Spectacular Spider-Men #1 Review

This comic made me so happy.

Spectacular Spider-Men #1 by Greg Weisman, Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, and Edgar Delgado is, hopefully, a sign of Spider-Man comics wanting to be in a much healthier place across the line for a long time. This series in particular picks up with Peter and Miles hanging out as Spider-Men after what feels like a long time and making it imperative that they actually hang out more often, both as Spider-Men and as civilians.

We start off this issue with a glimpse of a big fight with a hulking Jackal, Jackal-Hulk as Pete puts it, and Miles telling Peter that he promised they wouldn’t be doing super heroics on the days they hang out. Oh Miles, so young and naive, you and I both know how being Spider-Man works, that was never going to be an option because the two of them could never pass up being Spider-Men. Throughout this issue we’re constantly seeing glimpses of their fight with the Jackal, and it’s actually a very enjoyable fight. We’re seeing how Miles and Peter work together, there’s an ongoing theme of Peter often being a little immature with his jokes and the placements of said jokes, Miles pointing them out, and making his own eventually. It’s very fun, it reminds me of what the Insomniac Spider-Man games were kind of going for, but still different enough to feel like its own thing. I had a great time seeing these two work together again after what feels like forever. There is an ongoing mystery as to who this new Jackal is, as we do find out later in the issue that the original Jackal, Miles Warren, created it, but that’ll of course be the overarching narrative and I’m interested to see where this leads.

The other half of the issue takes us a bit into the past with Peter and Miles hanging out, not as superheroes, just as civilians and it’s very nice. They go over the terms of their weekly hangouts, every Wednesday at 4pm, which leads them to their first hangout being at the Coffee Bean on E.S.U.’s campus. It’s nice. Often the best Spider-Man comics are the ones that balance superhero life with civilian life, and this one does a great job especially because it connects Peter and Miles to their community. We see Peter reuniting with his old teacher, the brother of Miles Warren, Professor Raymond Aaron Warren, along with Sha Shan, Flash Thompson’s ex-girlfriend. Then Miles Morales reunites with his childhood friend Cedric Harrison, who he hasn’t seen in some time, but he seems to be up to something. Already we have set up for what their supporting cast may involve, not 100% sure yet of course and there obviously could be more, but it’s nice to see these two reunite with long lost friends and acquaintances, especially Professor Warren. I cannot begin to tell you the last time I saw him, and it’s cool that Weisman pulled him back in. 

We then go on to see a full page dedicated to Peter’s 12-week chase of the ever elusive “regular customer, usual order” status until the barista finally gets his name and order right (Medium Iced Half-and-Half Latte with a shot of espresso and a dash cinnamon, not a bad drink choice Pete). This would be my favorite part of the book as it has that classic Peter charm and is just plain funny. We even get a panel of the barista mistaking him for Paul. Yes, I chuckled, have some fun with these comics. This legitimately felt like an old comic strip, I had a great time with it. This also acts as a way to catch us up to the time Peter and Miles go on to fight the Jackal-Hulk that I was talking about earlier. It’s an effective transition and gives this comic a little bit of history to show that moving forward, Miles and Peter have been hanging out lately and we’ll get to see what that’s like after about 3 months of them doing this. 

The issue ends after Peter and Miles finally lock-in, stop with the quips, and web the Jackal-Hulk up to the point where he can’t move a single muscle, and that gives enough time for the police to come tranq him as he gets sent off to the raft. The Spider-Men then investigate where this new Jackal came from and find Professor Warren and his associate, Professor Syemour Kreeps, in a lab and it’s revealed Miles Warren created this new Jackal and unfortunately there was a casualty. We also see Cedric calling a number regarding getting paid to beta test a new entertainment software, he’s very suspicious here so I can’t wait to see what that entails.

The art in this issue is so classically Humberto Ramos. Good god did it take me back to the time he was drawing Spider-Man in the Big Time era. I ADORED those comics for Spider-Man, and Ramos was a huge part of why. I can’t get enough of how he illustrates both Spider-Men, all of their poses are so dynamic, and really something you can only ever see in a comic. I remain that his Spider-Man design is easily the best since John Romita Sr. The lanky, yet obviously not too skinny look is just perfect for Peter and Miles, it’s the best to showcase how agile and acrobatic they are, or as Peter and Miles now say, “arachnobatic”. I hope he’s able to draw the bulk of this series.

This comic is truly just a blast to read and it warms my heart. One of the things that have desperately been missing lately are Miles and Peter team-ups, even as far as single issue crossovers, I feel like it’s been a good couple of years. They have great chemistry and they’re never shown to be teacher and student here, it’s more of a brotherly dynamic, Peter very much treats Miles as an equal. They’re joking together, making up bad quips and creating new spider-themed words, it’s refreshing. To have an entire book dedicated to this, especially one written by one of the most revered Spider-Man writers due to the Spectacular Spider-Man show, I have some serious faith that at the very least, this book will just be the most fun monthly check-in on your two favorite superheroes, and sometimes that is all you need for a book to be good. Add this along with Cody Ziglar’s Miles Morales: Spider-Man series (which you DEFINITELY should be reading), and Ultimate Spider-Man, I think if you’re a fan of Spider-Man it’s safe to say, we’re in good hands again.