Spider-Men II #1
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Sara Pichelli
Colorist: Justin Ponsor
Cover: Sarah Pichelli & Justin Ponsor
Before we even get into the story we are going to sit here and talk about the art team of Sara Pichelli and Justin Ponsor. They have been with Miles since day one and it seems only right that they’re here for another pivotal moment with this character. Pichelli’s work on the character is both familiar and different mostly because Miles has grown up a bit over the years. However, she maintains his defining look down to that little part in his hair that inconsistently shows up but it’s a staple in his visual asthetic that only Pichelli adds. The action and smaller moments both nail the narrative beats while those panels without dialogue always seem to do more. This has as much to do with Ponsor’s colors bringing out the necessary intensity and emotion as it does with Pichelli’s excellent art. They also deliver one intimidating Taskmaster character design right before we see the other Miles Morales!
As far as the story goes, Bendis drops a nice refresher for those that might have missed the events of Spider-Men. After reading this we already see Miles and Peter in a bad situation before we flashback to a week prior. But as enjoyable as the issue is it just doesn’t sit right when it comes to Peter saying Miles should stop being Spider-Man. It just seems to come out of nowhere and unless Peter became the Amazingly Perfect Spider-Man recently it just seems hypocritical. It also seems like a drastic shift from how they were interacting with one another in the past. Peter seems more like overbearing jerk than protective mentor. There are some nice comedic moments and it’s always good chemistry when Bendis gets Miles and Ganke together. After all of the action and well paced build-up Bendis drops us off with the perfect intro to the other Miles.
It’s good to see the creative team who first introduced Miles Morales to us kick things off in a big way here. Spider-Men II definitely is strong enough to pull back those readers who enjoyed the first and if you missed part one getting into this one is still pretty easy. So if you’ve been patiently waiting for this reveal I suggest you grab this one even if it’s for the art alone!
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