Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #23 | Writer: Brian Michael Bendis | Art: Dave Marquez | Colors: Justin Ponsor | Letters: Cory Petit | Publisher: Marvel Comics |Price: $3.99| From my column @ Forces of Geek.com
The life of Miles Morales has been altered forever. In the last issue. Venom killed his mother and in her final moments, she learned how Miles had been spending his time after school. She was as proud as only a loving mother could be and cautioned him to never tell his mutant-hating father.
Like Peter Parker learned so long ago, life as Spider-Man is a painful ride for his loved ones. Now, it’s Miles’ turn to walk the long and hard road of tragedy before the hero can rise once more.
The story picks up one year later. Miles is older, bigger, and no longer the web crawler. We all know that Miles will eventually find the inspiration to wear the mask again, but Brian Michael Bendis did a great job of convincing you otherwise while masterfully capturing the aura of loss between Miles and his father.
The emotion of it all resonates so poignantly because we’ve seen it before with Peter Parker, and since Miles is just a kid.
That’s the essence of it all right there. Bendis never lets the reader forget this fact without ever throwing it in your face. Most comics with super-powered youngsters tend to forget this important fact. There is an innocence to his character that is so natural that you can’t help but to root for him.
The use of Dave Marquez’s talents was the right way to go. We are so used to seeing the amazing work of Sara Pichelli, but a different hand was required to augment the story’s jump in time. Justin Ponsor was money as always in the coloring department.
If I had to use one word to describe this series it would be “captivating” and this issue is just another example of why.
Grade: A-
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