I’ve always had a soft spot for extra-dimensional stories. When done right, they can show characters you know and love in different ways with completely different stakes and continuity, ensuring that the idea that everything will work itself out by the end is off the table. Spider-Verse has been a terrific opportunity for just that, but with an overall narrative leading to the same place, it keeps the stakes high.
There are a lot of concepts to toss around and characters to meet, but this story is overall one of fun and about establishing these characters, which it does fantastically and with an incredible economy of space. The next story’s a little different and the less I reveal about it the better, but suffice it to say: it’s written by Roger Stern, it features the six-armed wallcrawler and Spider-Man Noir and is surprisingly touching in its conclusion. Spider-Verse can be a pretty grim event, all told, so seeing happy endings to some of these stories is a breath of fresh air and Stern writing one of the most scientifically minded Parkers teaming with one of the least is also a delightful juxtaposition.
The Bad
In both cases, the art looks great when the characters are still or conversing, but the action is stiff and feels overly posed. The first story in particular is full to the brim of splash pages that lack a sense of force or dynamism and the bulky characters don’t suit their acrobatic moves. The level of detail also varies wildly as some panels look great and others almost wind up looking like storyboards with color more than actual panels.
The Verdict
If you’re already invested in Spider-Verse, this one’s a no-brainer. It presents more of the spiders that we’ve already met and even introduces us to one or two more. This series is beginning to feel like a real love-letter to Spider-Fans, and this series looks to be the fan-service-est of them all. If you’re on the fence about the series, or the main characters, this won’t do anything to change your mind, but if all you want is more, this delivers.
Get full review from Comic Vine here
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