Miles Morales is here to stay! That’s been the case for a while, but every time Miles scores himself another series (or a feature film!) I breathe a sigh of relief. That’s because Marvel has a tendency to forget about characters not created by Lee, Ditko, and Kirby. When Brian Michael “Big Shot” Bendis was still with the company, his obvious love for Miles kept the series going. But with Bendis now over at the Distinguished Competition, it was clear Miles needed a new voice. That voice comes in the form of one of the most exciting writers in Marvel’s bullpen, Saladin Ahmed. While Ahmed quickly proves a love and understanding of the young Spider-Man, this first issue is a victim of some brutal decompression.
Written by Saladin AhmedCover by Brian Stelfreeze
Illustrated by Javier Garron
Colored by David Curiel
Lettered by VC’s Cory PetitBalancing his normal life, school, parents, etc…and super-heroing has never been easy, but when the Rhino and a cadre of mysterious criminals start plaguing Brooklyn, things take a dark turn. And Miles doesn’t even know the half of it yet. Eisner Award-winner Saladin Ahmed (BLACK BOLT) and Young Gun Javier Garrón (ANT-MAN & THE WASP) bring you the latest incarnation of the coolest character in the Marvel Universe!
The first eight pages of “Miles Morales: Spider-Man” are catch-up. In a lot of ways I really appreciated it. On the surface, Miles is a pretty easy character to understand. His uncle stole a genetically altered spider which bit Miles and gave him a set of spider powers. He tried hiding his superhero identity from his parents, but eventually came clean and felt a burden lifted. His best friends are Ganke, who knows about his hero life, and Judge who does not. But start poking beneath the surface and things quickly get crazy. Like, remember that Miles is from an alternate universe that was annihilated, but his friends and family were saved by a wish granted by the Molecule Man after Miles offered him a week old hamburger? Remember how Miles dated an alt-universe version of Kate Bishop only to discover that she and her dad were part of a virulently racist neo-Nazi HYDRA cell?
The point being, a recap is just what we needed. As Miles becomes an important feature of the Marvel universe, it’s important to establish what’s important and what’s just weird backstory. After all, lot’s of Peter Parker stories reference Gwen Stacy, not a lot deal with Sarah and Gabe, the secret twins she had with Norman Osborn. Miles is entitled to some weirdness, but it’s important for readers to know what’s important, what’s essentially Miles.
Once that’s out of the way, Miles needs his own place in Marvel’s New York. That means his own supporting cast, his own villains, his own conflicts, his own voice. From the recap onward, Ahmed writes Miles’ relationships with confidence. He also gives Miles a more distinct voice than the character has ever had. Without getting into a debate about respectability politics and code-switching, the Miles of “Miles Morales: Spider-Man” #1 talks like a Brooklyn teen. I mean, it’s been a long time since I was a Brooklyn teen, but Ahmed manages to work in some casual Spanish and phrases like “mad corny” without ever feeling like that “How Do You Do Fellow Kids?” .gif of Steve Buscemi.
More importantly, he finds a sweet spot between shy, slick, dorky, and confident. There’s a scene where Miles’ crush Barbara invites him to hang with her and her little cousin at the park, that is if he doesn’t mind kids. “I love kids,” Miles insists with a goofy grin, “I used to be one!” Barbara calls him a dork. “But a dork with a winning smile, right?” Miles asks with finger guns deployed. And I must confess, he won me over.
I’ve focused a lot on status quo, slice of life, teenage shenanigans, and that’s because while Miles suits up a few times throughout the issue, there’s almost no superhero plot until the last few pages. That is a damn shame. Giving Miles a fresh creative team and a fresh voice is already doing wonders for his readability, but he needs a fresh conflict. Something is up by the last page, but the hook didn’t really grab me. There’s a villain involved, but it’s one we’ve seen a billion times. (It’s the Rhino). Something more sinister is afoot, but we’re thin on details.
Continued belowIt’s also a shame because Javier Garrón draws a killer action scene. He uses red silhouettes to emphasize Spider-Man’s acrobatics and the effect is really cool. Garrón also has a great sense of how webbing should work. I especially liked one panel where Miles swung around Rhino’s mouth, and the dude had to spend three panels trying to chew through the webs. That’s great! In addition to webs, jumping around, and spider-sense, Miles has some pretty weird powers. Garrón has years of comics to look back on to get spider-sense right, but invisibility and venom blasts are something he makes all his own, and they look awesome.
It’s the regular slice of life stuff that I wasn’t as sold on, and that was the bulk of the issue. First off, the teens are too conspicuously sexy. Without putting too fine a point on it, Miles and his friends are sophomores in high school, and man are they cut. I shouldn’t be distracted by Miles’ Adonis Creed-like abs when he’s shirtless and hugging his parents, you know? But they were the most prominent thing in the panel. Barbra too looks less like a teenager and more like an adult remembering what the pretty girl in high school looked like. Garrón has good reaction faces and great action scenes, but his teens look like adults and he doesn’t have the sense of fashion you find in some of the best teen comics.
Where Garrón leaves previous “Spider-Man” artists in the dust though is in his portrayal of New York, specifically Brooklyn. That park that Miles goes to? It’s the rebuilt post-Sandy park in DUMBO right under the Brooklyn Bridge. They don’t say it in so many words, but I’m pretty sure they get ice cream from the Ample Hills stand in the park. Let’s be real- Brooklyn is the best of the five boroughs (fight me), and in a good Miles Morales book it needs to be a character unto itself. The last Marvel artist to even come this close with drawing a New York neighborhood was Ron Garney in “Daredevil.” Garrón does an even better job because not only is Brooklyn amazing, he draws it through the eyes of a corny teen, which is the best way to see it.
But “Miles Morales: Spider-Man” takes too long to get going. I’m excited to still have Miles swinging around, and I’m even more excited that he’s distinguishing his voice from other Marvel heroes, but as a superhero book, this is a first issue that’s sorely lacking in action. The strength of the creative team gives me hope though. I plan to stick with “Miles Morales: Spider-Man,” and I hope you do too. Don’t do it for me. Do it for Miles!
Final Verdict: 7.8 – a well crafted but slow and decompressed issue that takes too long to swing into action.
