Can Miles finally topple the Empire of the Spider? Let’s find out in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #41 written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Christopher Allen, colors by David Curiel, and letters by Cory Petit.
In the year of our Lord 2022, just when I thought all irony and ridiculousness had been used up by the cosmos, along comes the idea (invention?) of “quiet quitting.”
What is quiet quitting? Sneaking out the back office during lunch? Stealing the company laptop and absconding to Panama. Nope! Quiet quitting is when you do your job and…that’s it. You just do your job! You do no more – and no less! – of what your job requires.
No overtime. No extra effort. No burning the midnight oil.
Apparently that’s a bad thing. And of course, it’s all the fault of millennials.
Of course.
Now for those of us with a little work and life experience, we know quiet quitting is not quitting at all. It’s quite the opposite. It’s choosing to prioritize life around joy and not, well, work. It’s not quiet quitting; it’s living out loud!
This isn’t a bad thing!
This is a good thing!
So since doing the bare minimum is something we should celebrate, then Miles Morales #41 is certainly a celebratory issue. No more – and no less! – then the bare minimum gets done here, and I’ve got to respect it, lest I become a hypocrite.
Miles faces off against Selim, who brought his entire other dimensional empire to the front door of the revolution. Selim talks a lot while fighting Miles, gaining the upper hand until Uncle Aaron gets involved; Selim, on the ropes, threatens to blow himself up; Other dimensional Ganke flies away, sacrificing his life to give the revolutionaries a victory. Miles’ Other dimensional little sister then takes up the Spider mantle, in honor of her slain brother and pseudo brother. It’s…well, it is what it is. The dialogue is banal but not offensive; the plot is simple; the action is drawn pretty darn well!
There’s no deeper meanings to be found here; no allusions and insinuations in the plot. Everything is linear, straightforward, not challenging. Which isn’t a bad thing! It’s just…
Enough. Just enough.
And not a bit more.
Enough, to be fair, isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s kind of a throwback thing: before 39 year old men could review comics on the interwebs, comics were solely, directly aimed at kids. Simplicity was the point. Directness and unambiguous morality was the code. Literally. And while these anachronisms can feel limiting to those of us exposed to what comics could be, I argue there’s a place for comics like this, comics just good enough so the reader doesn’t have to think after they put the issue down.
Now, should that comic be *this* comic? Well, that’s a conversation for another time. I have deeper thoughts about what it means to be just enough given what and who Miles represents, thoughts I’ll save for the review of final issue, number 42, on sale next month, where I’ll give Ahmed’s Miles Morales run the retrospective it deserves.
And not a word more.
Am I ending a review on a cliffhanger? Am *I* quiet quitting on this review?
You’ll have to read next week to find out.
A proud New Orleanian living in the District of Columbia, Jude Jones is a professional thinker, amateur photographer, burgeoning runner and lover of Black culture, love and life. Magneto and Cyclops (and Killmonger) were right.
Find more of Jude’s writing here.
