Let Us Make War — Reviewing ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man’ #31

Web shooters, guns, and katanas have been lowered. The battle between Deadpools and Spider-Man has come to a mutual conclusion. Unfortunately, there is an even higher power involved who just gave the orchestrator of this little crossover battle a much needed power boost.

A little godly power surely isn’t too much for this quartet of (mostly) heroic figures…right? Right!?

Guess we’re about to find out as Cody Ziglar, Luigi Zagaria, Bryan Valenza, and Cory Petit bring the “Pools Of Blood” crossover to a (not so decisive) end.

One writing hand across this event definitely helped. Since these characters are currently part of Ziglar’s bread and butter at the publisher. Able to bounce them off one another well, still feature their unique development and character moments, while also setting up future plots. None of it feels rushed, lacking, or hurried in any way.

Throwing Gods into the mix for Spider-Man paying off to help Wade with his own magical revenge issues was pretty sweet.

All the action was fantastic, more on that in a bit, but I think the character moments we got were far more powerful and endearing. Shift is a character inherited from the previous run, where Miles got his own Clone Saga story. He’s loyal brother, of sorts, trying to grow and find his own way, accepted by Miles’ family and friends easily so far.

Seeing Shift speak to how uncomfortable it is to play at being Miles, when he’s had nothing of his own in life was heart-wrenching. This is followed by a heartwarming moment where Miles agrees and uses his new found family knowledge (from the recent Annual issue!) to help Shift gain the name of Jamie Morales. This is coupled with the plan to get him into school on his own to let him be his full own person.

That’s the character stuff that keeps us coming back to these books right there.

As I said, the action stuff was pretty fun and epic. Zagaria gave them the weight, lightness, power, and whimsical energy they need and deserve.

There is a certain energy that characters like Spider-Man demand when they are in action. It’s slick, dynamic, and really leaning on their bouncy everywhere sort of fighting style. Through the choices made here we really gain that feeling. Each of the moments in the fights, both solo and as the group, are chaotic, yet organized.

There are plenty of very whimsical stylings throughout., giving things that sort of light feeling alongside the naturally heavier aspect of the style. It pairs well with the color palette brought into play by Valenza, who is really a solid anchor on this book, shifting the colors naturally to fit whoever is working on the art in a given time.

He hits the more vibrant and muted lanes at the same time. This allows the more standard backdrops and the like to keep their relatable feeling, breeding familiarity and fitting the Marvel ideal of being the world outside our window. This also leaves the denser, richer, and more stand out colors for the various fantastical beings bounding through the pages.

Similarly, the various bits of lettering find that same balance throughout, shifting to give various characters their own unique voices. I love the very ‘out there’ way that the bubbles for Kwaku Anansi and the god-powered Gao stand out. Their thick uneven bubble borders and stark colorful fonts feel elevated. There’s a variety of other modifiers that really allow every letter to sing and give off the right energies through and through.

I can’t wait to see what other things arise as Miles stumbles into the ancient Godly conflicts. I love when we get more Hercules. We don’t get enough of that guy anymore. It makes me want to revisit the late 2000s and early 2010s when he was everywhere. Including his own title, replacing the Hulk.

Ahh, those were the days.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #31 is now available from Marvel Comics.