Welcome back! It’s been a wild couple of weeks in the Spider-Verse, and we’re looking at two very different but complementary parts of the Spider-Verse this week. This time around LaTonya Pennington looks at Miles Morales: Spider-Man #24 and Tony Thornley dives into Spider-Boy Annual #1.
Bailey Briggs has his life back! Now he has some catching up to do, both in and out of costume. That does mean it’s time for some fun, but it may set him on a collision course with both the Circus of Crime and some very powerful new allies from Steve Foxe, Carlos Nieto, Fer Sifuentes-Sujo, and Joe Caramagna.
For a short period, Spider-Boy really felt like a case of “trying to make fetch happen.” Then again, this wasn’t the first time Dan Slott had created a character that seemed forced (just look at Silk’s first year of existence). Then his ongoing series hit, and surprisingly it worked.
Bailey has gone from a forced addition and retcon to an actually interesting new addition to the Spider-Verse. He’s not as strong an addition to the canon as Miles was out of the gate, but he’s on the road to be the next Silk or Arana.
This annual was a lot of fun (though don’t judge it by it’s extremely dour Salvador Larroca cover), but also a great example of the place Bailey can have in the Marvel Universe. On one hand, this is a self contained adventure. It shows Bailey trying his best to prove himself, putting him face to face with a classic Spidey villain and even getting in a team up. On the other, it fits the Marvel Comics theme of “Spider-Man being used to get a new guy over” that has recurred for the entirety of the Web-slinger’s history.
Foxe has a lot of fun playing with Spider-Boy’s personality, giving him a distinct presence on the page from Peter, Miles, Jessica or any other number of Spider-people, but showing their direct influence on him. He’s very much a product of those relationships that have been hinted at (and now have a fully retconned in history). Giving him a team-up with equally new characters enhances this story- unlike some of the other chapters in this Infinity Guard crossover. Here, Apex and Multitude are both an asset to the story and not shoe-horned in.
Nieto has a fantastic, dynamic line. He plays with POV and dynamic character placement to make this adventure seem larger than life even before the fantastic elements enter the story. Sifuentes-Sujo’s colors are a little muted for this high energy story, but overall it still works.
But I think for me, this annual might just be proof of concept for Spider-Boy as a character. He’s not just a pet character of a writer who’s a bit past his prime and just playing his greatest hits. He’s actually an interesting and complex character on his own. Do I think he’s perpetually going to star in a title from here? No, not necessarily, but he definitely has some legs, and I think that’s probably the most important.
Miles Morales is still battling his vampirism. He’s about to explode though. It’s the perfect time for the Vulture to show up as Cody Ziglar, Federico Vincentini, Bryan Valenza and Cory Petit.
Issue 24 picks up where the previous issue left off, with Tiana Toomes confronting her grandfather, the villain Vulture, on the rooftop of Tiana’s home. I had assumed Vulture might want a favor from her, but it turns out he wanted to warn her to stay away from Miles. Vulture thinks she will end up hurt or worse if she stays close to Miles, so Vulture decides to take it upon himself to take care of Miles.
Being the superhero Starling in addition to Miles’ girlfriend, Tiana doesn’t take this threat sitting down, pulling out a gun on Vulture. Vulture doesn’t try to fight back, but Tiana struggles to pull the trigger on a family member. Considering how she already lost her parents, it makes sense that she doesn’t want to lose another family member, even if he is a villain.
It is here that Spider-Man shows up, still worked up from the events of the previous issue. He intended to visit Tiana to talk things out, but with Vulture there things have changed. Now, Miles has an excuse to take his pent up feeling out on Vulture. Federico Vicentini’s dynamic art of Miles “thwipping” into battle is a highlight here, as is Bryan Valenza’s vibrant colors and Corey Petit’s lettering. I really like the contrast between Miles’ webbing and his venom blast, as well as Petit’s big red letters for the “BZZT” and “THWFF”.
If you recall last issue, Miles ain’t supposed to be using his venom blasts because the more he uses it, the more his vampiric urges are hard to ignore. Of course, Miles is hardheaded as any teenager might be. Cody Ziglar writes his emotional state well, his inner monologue stating, “Full of so much energy, I feel like I’mma explode. So I need a place direct it.” It is here that I am reminded of when Cindy Moon lost control of her anger and took it out on Black Cat, but Miles’ situation is worse b/c of his anger affecting his spidey powers and vampire thirst.
Another effect that Miles’ venom blast has is that it gives his suit a cool, yet sinister yellow glow. I don’t recall if it did that in the previous issue, but it emphasizes how Miles is having difficultly keeping his heightened power in check. As cool as it is to see Miles form his venom blast into a sword in an energetic double-page spread, this is also the catalyst that makes Miles’ vampire thirst hard to ignore.
Tiana, who has been watching this entire fight horrified, finally fires the gun she’d been holding. It is a warning shot that goes off just as Miles bends down to bite Vulture’s neck. Luckily, Miles still has his mask on, so Tiana doesn’t know he is a vampire yet.
This warning shot also brings Miles to his senses as he realizes what he has done. At this point, I want Miles to get some therapy because he clearly needs help controlling his emotional impulses. He also feels remorse for his actions and apologizes to Vulture, who uses a flash-bang to escape.
Miles starts to go after Vulture, but Tiana stops him. I really appreciate how she doesn’t stand for Miles’ “emo angst shit” as she calls it. She demands that Miles explain himself and get his act together, but the two are interrupted by a phone call from Misty Knight. It is during said phone call that Tiana learns about Miles being a vampire and that Misty Knight and Doctor Kwan might be able to help.
Speaking of Misty Knight, the only reason I recognized her is because she had the bionic arm and red outfit. I’m used to seeing Misty having an afro, so seeing her without it was surprising. I wish her character design had been better, but she is not really who Miles is here to see so I can mostly overlook it.
Instead, the true guest of honor is the one and only Black Panther! Apparently he had experience with vampiric urges in the past, and he wants to help Miles control his. He certainly is an interesting choice for helping Miles, especially since the recent Miles Morales annual saw Miles getting help from Bloodline, daughter of Blade.
Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing where Black Panther’s training of Miles goes, because he will sure need it. The end of the comic sees Vulture getting himself some new wings and promising to get his revenge on Miles. I hope Tiana and Miles can get some upgrades in the next issue too.
Tony Thornley is a geek dad, blogger, Spider-Man and Superman aficionado, X-Men guru, autism daddy, amateur novelist, and all around awesome guy. He’s also very humble.
Latonya Pennington is a freelance contributor whose comics criticism can be found at Women Write About Comics, Comic Book Herald, Newsarama and Shelfdust, among others.
