Anghus Houvouras reviews the first part of Spider-Verse in Amazing Spider-Man #9…
Dan Slott gets it. He may be the most maligned Spider-Man writer in ages, but he’s fearless in a way very few mainstream writers are in a day and age of rehashing old stories. While Scott Snyder takes Batman through familiar paces and variations on old stories, Slott is trying something more surreal. Spider-Verse has been slowly creeping into the Marvel Universe with a series of stories establishing the crazy concept of a seemingly infinite number of Spider-Men from around the multiverse gather to take on a looming threat.
It sounds bananas, and from what I’ve read so far, it is. This is not a bad thing.
Slott has been ruffling feathers and making fans since he first introduced the concept of ‘The Superior Spider-Man’ which saw Peter Parker taking a hiatus while Doctor Octopus took the reigns. It was a strange, surreal, fantastic journey that felt surprisingly fresh. Fresh is not an adjective i use very often when referring to comics from Marvel and DC.
Spider-Verse features the same kind of gonzo storytelling that Slott exhibited in Superior Spider-Man. Peter Parker is dealing with the newest wrinkle in his life – a woman named Silk who claims to have been bitten by the same radioactive spider that gave Peter his powers. This is nothing new for Peter who has already dealt with a number of doppelgängers from Spider-Man 2099, a couple of clones, and even a pair of Spider-Women. However, the scope of Spider-Verse is massive and the premise is ludicrously fun.
A group of inter-dimensional hunters travel universe to universe hunting Spider-Men. Once they are caught and defeated, they eat them. This forces the Spider-Men of various dimensions to team up and try to figure out a way to stop Morlun and his hunting clan from killing all of them. In the first issue alone (Amazing Spider-Man #9) we get over a dozen different Spider-Men including Ultimate Spider-Man, Spider-Man UK, Peter Porker: Spider Ham, and both clones including Ben Reilley.
The first issue deals out a lot of action and a lot of exposition. There is no mystery or secretive set up. Slott rolls out the premise and begins to unite the multiverse’s Spider-Men for a counter attack. Oliver Coipel’s art is as gorgeous as ever. His work challenges Humberto Ramos for my favorite Spider-Man artist. There’s so much energy and personality in every panel.
Much like all of Slott’s Spider-Man stories, this one will probably polarize a lot of people. It reminds me a lot of what I’m seeing in Grant Morrison’s excellent Multiversity. Both are stories where anything can and will happen. There’s something sickly satisfying about seeing all these different takes on Spider-Man spun into one wonderful web of intrigue and action. It also gives me a great deal of hope for next year’s Secret War reboot featuring a cavalcade of ‘What If’ inspired teams fighting one another. Who wouldn’t want to see Old Man Logan taking on Hulk from Future Imperfect?
I highly recommend picking up Amazing Spider-Man #9 and jumping on board to see where the Spider-Verse is headed next.
Anghus Houvouras is a North Carolina based writer and filmmaker. His latest work, the novel My Career Suicide Note, is available from Amazon. Follow him on Twitter.
Originally published November 8, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
