A lot is going on in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #30. Not only is it the second part of the “Pools of Blood” crossover – which put Miles in the crosshairs of Deadpool and his daughter Ellie – but it’s also continuing to touch on the events of Miles’ brush with vampirism and the fact that he’s now become the herald of spider god Kwaku Anansi. Like I said, it’s a lot. But thankfully, Cody Ziglar manages to balance it all.
Part of that is due to the conversation that Miles and Ellie have after a teleportation incident gone wrong. Despite the fact that they were at odds earlier, Ellie manages to talk to Miles and try to convince her that while he is immensely flawed, her dad is trying to be there for her. Likewise, another conversation between Miles and his clone Shift takes a surprisingly emotional turn, especially when Deadpool mistakes Shift for Miles and incurs the latter’s wrath.
It’s that mix of action and emotion that’s made Miles Morales: Spider-Man a book to read, and it’s all thanks to Ziglar. He understands what makes these characters tick, and uses it to push them into new directions, whether it’s Deadpool being a father or Miles struggling with the fact that a literal god talks to him. But he also keeps the humor intact, giving Deadpool some great zingers (including a sly Marvel vs. Capcom reference that had me nodding and saying “This guy gets it.”)
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Once again, the book undergoes a shift in artists with Luigi Zagaria taking over. But Zagaria leans into the anime-inspired influence that his predecessors ran with, especially when it comes to the sword fight between Miles and Deadpool. Katanas meet venom saber in a heck of an epic image, only outdone by the teleportation incident which sees Miles and Ellie’s bodies stretch like taffy as they’re pulled through time and space.
Bryan Valenza makes the action sequences pop with brightly colored backgrounds, playing with different shades of red. He also makes Miles’ venom saber feel like it’s actually glowing; the light reflecting off the young web-slinger’s costume adds a menacing aura when he threatens the Deadpools. And of course, Deadpool’s wall-breaking, golden speech bubbles immediately draw the eye.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #30 might be chaos, but it’s the type of chaos that will keep readers glued to the page. It’s also fun to see Miles and Deadpool get into a sword fight – though by issue’s end, it looks like they might have to join forces. Which means even more chaos.
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