Edge of Spider-Verse has to be a huge hit for Marvel Comics, or they wouldn’t be putting out a third miniseries, right? It’s also fun, as the second four-issue volume gets the trade paperback treatment this week. With a great first volume and a third on the way, how does the second trade paperback hold up?
Before I dive in, here is some background: this series spun out of Spider-Geddon, the third in a trilogy of Spider-Verse-spanning events at Marvel. Each issue features multiple stories, allowing creators to spin up their version of Spider-Man or continue with something that came before. It’s a fun celebration of Spider-Man in tasty morsels.
The first volume starts with the return of Spider-Rex by Karla Pacheco and Pere Perez. It’s the ultimate battle between Spidey and Venom, only in dinosaur mode! It’s big, it’s loud, and it’s hilarious. This creative team dazzled with Spider-Woman and continues to do so here. Closing out the first issue is “Curse of the Spider-Killer” by Zander Cannon and Guillermo Sanna. It’s a noir-esque tale that has dark horror vibes. Combined, these stories give readers a sense of how far these tales can take you.
Next up is a Spintress tale, written by David Hein, with art by Luciano Vecchio. Prepare for the delightful singing of the character, who acts like a proper Disney princess and sings quite a bit. This story has a lot of charm thanks to the clever connections to familiar-looking Disney-style characters, but also the wonderful art by Vecchio.
It’s also nice to see the creators take the character seriously, carrying forward her story from where we left off. That involves a new Disney-style Kraven that’s introduced and a mega twist that’ll make you want more from this character. I said this when this character was first introduced, but Spinstress might be one of the most clever ideas yet for a new take on Spider-Man.
I did find some of the dialogue slowed things down. Plotting-wise, the story has only a few beats before it ends, making scenes feel stuffy with lots of chatter. Still, the visuals are great, and the concepts are delightful.
In the second tale, Sky-Spider is introduced in “The Tree Child” by Benjamin Percy and Marika Cresta. This tale pairs well with the first as it’s got fantasy undertones but is much more subdued. We’re introduced to Earth 2410, where people live in thatched huts, and a witch enters, creating a curse. That curse augments the babies being born, but one baby is allowed to live when a mother hides him. This turns out to be a new take on Spider-Man. He’s kind of like a take on Robin Hood, only he can shoot three webs at a time from each arm.
I love her!
Credit: Marvel
Spider-Boy and Spider-Smasher are next up in the third issue. For the most part, the Spider-Boy story is a good one, as we get far more details about him than we knew before. I will say we’re still very much in the dark, though, and we’ll likely get a meatier backstory later. What we do get is his general vibe which is extremely positive, and some details about how he’s connected to Spider-Man’s world. It’s much easier to imagine how he fits into Spider-Man’s life if he really did exist, yet the world has forgotten him.
Ramos kills it on the art, but what else is new? The polyptych of Spider-Boy hopping around in the opening full-page splash looks cool and reminds us he doesn’t use webs. Instead, he’s super fast and is always hopping about. Ramos is very good at drawing long and lanky characters, including Spider-Boy, who may be short but certainly looks stringy, like elastic.
The second story is by Betancourt and Shaw, featuring Billie Morales. If you’re unfamiliar, they remind us who she is through a dream sequence. The story features a bunch of familiar characters but with new takes since we’re in another universe. Shaw gets to show off some interesting new costumes in that regard, which should please fans of alternate takes on heroes and villains.
The dialogue can be a little long in many scenes in this tale, but for the most part, the main character is written well, and the legacy of the Morales family lives on by the end. The pace is so slow. However, you’ll be wishing it could pick up and get to the action already.
Many will be drawn to Edge of Spider-Verse since it gives so many inventive takes on Spidey while continuing some of the best ones in smaller-chunk tales. In general, this series continues to have fun exploring alternate takes on Spider-Man, making the Spider-Verse richer for it.
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