Spider-Man #7: In The Spider-Verse, No One Will Hear You Scream

Spider-Man #7 is a gratuitous read, indulging the worst parts of the multiverse trope without applying any of its positives to the overall story. Part Indiana Jones and part Star Wars, it’s a surprise Slott was unable to find worthwhile in this finale.

Everything about this issue, as a finale, was constructed with competence at the very least. The plotting is fine, the dialogue is nuanced, and the narrative is fine, if a bit rushed. The disappearance of Peter, Kaine, and Jessica Drew is wrapped up with great speed and clarity. Morlun is finally put to rest, and the Web of Destiny is successfully dismantled, Silk eventually becoming the center star as the Spider Queen. Everything one would want from the definitive ending to all of Dan Slott’s Spider-Verse lore is here sterilely.

The attempts here to tell a character-driven story are slim to none; this seven-issue epic serves as an IP farm for different Spider-Man re-skins with surface-level character traits and no development. The entire storyline lacks a main character or an emotional center. Shathra, as a villain, posed no threat.

The end of the world holds little water in superhero comics, and Shathra’s entire purpose as an antagonist is to bring about the end of the world. She doesn’t challenge anyone at a personal level, which makes sense as this storyline has little character work. It’s a collection of messily drawn action scenes within a multiverse of boredom that retreads previous Spider-Verse storylines with nothing but surface-level writing.

Not even Mark Bagley could save this storyline. His art is muddy, whether it be the colorist’s fault, the inker’s, or his own. However, it being Mark Bagley, it’s still really high-technique art, but it’s visibly apparent that drawing hundreds of Spider-people was laborious, wearing his work down.