I’ve Got A New Favorite Spider-Character In Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1

Miles Morales is juggling aspects of her personal and professional life. He’s keeping the city safe from all kinds of bad guys as Spider-Man, while also struggling to keep up with school work, a girlfriend, and family. When a strange group of criminals strikes at both halves of his life, he is shaken to the core.

While I’ve been aware of Miles Morales for some time, this is my first real exposure to him in comics. I’m happy to say that within a few pages, I quickly understood why everyone loves this character. He’s upbeat, heroic, and downright fun. It’s a modern day spin on the early days of the original Spider-Man and it works so very well.
A big difference between Miles and Peter Parker is that this new kid has a support system. His parents know that he’s Spider-Man and they’re behind him 100%. That eliminates the awkward excuses for disappearing while playing with some fun conversations where his mother and father ask him about his super hero adventures.

Writer Saladin Ahmed replaces the internal narration with a journal as part of an assignment in Miles’ creative writing class. This works to introduce the character to new readers like myself, providing a quick history without taking too much time away from the story. We get a quick rundown of how Miles got to this point in just a handful of pages.
Since this is a journal, letterer Cory Petit handles it differently than your average caption boxes. The font is unique, more akin to handwriting. The boxes themselves look like small pieces of paper that have been ripped out of the journal. This is a great effect all around.

If I had to describe the look and feel of Miles Morales: Spider-Man in one word, it would be “cool.” The design of the costume is sleek and simple, with the red popping out of the black. The red on the soles of the feet is a nice touch. Colorist David Curiel gives the black in the costume a shiny look too, so it’s not just a completely opaque sheen. Miles swings through the city with spider-like agility, webs flying all around him.
This extends to Miles’ personal life too. You can’t deny the style of Miles and his friends and family. Artist Javier Garron does a tremendous job establishing the characters and their personalities from the clothes they wear through how they stand and look at one another.

Where Garron really excels is in the last third of the book where Spider-Man leaps into action against the Rhino and a group of armored criminals. The Rhino has never looked more intimidating and sad. He’s a massive villain, towering over the small Miles, but he also has this look of tired anguish, like he’s gotten too old for this. He’s done so much with his nefarious life and now he’s been reduced to fighting children? Miles has something to prove to the fight scene is pretty exciting as he works fast to stop Rhino in his tracks.
The storyline will undoubtedly annoy a certain segment of the comic book industry as there is a political charge to it. It deals with a very relevant topic that can and should be explored through the lens of super heroes. The Marvel Universe is supposed to be set in our world, so dealing with a topic like this is only natural. Ahmed handles it well, bringing it into the story organically and then tying it in to both sides of Miles’ life.
In one issue, Miles Morales has catapulted up to become one of my favorite characters in comics. There’s nothing to dislike in his adventures in both his home life and his hero life. This debut issue is perfect for anyone who’s just jumping into Miles’ world, like if you just saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and wanted to learn more about him. It helps that this issue came out the same week as the movie. That’s some great marketing right there.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1 from Marvel Comics is currently available at your local comic shop and digitally through ComiXology and Amazon Kindle.