All Roads Lead Here — Reviewing ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man’ #17

New York City’s gang war has ended, leaving Spider-Man and his allies to pick up the pieces and remaining threats. Including one that hit closest to home for Brooklyn’s hero: Rabble.

It’s time to parse out feelings, make deals with the devil, and make plans in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #17. A big two hundred and ninety-ninth setup issue from Cody Ziglar, Partha Pratim, Federico Sabbatini, Bryan Valenza, and Cory Petit.

While the artists tend to shift and change throughout the issues of this series, the overall feeling doesn’t change much. Dynamic, kinetic, almost chaotic energy that very much fits the type of visuals a Spider-Man story should have. This is not the first go-around for Pratim and Sabbatini on the book, nor in sharing the artistic duties of an issue.

Both have a sort of rougher stylistic touch to their artwork, giving things a sort of street gritty feeling. Whether the beats are action or characters having conversations, there is a strong energy pulsating through every well-framed panel. Things bounce around, as the panels shift in shape and position on pages, fitting into that ordered chaos feeling previously mentioned. Fight scenes are where this is felt the most, allowing us a front-row seat for the amusement park-like ride that is happening.

Connecting the two styles is the toned-down, slightly rough, heavier colors that Valenza uses. In the previous issue where the two artists worked together, the color scheme changed slightly but visibly between their works. This time the colors are more uniform across the styles, unifying it all even when it’s clear there are differences.

Whether things are out in the city proper, warehouse hideouts, or city hall, it all feels unique. Because the lighting aspect is correct for what the space should look and feel like. Tons of poppier more vibrant, yet still heavy, colors pop up to remind us this is a superhero story. Powers and tech that is out of this world light up the pages.

Much of this translates into the lettering as well. Petit always finds a way to take the dialogue and captions and make them even more powerful. Throwing in colors for the font or bubbles, altering the bubble’s shape and quality, and other elements that let the words hit harder. Just a simple thing like having Rabble’s regular dialogue and her machine talk in different colors does so much. It lets our mind see the voices as different, so we can hear them differently in our heads.

Tone and volume are so clear, fonts leaping in size or boldness as characters get louder or quieter. Just like how each emotional beat resonates with each word, dripping with the energy and personality it needs.

I love what Ziglar keeps doing with this series. No matter the overall focus or threat, it’s a human story centered around Miles. Being a hero is a rough thing and there is no shying away from it within these pages. A good chunk of this issue is Miles swinging through the city while having his latest therapy session. Speaking to trauma, dealing with our past, and finding new ways to approach that which caused us pain. These were not things just glossed over after the first arc of the series.

The same goes for Rabble and her struggle and Agent Gao who searches for a new way to cling to the fight she has picked. There are no easy answers, as our hero contemplates trying to help his enemy even though she wants him dead. Ziglar shows how much Miles has grown through these seventeen issues, because of how amazing a writer he is. This is the type of growth and focus that Miles has yearned for in comic pages.

This is 100% a Spider-Man story, full of all the human elements Spidey fans crave.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #17 is now available from Marvel Comics.