This week, Marvel is celebrating diversity and the Spider-Verse with an all-new Marvel’s Voices appropriately titled Marvel’s Voices: Spider-Verse. Customary for the Marvel’s Voices line, this anthology one-shot features multiple characters – including some new ones – diverse creators, and interviews. Featuring eight stories, this is a good collection that celebrates the vast Spider-Verse and where it all started with Miles Morales.
Kicking things off is an introduction by Sana Amanat, who details the amazing introduction of Miles Morales over ten years ago and how he changed the game. Having been an editor at the time of Ultimate Spider-Man, Amanat does well to offer an insider look and explain the idea that anyone can be Spider-Man is so impactful and important.
The first story is by Vita Ayala and Alberto Jimenez Alburquerque and focuses on Miles Morales, who has to manage his busy superhero schedule and get to his mother’s birthday on time. Sporting the at-the-time new costume that has since been retired, Alburquerque captures the fun of the character as he saves many different lives. This short reminds us Miles is a hero of the people, and incredibly selfless.
Next is Steve Foxe and Luciano Vecchio’s Web-Weaver story, which opens up this version of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery. Coop just wants to enjoy a pool party, but soon a mysterious foe is wrecking everything. This foe loops in a ton of familiar-looking villains, but they’re from Web-Weaver’s universe, so they’ve got a unique twist. The villains are cleverly designed and allow Foxe and Vecchio to flesh out this character’s world a bit. The message that you don’t mess with people like Coop and his friends is a good one as there’s a brotherhood and camaraderie in Coop’s culture that’s unmistakable.
Love the nods to Spider-Man history in the bottom panels.
Credit: Marvel
Jeremy Holt and Eric Koda are behind the next story featuring Silk. This is an incredibly well-timed story, as Silk is dealing with the stresses of her days, possibly in the wrong ways. Told exclusively from a first-person perspective, we see Silk go in and out of her consciousness (or maybe it’s memory?) as she seems to lose track of herself. It’s a good message: we must slow down and care for ourselves. It’s also visually arresting as the perspective puts you right there with Silk and her troubling situation. You don’t often see stories told in first person, giving it an extra uniqueness and special quality.
J. Holtham tackles Spider-Punk in the next story with art by Ken Lashley. The visuals in this story are incredible, with great colors by Ceci De La Cruz. With Norman Osborn vanquished, we get to see Spider-Punk and his band let their hair down, but a rival band made up of villains messes things up. This story features some of the best art you’ll see all week. The dialogue is well written too, and aside from a rather abrupt ending, it’s a solid Spider-Punk story that’ll please fans.
The art in the Spider-Punk story is fire.
Credit: Marvel
Jason Loo writes and draws the next story, which features a new version of Spider-Man from a different universe who is from Korea, sports a new costume, and has a similar life as Peter Parker. The new costume is super fun and has a ’90s aesthetic, which is framed well as a TV show sitcom similar to Friends. It’s a unique take, with his friends being more of the main characters, even though he’s Spider-Man. Loo loops in May as a major influence in the story, and it’s nice to see the bond Spider-Man and Aunt May have. It’s an interesting twist on Spider-Man, too, since it uses familiar elements but mixes it up ever so slightly.
Cody Ziglar and Jahnoy Lindsay tackle a Spider-Man training day story featuring Miles Morales and his baby sister. Miles is getting trained by Misty Knight, but the baby–and Miles’ inability to focus–send the training on a road trip. The message is a good one and a reminder that superheroes can’t be so selflessly jumping into every battle. Sometimes you need to inspire others so they can fight for themselves too. Ziglar continues to write Miles extremely well with how he talks and his demeanor. He’s still a bit of a kid, but he’s also a serious hero when he needs to be.
Writer Cheryl Lynn Eaton and artist Julian Shaw get to introduce a new Spider-Man in this issue named Recluse. She lives in a futuristic city reminiscent of Spider-Man 2099. I think it’s her universe–it doesn’t get an Earth number like others in this story–and she’s pretty fun. The narration catches you up on the character, their arch nemesis, and the bouncy fun vibe she brings. Throw in a fun, familiar-looking hero at the end and a new adventure for another day, and it’s a nice introduction that’ll make you want more Recluse stories. Eaton nails the manic energy customary in Spider-Man characters.
Closing out the issue is a three-page story by Saint Bodhi and Crisscross. It features Spider-Gwen with a simple hook: she has to save someone secretly while at band practice. Her bandmates don’t know she’s a superhero, so she has to do it on the sly. She does it quickly, as they don’t notice she is gone even though she’s the drummer. Go figure. It’s such a short story it doesn’t add a ton, but it’s nice to see Spider-Gwen make the cut.
Throughout the one-shot are compelling interviews by Angélique Roché. They add context to new characters, the stories, or what Spider-Man and the Spider-Verse mean to these writers. It’s a good mix of content that’s strewn throughout the book. The interview with Jeremy Holt and Jason Loo was particularly revealing and helped add context and layers to the stories in this book.
There’s a lot to love in Marvel’s Voices: Spider-Verse #1, be it new adventures for familiar heroes or brand new heroes entirely. At $9.99, it’s a bit steep, but with the extra interviews, it feels like a good price since it’s mixed media that celebrates comics and everyone’s favorite Spider-Verse.
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