Look Out, Villains! Reviewing ‘Peter Parker & Miles Morales Spider-Men: Double Trouble’ #2

What’s better than having one Spider-Man in a fun truly all-ages comic book? Two Spider-Men in a truly all-ages comic! Well good news on that front, because that’s exactly what you get if you dive into Peter Parker & Miles Morales: Spider-Men: Double Trouble #2. Two Spider-Mans for the price of one. Can’t beat that deal.

Mariko Tamaki and Vita Ayala have easily taken both Peter and Miles and found the best ways to put them in the most accessible stories that do not need to follow any canon but their own while maintaining everything that has made the characters who they are for the decades and decade that they have existed. That’s no small feat right there. Anyone new dropping into this story won’t need a crash course on anything Marvel, because if they know who these characters are (hard not to with how prevalent they are in pop culture) and who their foes are for the most part they will be sucked right into this story and be left craving the next issue.

Choosing a smaller more contained action bit in the first was such a solid call because it gave us not only plenty of space for the two heroes to bounce off each other but the fuzzy ball beings were just a fun sort of issue for the characters to deal with. That made it so that this issue could really dive in deep by throwing in tons of the Spider rogues (also Villain Con is freaking genius, I love it, want to see more) as well as separate the heroes to allow them to bounce off things on their own. No matter what part of the Internet keeps claiming, Miles is Spider-Man and we see that fully here as we should.

Dude has all the quips, and sorry Peter but his quips are probably better than yours but it’s okay buddy, and took on a ton of the biggest Spider rogues on his own without breaking a sweat while making sure not to put civilians in danger. If that’s not Spider-Man material right there than I don’t know what is. Which pairs nicely with the choice to have Peter be the one who stops to help someone in need who turns out to be someone not great putting him in a tight spot, when many would have thought to switch those roles. Despite what Peter, and Rhino, says, Miles is no sidekick and he makes sure to show that here.

Creating a fun light-hearted superhero story that is still 100% a superhero comic book is also no small feat, but Gurihiru makes it seem like the easiest thing in the world. Various elements in the world from the characters to spaces are allowed to be their own thing, not beholden to realistic proportions or standards, able to move through the world easily in energetic and animated ways. Yet, the world around them follows a lot of the real-world rules with how the city and spaces are set up and in how detailed and real they can look at times.

What I mentioned about the proportions and the animated energy of the characters actually makes the action way more fluid and powerful in its own way. Watching Miles in action is gorgeous with how Gurihiru brings it to life, every single panel feeling like it’s actually moving and could all just burst off the page or pull us right into the world itself to witness such beauty.

All of this adds up to a world that still feels like it fits the Marvel aesthetic of being the world outside our window, but also has a feeling of being something fantastical as it should. With the same feeling coming from the coloring work that comes into play. There is a very toned-down quality to the world itself which allows the various colorful characters to be the vivid pops of color in the world as they should be. It allows them to stand apart from the more normal elements, which in turn keeps our focus on them more than on the more common backgrounds that might be around them.

Also, I dare any big Marvel Comic fan to not get giddy at all the fun visual cameos to be found in the Villain con portions, both in actual villains and cosplayers dressing as villains. Which, that is such a nice touch. Of course, there would be folks that dress up like and cheer on the villains of the Marvel Universe. Even real life villains have their fan base.

As mentioned all the visuals are very much hitting that mix of serious and fun, and that includes the lettering as well. Cory Petit is so darn good at really hitting the given energy a story needs with lettering and this series is no exception. We get plenty of characters that have bubbles and text that are pretty standard in their font and bubble type, but their personality is so infused into those words and the tone of them is perfectly clear to make sure we can hear and feel the displayed emotions even more. These are right next to other characters who have colorful bubbles with a variety of font types and styles, matching their energy perfectly. Will never stop loving Venom’s white on black bubbles standing opposite of the standard black on white bubbles.

Within the comics SFX are another tool that lets us hear things within the comic world and can either be right there in the thick of things or a to the side accessory to the moment. Here we get a great mix of both, but they are all colorful and vary in style because sounds themselves vary in quality and volume so the word representation of them should as well. They are big and wild and colorful and it’s just a beautiful sight. I might have mentioned a time or ten that I really really really like some good colorful bold SFX, in case you didn’t notice.

Peter Parker & Miles Morales: Spider-Men: Double Trouble #2 is now available from Marvel Comics.