Orchis has Nightcrawler! Can the new teleporting Spider-Man escape their grasp? Find out in Uncanny Spider-Man #5 by Marvel Comics!

UNCANNY SPIDER-MAN #5

Writer: Si Spurrier
Artist: Lee Garbett and Simone Buonfantino
Colorist: Matt Milla
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Sarah Brunstad
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: December 20th, 2023

Previously in Uncanny Spider-Man: The Fall of X and the following events made Nightcrawler avoid the problem. Instead of rejoining the X-Men, he put on a Spider-Man outfit and stopped petty crime instead of helping mutant kind. However, he is hunted by Orchis, who has hired the Vulture and the Wolfpack, led by Silver Sable, to hunt him down. He is also accompanied by a mysterious voice in his head and has found his mother in New York. After starting a romantic relationship with Sable, Sable ultimately turned him into Orchis.

A TRAP!

Uncanny Spider-Man #5 starts with Nightcrawler imprisoned, but one of Sable’s men realizes that Sable stole a communication device. This causes Vulture to realize this is a ruse and the Nightcrawler in captivity is Mystique. Nightcrawler, Mystique, and Sable fight off Orchis, and Nightcrawler tries to free Warlock. Unable to bypass the firewall, the voice inside his head controls a nearby worker with all the access codes needed. Nightcrawler then takes out Vulture, and Warlock’s body is restored. To escape, they use Rhino as a distraction and head into the night. Nightcrawler realizes he can’t be Spider-Man and hangs up his costume to join the mutant fight. He also learns that the voice inside his head is Legion, who protects him. Before he returns to the X-Men, he has a drink with Sable.

A SPIDER-MAN TALE!

I enjoyed the ending to this miniseries. Uncanny Spider-Man #5 felt out of place because it tried to introduce a street-level storyline amid a rather epic event. So, as a reader, Nightcrawler didn’t mesh with some of the plot points. But when you think of this more as a Spider-Man story and less like an X-Men one, all the themes make much more sense. And if you try to participate in the same escapism Nightcrawler is, you get this weird meta-thought process that is unique on paper. I enjoyed this comic a lot, and I thought the delivery of the narrative arc was excellent. The art felt simplistic in this issue, which I might have overlooked in previous issues, but there was still good detail and consistency. Overall, it is an excellent conclusion to this miniseries, and I liked the relationship between Sable and the reunion with Mystique. Great work by the creative team.

BOTTOM LINE: A WORTHY CONCLUSION

This comic title fused two of my favorite characters, Spider-Man and Nightcrawler, so it would be difficult not to like this story. This series is well-written and well-designed, and I hope we see more of Sable in the Fall of X event. With that, Uncanny Spider-Man #5 gets a 4 out of 5 stars.

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