Peter Parker and Miles Morales team-up for their first own ongoing series in The Spectacular Spider-Men. Meeting up weekly at Peter’s old student hangout – the Empire State University Coffee Bean – the two heroes catch-up on their respective happenings whilst dishing out quips and advice. But when old enemy Miles Warren – The Jackal – resurfaces, things go south for the two Spider-Men and the pair find themselves in a situation where their realities are called into question.
The Spectacular Spider-Men has a lot to offer for Spider-Man fans. Whilst it is far from Peter and Miles’ first time teaming up, the pair have had seen a lot of the spotlight in the past year with the release of both the Across The Spider-Verse animated film and the Spider-Man 2 video game. Naturally, a new ongoing comic starring the pair was inevitable. But this is not the only draw. Handling writing duties is writer/producer Greg Weisman, best known as the co-creator of the much-loved animated series Gargoyles. He is also regarded fondly by Spider-Man fans for creating the Spectacular Spider-Man animated series which to this day is regarded as one of the best media adaptations of the webslinger. Fan-favourite Humberto Ramos – who is only rivalled by John Romita Jr. and Mark Bagley for issues of Spider-Man drawn – tackles the art.
As viewers of Spectacular Spider-Man will know, Weisman completely gets Peter Parker. This is a hero who puts others need before himself, often to his own detriment. But this is an older Peter Parker than the one from Weisman’s animated series, so Weisman gets the chance to explore other facets of the character. Taking some inspiration from Peter B. Parker and Miles’ dynamic in the Spider-Verse films, we have Peter taking a big brother mentor role whilst providing a steady stream of dad jokes. Miles meanwhile brings a younger perspective to the series and continues to have a strong chemistry with his older counterpart. Meanwhile, Weisman revisits the deep cuts he enjoys to make to past Spider-continuity with the return of lesser-known classic characters such as Sha Shan, The Jackal and Arcade.
Ramos continues to demonstrate why he has been so closely tied to Spider-Man in the past twenty years. His style retains the energy, dynamism and just right level of exaggeration that has made him a household name. Weisman gives him plenty to play with and it’s cool to see him drawing Miles on a regular basis for the first time.
Spectacular Spider-Men is an ideal gateway book for new fans looking to see more of the team made popular in the games and films. Those who loved The Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon will also jump at the chance to see Greg Weisman writing Spider-Man once again.
The Spectacular Spider-Men Vol. 1: Arachnobatics is out 8 October from Marvel (9781302955953, p/b, £16.99)
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