After learning Miles Morales secret, Peter Parker has to decide if he should share his own with the young hero. But first, the race is on to save the city from giant, mutated… raccoons? All the action you can handle and more can be found in Marvel Action: Spider-Man #2 from IDW Publishing!

MARVEL ACTION: SPIDER-MAN #2

Writer: Delilah S. Dawson
Artist: Fico Ossio
Letters: Shawn Lee
Cover: Fico Ossio
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release Date: March 13, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in MARVEL ACTION: SPIDER-MAN: Spider-Man, or rather, Peter Parker, is a hero in search of an understanding ear. After signing up for an internship at the Daily Bugle with the intent to interview Tony Stark, he finds that a sympathetic ear may be closer than he thinks. Miles Morales is looking for someone to talk to as well and hopes his friend Peter might be able to introduce him to Spider-Man. All this, and Gwen Stacy too!

OH, WHAT A TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE…

Miles Morales has an identity problem. Not only does he have a secret identity as one of the city’s newest super-heroes, but he is constantly being mistaken for a bad guy by the very people he is trying to help. This makes a hard job even harder, and thankless. He knows what he is doing is right, but he just wishes he had someone to talk to, to share his thoughts, someone like Spider-Man.

Peter Parker is having identity problems as well, is he a super-hero or a punching bag. After saving a little old lady from being hit by a bus, he is rewarded by her hitting him and calling him a bad boy. Now he finds the new science teacher, Dr. Connors, is revoking his access to the Midtown High School science lab, a privilege he had been using to assist his crime-fighting endeavors. Now how will he get those hairs he grabbed from the mutated dog analyzed. But first things first. Last issue, he figured out that his crime-fighting partner was also his high school friend Miles Morales, with whom he is teaming up to win an internship at the Daily Bugle and have the opportunity to interview Tony Stark. As the two interview each other, Peter beings to fish for a way to have Miles come to him and let him know he is a costumed hero. Things go sideways quick as Miles makes the guess that Peter knows Spider-Man, not that he is Spider-Man. He promises to get Miles Spidey’s phone number so they can talk, and in the meantime, he beats himself up for not having the gumption to go ahead and tell his friend his own secret. After their meeting, Miles heads home and finds another mutated dog looking creature, this one terrorizing a little girl. Contacting Spider-Man to help him investigate, the two stumble on something bigger than either of them, something that may possibly have ties to their other lives as students of Midtown High.

A FRIEND IN NEED IS A FRIEND IN… PERIL!

First up, I want to address the biggest thing I noticed about this title, and that is it is being published by IDW and not Marvel. This is not the first time, as Marvel seems to be intent on licensing out its characters and titles for the creation of “all-ages” series, much as it has done with the Star Wars Adventures titles. That’s cool and I actually have no problem with that. It does speak to the fact that Marvel is purposely making an effort to create new series that will take advantage of the characters kids love and give them a venue that is not bogged down by continuity and flavor of the month crossovers. If this is what it take to get kids reading comics again, I’m all for it. I feel that I could hand this over to my seven year old boy and he would not have to ask me a ton of questions which lead to convoluted continuity and history lessons on the pitfalls of the comic publishing world.

Writer Delilah S. Dawson (Adventure Time, Lady Castle) has a good hand on young reader friendly dialogue. Both Peter and Miles have some internal monologing going on and instead of reading stilted and contrived, it reads very earnestly. If you were in the same situation as they were, these are thoughts you might have going through your young mind. Besides the awkwardness of being a teenager, pile on that the sheet pressure of being a super-hero. You would need someone to talk to as well, and it seems this is a good trigger to bring two of the three main characters together. That brings in the only problem, three main characters. Gwen Stacy will supposedly join the spider-duo next issue in costume and that will add a different dynamic by virtue of how her character has been portrayed. I wonder if the dynamic of the book will take on a team feel, or of the individual personalities will be at the forefront. For now, the book is a smooth easy read, and manages to entertain without adding on the baggage.

Artist Fico Ossio (Critter, Skylanders) does an admirable job with his artwork. To the casual eye, it is open as expressive with a youthful quality. If you begin to look deeper, there are issues. Particularly when it comes to proportion. There are a few pages where our heroes look almost like bobbleheads, Also, an age-old artist problem crops up, making kids look like kids and not small adults. It is essentially conquered here, but there are some panels that made me cringe, just a little. However, a good eye for detail and some impressive action sequences make up for any perceived issues in other areas.

BOTTOM LINE: A FUN STORY IS UNFOLDING FOR ALL-AGES.

As the first kid-focused Marvel title I have read since picking up those collections of Marvel titles at Target stores years ago, this is a good title. I think stories like this, which hint at the established continuity but put little swerves in for the sake of modern storytelling, are a great way to introduce new readers to comics. Few readers will be bothered by any mischaracterizations, as long as the characters stay true to the essence of their selves. Overall, a great book to pick up for the non-comic reader or emerging reader in your life.

MARVEL ACTION: SPIDER-MAN #2 has enough thrills to fill the promise of the title and then some.

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