Spectacular Spider-Men #8 probably won’t be what people expect from a Spider-Man comic. There’s actually very little of the “thwipping and quipping” that both Peter Parker and Miles Morales engage in…but that’s because they, and the rest of Empire State University, have been through a lot due to the machinations of Arcade and Mentallo. So Peter and Miles’ coffee hangout now finds itself as a de facto therapist’s office for the Arcadium’s victims.
Greg Weisman excels at bringing emotional moments to his writing; four seasons of Young Justice, along with his masterful work on The Spectacular Spider-Man animated series and Gargoyles can speak to that. I like that he’s taking the time to let others process their feelings, especially Peter and Miles – Peter glimpsed a life where he could have been wed to Gwen Stacy, while Miles’ hidden feelings for Kamala Khan were brought to the forefront. Weisman lets each of his cast members work through their issues in their own time, while also sowing seeds for things to come.
Those seeds include: Turk Barrett being a massive opportunist (as usual), Electro plotting to get revenge on Frankie Frye, an appearance from Silk (which dovetails perfectly into the therapy angle, and makes me happy because I feel Silk is a severely underrated Spider character), and a last page issue that all but guarantees readers will have to pick up the next issue. This is another of Weisman’s strengths; he’ll set up plot points that pay off later down the line, without interrupting the flow of his story.
Marvel Comics
Spectacular Spider-Men #8 also sees a new pair of artists boarding the title, with Emilio Laiso and Andres Genolet stepping up to illustrate the issue. The duo keeps the same sense of springy, expressive energy that Humberto Ramos brought to the title, but this time it’s reserved for the facial expressions. Sobbing, anger, contemplation; it’s all there on the page, and it lends a fair bit of weight to the story. So does Edgar Delgado’s colors, as shifts between time periods are accompanied by darker colors for the past and lighter for the present.
The one issue is that Spectacular Spider-Men #8 is building on the back of a lot of story that was set up in previous issues. While it is technically the first part of a new arc, new readers might feel left out, but I encourage them to go back and get caught up. The Spectacular Spider-Men #8 presents a new challenge for our heroes, one they can’t joke or web their way out of – but the human element that makes a good Spider-Man story is still present.
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