Spider-Verse #2: I Don’t Want To Hate An Old Lady

This second issue of Spider-Verse has all the thrills that you could want and/or need in a mega Spidey crossover. It’s got almost everything. Everything except the urgency. Or the cool characters. Or a story that gets resolved. You get the idea. Author Ryan North really has the willingness and excitement and ambition that other writers lack, I just don’t think he’s ready for this kind of crossover yet.  This is a book that should (by all means) affect every single aspect of the Spider-Man universe, but instead, we get stuck in a very specific universe, watching the heroes battle evil versions of themselves from another dimension. Believe me, I wish it was as cool as it sounds. I understand that this is the nature of the beast. “Events” lose some steam and luster as time goes by. Where this should’ve been Secret Wars starring every Spider-Man and every villain doing battle, this became a sort of “what haven’t we done with the Spider-Man cast yet” sort of story. This book should be a great big celebration of Spider-Man, but it’s almost more like a Star Trek episode where crew members from the Mirror Universe invade and they all fight. I tried to find something that I liked about the plot but came up empty-handed. I’m not saying this book is a waste of time. In fact, I’m betting some people will no doubt love this issue, unfortunately, I won’t be one of them.

The art by Pere Perez this issue is pretty average. I think he’s a good artist given the right project, this just isn’t it. A big Spider-Man fight book needs lots of bold lines, action that’s huge and not hard to follow. You’re basic punch first and ask questions later superhero book. Perez does make some interesting art choices this issue, I’m not sure if this decision was him or colorist Marte Garcia, but for a couple of the characters in the book, their evil counterparts have a darker colored sweater on. Seriously. That’s it. His take on Miles, the glue that holds the story together, is fantastic. I would read a Miles Morales book of Perez was the artist.

Now, it sounds like I’m crapping on this book, and I kind of am. But it’s because I hold this book to a higher standard than most. I mean, this is a Marvel comic. A Spider-Man comic. An event comic. I should be singing the praises of this book from the rooftops. Instead, I’m just holding out hope that the next issue is going to be better.