Truth be told, I followed this story to see what would be happening to Ben Reilly for the next part of his story. If that is why you’re here, you won’t find much about Ben, but you will find a great story. I was very entertained and surprised by how much drive and heart Erica Schultz gave to the characters within. After the Dark Web trade paperback and event, Hallows’ Eve leaves a much better taste in your mouth. Prepare for a story that will place a person in a situation that challenges great power with great responsibility.
This trade paperback collects the complete Hallows’ Eve five-issue miniseries and has an excellent cover gallery, given the miniseries had quite a collection of variants. The inner parts of the cover have reading guides that suggest the Amazing Spider-Man Beyond and Dark Web trades as readings before this story. Suppose you’re entirely new to the character of Janine Godbe. In that case, this trade is a wonderful place to begin as Erica Schultz fleshes out the character and details enough of her past to build motivations for this story. After this trade, if you want to continue with Janine, I would recommend Spider-Man: The Lost Years and Spider-Man: Redemption for more insights into Janine’s past.
Artist Michael Dowling and colorist Brian Reber joins Erica Schultz for the entire miniseries, which is excellent as it helps keep the continuity of the story and vibe consistent, making this a read you could do in one or two sittings. Dowling has great layouts that give epic views to the action sequences and can then focus on the character pieces as moments shift to a personal level. What is fun about this story is that the characters are familiar but have yet to be fleshed out, so you get to discover more about Godbe, Maxine Danger, and Marcus Momplaisir. The story is an entertaining, new twist on character growth and owning their actions while being in the established portion of the Spider-Man Universe.
Dowling gets to flex his skills as Godbe’s powers are high in range but have a “Halloween Monster” vibe to them. Dowling gets to be imaginative on the page to show these powers with an inexperienced heroine. Brian Reber adds depth to the scenes with the color choices, as they play very nicely to this character’s dark, muted Halloween nature. The creative team gives us a story that showcases people rising to do the right thing or own their faults, but in the end, it goes back to Godbe’s original desire, Ben Reilly. I wish the editing team for this collection would have added the Hallows’ Eve story from the Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2023 to give us that story point’s conclusion.
Hallows’ Eve is a great adventure that takes everyday people and puts them in situations that call out their true selves. Erica Schultz has taken the character of Janine Godbe and grown her into a reluctant hero perfect for the Spider-Verse. Take an entertaining spin on great power and great responsibility.
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