Is this the end of the Spider-Verse? Or is it just the beginning? Your Major Spoilers review of Spider-Man #7 from Marvel Comics awaits!
SPIDER-MAN #7
Writer: Dan Slott
Artist: Mark Bagley
Inkers: John Dell/Andrew Hennessy
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 5, 2023
Previously in Spider-Man: Friends became enemies, enemies became friends and now all of the Spider-Verse ENDS! Jessica Drew? Gone. Peter Parker? Gone. And they aren’t the only ones erased by the sacred Sting-Knife!
How can Silk and the rest of the Spiders win this Spider-War?!
GUEST-STARRING EVERYBODY
With the revelation that Silk and not Peter Parker is the legendary chosen one, she used the dagger to stab Morlun, thereby freeing the essence of every Spider he ever consumed. The resulting blast of escaping Spider-Sonas causes the Great Web to re-spin itself, flinging her and her allies (as well as the THOUSANDS of Spider-Men and Women thought lost) back to Earth-616, the prime reality. But as Spinstress, the fairy tale Spider, reminds them, this doesn’t end the threat of Shathra. The Queen of Wasps recalls all her drones, growing to giant size and raging out of control. Knowing that the ancient prophecy says that only Peter Parker could defeat her, Madam Web and Silk dispatch dozens of Peter Parkers from other realities to fight her, as well as the giant robot battalion (led by Leopardon and Takuya Yamashiro). Their fight only manages to distract her, just long enough for Silk’s tech wizard to step into the limelight…
“I’m Peter Parker,” he says, “and I’m no Spider. I’m just a man.”
SPIDER-WHO NOW?
When you’re dealing with a cast of thousands, it can be difficult for the actual star of the book to get a word in edgewise, but Slott’s plotting makes the perfect moment for Doctor Peter Parker to step in, and it’s both dramatic and effective. Even better, the assembled Spider-Folk concentrate their mental energies to reweave Jessica Drew from her erasure from reality. And also, Kaine Parker, the Scarlet Spider (who has been MIA since 2018). And also, Bailey, the Spider-Boy, who… Uhh… That’s a story for later on, apparently. After two big Spider-Verse crossovers, two Spider-Geddon crossovers, and seven issues of this one, you might think that the sight of red-and-blue web-swinging armies would have lost its luster, but Bagley really makes this issue sing. The double-page spread of nearly everybody is the kind of crazy tableau that I remember from the work of the late George Perez, while Peter Parker’s smile as he brandishes his Great Web Shooter is a wonderfully subtle piece of character “acting.”
BOTTOM LINE: AND THAT’S A WRAP
If I know the way comics fandom works, Spider-Man #7 will be best remembered as a speculator flashpoint for the first appearance of Spider-Boy, but it wraps up the Spider-Verse in a way that both feels final but doesn’t cut off future story paths, with lovely art and one of the most delightfully awful puns in comic book history out of the mouth of Spider-Mobile, earning a well-deserved 4 out of 5 stars overall. When a creator returns to a book they previously handled, you just hope that they’re ready to break some new ground, and it’s very gratifying to see that Slott and Bagley are ready to live up to that expectation.
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SPIDER-MAN #7
I'm annoyed at the meta-textual way that "The End of Spider-Verse" is played, but it's a good wrap-up that brings back a lot of fave-raves and debuts a new kid, with Bagley in fine form.
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Writing8
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Coloring8
Once upon a time, there was a young nerd from the Midwest, who loved Matter-Eater Lad and the McKenzie Brothers... If pop culture were a maze, Matthew would be the Minotaur at its center. Were it a mall, he'd be the Food Court. Were it a parking lot, he’d be the distant Cart Corral where the weird kids gather to smoke, but that’s not important right now... Matthew enjoys body surfing (so long as the bodies are fresh), writing in the third person, and dark-eyed women. Amongst his weaponry are such diverse elements as: Fear! Surprise! Ruthless efficiency! An almost fanatical devotion to pop culture! And a nice red uniform.