Do You Even Lift — Reviewing ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man’ #33

A challenge has been delivered. Champions have been gathered. The old ways will be respected as Gods wage a war through which champions arise and do battle.

The aptly named “God War” continues as Cody Ziglar, Marco Renna, Bryan Valenza, and Cory Petit assemble the troops and debut a brand new hero.

‘Building the team’ issues have a reputation that is somewhat earned, but is also sorely mistaken in some ways. If done correctly, these issues can be a lot of fun; very character rich with illuminating developments to lead to the team formation.

It should come as no surprise by now, this series does it correctly.

Renna has such a lively fun style of artwork. It lends itself greatly to the action-packed portions of this issue as well as the quieter slice of life beats. When characters are talking, it is just as compelling as them throwing fists because of the depth, detail, and heavy emotional presentation. There is just a hint of chaotic energy crackling through the panels. That’s a core ingredient to making good Spider-Man stories.

That hint of impossible chaotic flailing energy that Miles and Peter both give off in buckets.

One of the steady hands on the book is Valenza, the stalwart master of colors. He gives them a very baseline neutral feeling in most cases here. This allows the world around the characters reflect the energy which our own world gives off, thus allowing the more vibrant tones to stand taller and be their flashy selves. It’s dense, popping, and just perfect for what needs to be conveyed no matter who is doing the artwork.

The Olympus pages in particular were intriguing. A slight shift in the overall tones and levels gave things a sort of yellowed old appearance, letting the ancientness of the space wash over the audience.

Visual energy is important when creating the lettering. It’s not just about putting words of various types on the page. Those like Petit are tasked with bringing the heart and soul onto the page with each word. Shifting bubbles and fonts are employed to accomplish the task of creating solid unique voices dripping with emotional vigor.

Everything works so much in this series.

Ziglar is probably the best writer to handle Miles on a regular basis in forever. There is just so much about the character and his world that he inherently understands. There is plenty of stuff he’s inherited and made better or naturally introduced to the benefit the character. Hell, I never thought I’d be super into the clone stuff from the last volume which turned me off.

Yet here I stand, a massive fan of Jamie/Shift and his presence in the Morales family.

I mean, just look at that scene with Shift and Gust. It’s adorable. The way that Jamie is getting a life of his own, still very thankful to his brother, is the good stuff. Having characters run into each other this way can feel cliché except with the right writer and context. Watching this group come together and bounce off one another feels so right.

Also, really glad to see the debut of Doctor Kwan’s secondary self in Powerlift. All of the teasing Ziglar did online had me intrigued and it did not disappoint. A whole new gamma powered hero who also happens to be from a marginalized group and a mental health healer? We love to see it.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #33 is now available from Marvel Comics.