Spider-Man: Miles Morales Vol. 1

by Brian Michael Bendis

[Quirky Cat]

I just want to preface this by saying that I haven’t read Secret Wars (yet) so I don’t know much about what happened during that time. I have been told a lot of great things about Miles Morales though, and really wanted to give his standalone comics a try. Miles is Spider-Man, one of two, since Peter Parker also holds the title of Spider-Man. Despite the confusion with the names, they’re actually pretty easy to tell apart, between their costumes and body builds being so very different; which makes it easy for somebody who gets easily confused, like me.



Like many teenage superheroes we’ve seen, Miles is struggling with a work-life balance. He’s trying to simultaneously be a superhero (sometimes as part of a team, sometimes by himself), get good grades, be a good friend, and be a good son (plus he’d like to get a girlfriend too, or at least have a date or two). That’s a lot for anyone, when you stop and think about it. Unlike most of the other superhero teenager comics I’ve read, Miles appear to live on campus during the week. I like this twist; it changes the dynamics (sharing a room with his best friend whom also knows his secret? I imagine that’d help quite a bit). His parents (and grandmother) are still very much involved however. His father knows his secret (which is relevant) but not his mother or grandmother; this results in a lot of arguments and conflict inside the family, and understandably so.
I really like Miles Morales as a character – he’s charming and witty, but at the same time he’s still getting the hang of things. I’m always more fond of the characters where not everything comes naturally to them – it gives me more reasons to be invested in the outcome of all the practice and training.
Morales has a pretty decent supporting cast, between his family, Ganke, and Goldballs (whom I’m assuming will become more influential as time goes on). I’m really curious about what’s going on with Miles’ dad, both past and present. He’s clearly been pulling some strings to keep Miles safe – but how he got those contacts/jobs previously has not yet been explained. I’m looking forward to getting more details about it.
It looks like Morales has been introduced to at least one of his recurring villains; Black Cat is definitely going to be showing up again. Hammerhead may be as well, but that one I’m less certain on. We’ll have to see how things go.


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