! Spidey's reaction when first encountering him probably describes the situation best.
    Spider-Man: %#$& me.
  • The brief moment where Peter goes full Venom mode after Flash is critically injured. While minor it's one of the few times Peter himself basically BECOMES Venom... and it's hinted he may have inadvertently corrupted the symbiote again.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: Well, more like surprisingly improved storyline, but it is the final arc under Slott's pen and is far less divisive than most previous ones, with overall reception more on the positive side.
• Tear Jerker: Flash's Heroic Sacrifice and funeral.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Peter and MJ seem to get back together at the very start of the arc, only for it to turn into a Red Herring that goes nowhere, with MJ barely factoring into the rest of the plot. What could have been an interesting subplot regarding the pair rediscovering their feelings for one another just becomes a final attempt at shutting down the pairing. Made all the worse by the fact that Nick Spencer planned on the pair getting back together in his first issue of his run. Slott apparently got the message about how bad it came across, as he attempted a last minute Author's Saving Throw in the final issue of the arc to have Peter talk about how smart MJ was, despite the fact that Slott spent the better part of a decade trying to undermine their relationship.
  • The return of Peter's supporting cast after Dan Slott wrote them out of the title seemed to be a good indication of a focus back onto the roots, and making the final leg a true back to basics approach. However, they are largely ignored after the first issue of the Fall of Parker arc, and only make token appearances in "Go Down Swinging". Instead of using the arc to show Peter what was truly important in his life, instead they just come off as glorified cameos.
  • The death of Flash Thompson. While it could have been used to really show the stakes of the conflict, it instead feels tired, predictable, and completely avoidable. Made worse by Slott admitting that Flash died solely to give the story "Stakes." A lot of fans were counting down the minutes to when Flash would return. And he did, a little under three years later, during the King in Black storyline.

---