Writer: Saladin Ahmed / Artist: Cory Smith / Marvel Comics
Is recklessness a prerequisite for being bitten by a radioactive spider? If not, I have to say, your boy Miles is WILDIN. I don’t know how they babysit in Brooklyn, but superpowers or not, you don’t take your baby sister (who I have to believe is only 3-4 months old) down into the sewers while you fight an alligator. Miles, my boy, there are like 30 other superheroes in NYC. You could call at least one of them to watch baby for the day. I mean, it’s mostly gentrified now anyway.
Aside from Miles needing a lesson in dos and do nots, Saladin Ahmed gives readers the best of both worlds in this issue of Miles Morales: Spider-Man. Miles’ adventure with Billie is a cute one, despite his questionable decision making along the way. It’s a fun little side story that’s great for the same reason that Miles skipping school to go to the Brooklyn Museum was. It also showcases how much Miles’ life has changed since the birth of Billie. I hope Ahmed touches on this more in the future because Miles is going to have to re-evaluate how he does things, especially with his little sister around.
Ahmed regulates the back half of this issue to moving the Ultimatum plot forward. Brian Micheal Bendis left fractured pieces of Miles’ story when he left Marvel. That includes several unresolved plotlines from Spider-Men II and the last arc of Spider-Man. We don’t know much about Miles’ move to 616, the status of the original 616 Miles Morales, or the return of Rio Morales and Uncle Aaron from the dead. Ahmed is masterfully using those broken pieces of an unfinished story and telling his own. Ultimatum is definitely proving to be a dangerous villain and it will be interesting to see what he wants and how he got to this point.
I still feel like the main story is dragging on too long. I want Ahmed to focus solely on the Ultimatum stuff so that we can get some answers. However, when the writing is good and each issue is as enjoyable as the last, there isn’t really much to complain about. Plus, I’m beginning to feel like the slow drip-feed of information about Ultimatum will lead to a big payoff in the end.
8.5 Sewer Gators out of 10
Reading Miles Morales: Spider-Man? Find BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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