Miles Morales: Spider-Man #8: Halloween in July

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #8 picks up a little while after the events of Carnage Reigns, with Miles taking the time to relax after one of his most intense stories yet. While he and his friends attend a Brooklyn Street Festival across town, a familiar yet always enigmatic villain is creeping, ready to cause mischief and chaos. Just as Miles settles in for some civilian fun, their nights collide into one as Miles is forced to ditch the festival and face down the Hobgoblin!

This issue is the best of both worlds regarding a superhero comic book. It’s action-packed and pulpy while giving much room to showcase and develop more of Mile’s world outside of being Spider-Man. While we’ve seen that world before, we haven’t seen it guided by Ziglar and Vicentini. Because of this, the issue can maintain a surprising amount of narrative momentum while allowing readers to take a breather. It’s a delicate balancing act that the team pulls off well.

The return of the Hobgoblin occurred very recently within the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. Still, the story was left with a tone of unresolved and empty threads that the team here has picked up on and seamlessly integrated into Mile’s account. He and the Hobgoblin happen to cross paths, making the Hobgoblin a personal threat to Miles not because of any contrived or forced story reasons but because Gobby has wholly disrupted his attempt at having a regular night off. The team also expertly ties this book into the broader story unfolding in The Amazing Spider-Man but does so without touching what hasn’t been working with that book. It’s a perfect blend of being inherently connected to a broader narrative while maintaining a story of its own, and for that, I give the team kudos.

Hobgoblin, and by extension, every character in this book, whether Ziglar has written them before or not, has a great voice. The dialogue writing is sharp and used when necessary, with Gobby coming off as the cunningly unhinged villain we all know and love. What’s always made this character distinct from Norman or Harry as Green Goblin was their genuine madness, making them unpredictable, unlike Kingsley’s use of strategic misinformation and brainwashing. Hobgoblin is a different character regardless of who is in the suit, but it’s delightful to see Ziglar tackle the surface in a way that’s on point. The same could be said for Miles and his friends caught in this issue.

Federico Vicentini continues to excel in artistry. Their background and setting work allow them to flourish here, as a sense of authenticity and vitality is brought to the street carnival scenes in Brooklyn. Their designs for the Hobgoblin, his expressions, and the intensity of his demeanor all help elevate the book’s action and atmosphere whenever he’s on the page.