Does Whatever A Spider Can — Reviewing ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man’ #19

Miles Morales’ legacy anniversary time has passed, but the danger to himself, those he loves, and many others has not. Rabble’s revenge hits close to home as the arachnid hero is faced with the hardest of choices: retribution or forgiveness.

Strap in as the massive battle comes to a very world-shattering conclusion in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #19 from Cody Ziglar, Federico Vicentini, Bryan Valenza, and Cory Petit.

This is not a slow or happy issue. It’s rough, frantic, and hard-hitting right from the word go.

Every single blow that is landed or painful attack is very much felt, because Vicentini was built for a story like this. An art style that is both whimsically soft but also razor sharp at the same time. An inherent visible knowledge that Spider-Man books should have an ordered chaotic energy to them that can’t even be fully explained. Bouncing the character and the audience around from panel to panel, as the orientation and placement slips and slides.

There is a point where Miles is brutally injured in a full page spread. It felt so raw, so much power coming off the page, I almost grabbed the corresponding body part on myself in sympathy pain.

Pairing that artwork with Valenza’s colors creates something so perfect.

Just like the artwork, these colors find that right middle ground. Coming in heavy with shadows really permeating every spot that they can. Letting us feel that ominous energy everywhere, because we should in such a dire no holds barred situation. Yet, there are plenty of very vibrant bright colors sprinkled throughout. Because this is a big superpowered costume brawl after all.

Each of their apparels and the ways their powers work is loud, colorfully punching our eyes with every blow the characters land.

We get a couple pages where Rabble essentially blinds Miles with light. It would have been easy to just write that and have dialogue tell us that he can’t see as he stumbles around. No no, this team goes one step further. During those panels they suck the color away, everything is in black and white mirroring the flash of light that Rabble used against Miles.

Freaking brilliant.

Seeing Miles pushed to his limits, being the hero, he’s meant to be is such a beautiful thing. Ziglar has been pulling the strings this whole time, giving myself and probably tons of other Miles’s comic fans just what we’ve been craving. Along with numerous things we didn’t even know we wanted.

What we get with this series is the best of both worlds. Great dives into characters like Scorpion, who get the short end of the Rogue’s stick far too often, or Rhino. Alongside that is something that Miles has been missing since he debuted: his own nemesis.

His Green Goblin, if you will, is an easy comic equivalent.

Someone that has a bone to pick with him personally, not just the myriad of Peter Parker foes he usually has tangled with. Not that I mind seeing him take on those guys, because as I said Ziglar gives them far more depth than some have had in a long time (if ever). Seeing Miles get his own Rogues gallery though is the cherry on top of this already amazing sundae.

Through and through this was a Spider-Man story. Great power and great responsibility mean that things aren’t easy. Spidey takes tons of lumps but in the end still perseveres to do the right thing. In this case the right thing was finding a way to take Rabble down, but in a merciful hopefully she gets help way. Crossing the line the way she wanted Miles to do so was never in the cards for the young hero, no matter what.

Every single thought, quip, and utterance that punctuated this brawl has such energy when Petit is behind them. Letting the words go where they must, through careful distinctive manipulation of the fonts, bubbles, and more. Taking all the paths which let character’s voices ring loud and clear, emotionally raw all the way through.

Fingers crossed we don’t lose this title anytime soon, because I need many more years of all this.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #19 is now available from Marvel Comics.