A Bite Out Of Crime — Reviewing ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man’ #12

What could be worse for Spider-Man than dealing with vampires in Brooklyn? A superspeed vigilante with a Spider-Man-shaped vendetta.

Vampire threats take on a whole new dimension in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #12, thanks to Cody Ziglar, Partha Pratim, Bryan Valenza, and Cory Petit.

Superhero comics fit a whole lot of spaces. They can be powerfully poignant, pulling at every emotional string, or pressingly relevant. At their core, though, one thing that brings people back time and time again is their fun aspect. Of course, not all superhero stuff is wild wacky fun, but the comics that can mix and match are often the best.

We get that with this series as we’ve had some very emotional and heavy beats, but also some very light-hearted ones. Vampires are just a fun concept, even when they are dark, because there is so much that can be done with them.

Ziglar is one of those writers who can write all the necessary tones, weaving them together like a big warm cuddly blanket that you just don’t want to leave. Miles Morales is a character with so much potential. At this point though he’s not the rookie hero he once was, as he’s been around for over a decade in real time and years in universe. Seeing him handle his own against a superspeed vampire, still struggling to do so, was the chef’s kiss.

I love these little types of story arcs. There are still little bits of the overall series bits happening but it’s mostly just a fun little romp. Throwing Blade and Bloodline into the whole thing makes it even sweeter. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, this is the type of series Miles Morales deserves.

Besides the fun element and the rich character depth, the visuals just work so well. Each artist that has graced the pages just seems to get how a Spider-Man book should work. What I mean by that is it should feel fluid, graceful, flexible, and breathe. That’s because Spider-Man is a character that is bouncing around, flipping, swinging, and all that. Pratim returns after handling a portion of the tenth issue, getting the whole one this time.

An element that helps with that kinetic feeling is the paneling. I’m a sucker for paneling that is abnormal. In the sense that it’s not just squares or rectangles, but a variety of polygonal shapes. Twisting panels so that they are at various angles allows the black negative space behind to peek through and provide interesting counters to the panels (also interesting borders). Shifting the perspective from wider shots to a lot of angled close-ups, all of it allowing things to feel genuine in a movement sense.

Also, there is a neat roughness to Pratim’s style. It works so well for a rough vampire story, with all those sharp fangs and claws.

Visual continuity within a title is just as important as the writing continuity. One way that a story can achieve that, even with shifting artists, is through a solid colorist. This series has that in Valenza who has been here through all the shifting styles. Speaking of shifting, that is something Valenza does so well. There is a firm choice to what Valenza does with colors, but it shifts in small ways to match up with what the artists are delivering stylistically.

Here, they take on a somewhat lighter approach. It’s a bit toned down. There are plenty of heavier shadows mixed in, this is a darker vampire story after all, adding some depth and weight to things. Even with the overall colors, chiefly the background, being lighter there are plenty of more vibrant popping colors to find. Those are generally within the costumes and more fantastical elements in play, such as power usage and such. Doing this is a solid way to make sure that the heroes, villains, etc. stand out far more from the more realistic elements (the world outside our window).

Speaking of visual continuity, what Petit brings on letters fills that space and so much more. Just like how the panels flow around in interesting ways, so too do the dialogue and captions. Even as they seemingly bounce around like a spider does, there is an ordered flow to it all. Easy to follow, allowing the voices of the characters and world to resonate. Little changes here or there with the fonts, colors, and bubbles allow the personality and emotions of each character to be heard so clearly.

Can’t forget all the energetic colorful SFX, allowing the natural sounds of the world (and some unnatural) to get the attention they deserved. What can I say, I love some big fun SFX in comic books. It’s 100% right there in that fun wheelhouse I started things off talking about.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #12 is now available from Marvel Comics.