Issue #1: Spider-Man
Title: Spider-Man #1 (2016)
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Sara Pichelli
The Buzz: The good news is that Secret Wars/Battleworld is finally over, and I don’t have to feel stupid about it, because NO ONE understood what was going on with that whole mess of an event. But now the much-discussed Ramifications have landed in the Marvel Universe – which, as far as I can make out, pretty much means we get Miles Morales, AKA the Ultimate Universe’s second Spider-Man, AKA the black Spider-Man, in the normal Marvel Universe now. And nothing else has changed, I think? (Spider-Gwen still gets to hang out in her own universe, as I assume does Gwenpool)
Another Big Deal about this particular title is that while Peter Parker is still around in the Revised Marvel Universe that we used to call 616, and is going to have his own comics to play in, Miles gets the official Spider-Man With No Qualifier title, which is a nice way of acknowledging his importance to the Marvel U – likewise Miles is part of the All-New, All-Different Avengers, which is probably a better option than having Peter Parker’s Spider-Man in every possible team book all at once. We all know that only Wolverine can use teleportation to multi-task appearing in so many books at once, right?
All You Need To Know: So there was this other universe called Ultimate that Marvel launched in 2000 as a more modern reboot of their classic characters – and the lynchpin title was Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate Spider-Man in which a hapless 15 year old Peter Parker got to suffer and experience his decades of epic storylines all over again. Finally the poor kid was killed off in a horrible, horrible sequence, only to be succeeded by Miles Morales, one of the most popular of the Ultimate universe’s creation. Now he’s here instead, and Peter Parker is alive too, and if you think this title will explain any of that, then you are reading the wrong comic.
Story: There’s nothing startlingly original happening in this first issue, but all the important Spidey notes are being hit. Miles is a teenager struggling to balance school, dating and being a superhero. This shit is hard. Luckily he has steadfast best friend Ganke there to make fun of him and suggest appropriate superhero girls for him to make out with. Oh and there’s banter and quipping and fight scenes! If you cut this comic open, it would bleed Spider-Man.
Art: Sara Pichelli is the artist most closely associated with Miles Morales, and is as much a part of the success of the characters as is writer Bendis – I really like the way she shapes and presents her characters, especially Miles and Ganke who are the heart of the story. Ganke’s faces are hilarious and great. Also, she has some fantastic layouts, very dynamic and complex.
But What Did I Miss?: I failed to keep up with the entire Ultimate Miles run, not from disinterest, but because I blinked and suddenly there were years of graphic novels to catch up with! This issue feels like we’ve been picked up and dropped into the middle of Miles’ story – but it also feels like a natural hopping on point, because his story is such a universal ‘teen superhero’ narrative. It doesn’t have nearly as much substantial race & family narrative/context as I remember the original Miles Morales Ultimate Spider-Man debut issue presenting, which is a bit of a shame, but hopefully that will be at least drip-fed into the narrative as the series progresses.
Would Read Issue 2?: Sure, though part of me feels I really *should* read all the other Miles comics first – just because this works fine as a starter doesn’t help my completionist gene cope with skipping a few years.
Read it if you Like: Spider-Man! Also any teen story involving superpowers and teenagers. Just because this is a classic tale as old as time doesn’t mean it’s not great.
Other titles reviewed in 2016:
Hellcat #1
The Adventures of Supergirl #1
Archie #1
