Spider-Man #20 Review

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis / Artist: Nico Leon / Marvel Comics Miles is in a tough spot. Which, is appropriately overwhelming for any teenager in his situation, super powers or not. Dealing with the his parents’ current estrangement, with the added complexity that the reason for their problems stems from his dad being in the same line of “work” as Miles and trying to protect his identity…it gets complicated pretty quickly. Which is why I’m conflicted on a few things in this issue. It’s a good issue, a well-structured issue, but the questions lies in how cool you are with the premise.

Miles’ reaction kind of makes sense, that his impulse is to run away from everything, including school, literally to the other side of the planet and use his spider-given gifts to make a life for himself. It is an extreme solution, to be sure, while also suddenly pragmatic for a character that isn’t’ really, in the face of sublime turmoil. So, I mean…sure, I can see that as the catalyst if I squint hard enough. Regardless of how we get there, Miles being in Japan and trying to “make it happen” like a fledgling actor that just ups and moves to Hollywood is interesting and different. Not a lot of time of spent there, but it is definitely enough for Miles to flex some super powers and get in over his head in about two minutes of real time. What I wonder will be explored or not, is what seems to be the decaying wonderment of Ganke, who seems clearly fed up with being the wingman to Miles flirtatio…