Radioactive Spider-Man #2 uses its opening pages to flash back to the day that the X-Virus spread over Manhattan, transforming or outright killing everyone in its path. Spider-Man, being Spider-Man, tries his hardest to save everyone…until he gets a call from Mary Jane Watson about his Aunt May. Then, his entire world turns upside down. Sounds intriguing, right? Well, it isn’t long before the story starts to spin out, favoring shocking moments over actual plot progression.
Perhaps the most significant indicator of this is when a flashback reveals that May, losing control over her new mutated form, killed MJ. While the Age of Revelation hasn’t shied away from showcasing beloved characters suffering a dark fate, this feels like a tactic to shock the reader. Equally shocking is the major reveal that Miles Morales – now calling himself “Spin” for some strange reason – had a falling-out with Peter, yet it feels less like an actual development and more like half-baked conflict.
It’s a shame because Joe Kelly’s script does have some great moments. Peter’s conversation with his Aunt May takes on a melancholy tone, particularly when some of May’s dialogue evokes a loved one suffering from Alzheimer’s. You can barely recognize them sometimes, and it’s a struggle for them to recognize you sometimes. Kelly also manages to inject some wit into the proceedings; when Cecilia Reyes asks Ghost-Spider to help her cook, Gwen says she can’t cook…and Cecilia replies that “cooking” is code for drinking while Peter and Miles hash out their differences. If you ask me, Radioactive Spider-Man #2 needed more of those moments and less conflict for the sake of conflict.
Marvel
Despite its bare-bones plot, Radioactive Spider-Man #2 does feature some stellar imagery. Kev Walker takes great care to showcase the chaos of Revelation Day in his opening pages, including a splash page where Spidey saves a mother and her child from a crumbling building. He also doesn’t hold back on the body horror that the X-Virus inflicts. That same mother ends up throwing up on her child, and in turn the child expels a stream of fire from her face, roasting her mother alive.
If that wasn’t horrifying enough, May’s transformation into a mutated monster will send chills down your spine. Walker makes sure this creature is anything but human, as it feels more like a blur of purple fur and teeth; think Grimace by way of Cthulhu. Cam Smith’s inks fill in the lines around everyone’s face, showcasing the toll that this fight is taking on them, and add flair to the Spiders’ web-slinging and fighting.
Rounding out the artistic team is Chris Sotomayor, whose colors slowly shift from the bright skies of the past to the hazy veil of the future. He also gives each Spider their own distinct color scheme, but shifts the red in Miles’ costume to a yellowish orange, reflecting how his bio-electric powers have grown in ten years. It also makes the visual of Miles shooting bio-electric “webbing” look insanely cool.
Radioactive Spider-Man #2 may struggle to justify the twists and turns it takes in its plot, but it makes up for it with a few solid character moments and some great artwork. Kelly and Walker need to stick the landing if they want this to stand out among Age of Revelation’s bigger stories.
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