by
Saladin Ahmed, Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Kemp Powers, Jeff Loveness, Cody Ziglar, Christopher Allen (Illustrator), Carmen Carnero(Illustrator), Sara Pichelli(Illustrator), Anthony Piper(Illustrator), GURU-eFX(Color Artist), David Curiel(Color Artist), Erick Arciniega(Color Artist), Rachelle Rosenberg(Color Artist), Cory Petit(Letterer)
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The middling trend on the series continues – albiet in a slightly better direction with this installment. This is just shy of a 4* rating for me, it’s better but not quite all that great yet.
After the snooze-fest that was the Clone Wars, we get to see something more fun and interesting for sure with these issues/this volume which has to juggle a tough start as Issue #29 is all about the aftermath of the aforementioned mini-event story arc while also looking forward as the publisher and the lineup of creators celebrate a milestone for the character, i.e, the 10th year since he swung onto the comic page and changed the wall-crawling franchise like no other.
I will state however, that the one complaint I have not had with this series and continues to be a strong point is the artwork. Every single artist, both the regular and the guest, bring their skills to the front and do an admirable job. The action panels in particular are full of Spidey-energy and flow and the quieter moments reflect well too. This works wonderfully until we get to the newly redesigned costume which… really didn’t work for me. I guess I get what they are going for and it’s “youthful” and creative and they’re going for a more street-wear/casual something or other – and it’s fun looking but also a bit silly? And honestly it seems the strangest kind of impractical for a street-level superhero for whom acrobatics, agility and maintaining his secret identity is key. But hey, it’s not such a major issue that I would not read the comic, it’s a design choice I don’t care for and as a fan of the character, am hoping is relatively short-lived if possible; redesign again by all means to yet another new look, but that’s just my opinion.
The dour start is not as bad as one would have thought given the ending of the last series + all that Miles has been through til now, it’s more introspective and pondering for our troubled hero.
That said, he pushes through, as Spider-Men do and keeps a forward perspective which is another hallmark of the heroes of this franchise. We get to move on from the dwelling pretty quick and then focus on the future which leads up to a nice moment where a young non-binary kid who Miles was a hero to makes another cameo alongside their mother who is learning about her childs new life and choices and in a nice touch, the kid is now studying fashion and is the designer of the new look. This is quickly followed by a new adventure kicking off as Miles and Starling are (finally) connecting and spending time after life kept them stretched and unable to make time for being a couple, only to be unceremoniously interrupted by a truly dangerous foe – Taskmaster! But who is he after? And why? Though most of the adventure is over and done with, the real challenge will come in the volume(s) to follow as Miles will try and trace who paid Tasky to attack and for what nefarious purpose! PLUS we get the return of Shift, arguably the only good thing to come out of the Clone Saga and a potential heartbreak for readers just waiting to happen – I can almost feel Ahmed telegraphing that; I’d be happy to be wrong but only time will tell!
All in all, this is a bit of an up-swing for the series that had started very strong but seen a bit of a dip (in my humble opinion) in the past two volumes and my interest had been flagging. It still looks as good as ever in the art department (though I maintain, I don’t care for the new costume), the writing is better and at least for now, I’ll keep reading.
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