Spider-Men 2 #2 Review (Spoilers)

Marvel is currently in the midst of a quasi-event called Generations, where legacy heroes Laura Kinney, Amadeus Cho, Jane Foster, Kate Bishop, and young Jean Grey all meet their predecessors back when they wore the mantle that would later pass on. These individual issues have largely read like Marvel trying to get people to accept these legacy heroes by having the originals give their blessing to the next generation. Spider-Men 2 largely reads like an extended version of the Generations one-shots, because Brian Bendis definitely could not tell a Spider-Men team up in a single issue. 

Spider-Men 2 #2: Up To The Task

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis

Artist: Sara Pichelli

Colorist: Justin Ponsor

Inker: Elisabetta D’Amico

Letterer: Cory Petit

C.Artists: Sara Pichelli & Jason Keith

Editors: Nick Lowe & Devin Lewis & Kathleen Wisneski & Allison Stock

Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso

Tell Ya What, You Spider-Boys Piss On Out Of Here And I Will Not Kill You: Our issue begins a week in the past, where Peter Parker and Miles Morales discover Taskmaster exiting a portal from another dimension. After a quick banter battle, things turn physical. Peter notes that Taskmaster has some level of super powers that are new, while Miles learns that Taskmaster is working for someone named Miles Morales. Taskmaster is able to escape and Peter tells Miles about the time he looked up the Marvel Prime Miles Morales after their first team up. Peter was unable to find anything on him, but he hires Jessica Jones to look into it. A couple days later, they meet with Jessica who tells Miles she had no luck finding anything on another Miles. After this revelation, we return to the present day where the Marvel Prime Miles Morales discovers his doppleganger and sends Taskmaster back to New York to kill him. 

I Miss My Costume Holding Backpack: I watched Guardians of the Galaxy Volume Two before starting this review and there is something I noticed in common between these Marvel projects. Both are follow ups to beloved Marvel works and both try way too hard to be funny this time around. This makes the jokes fall flat more often than naught. Not all of the jokes, mind you, just a large percentage of them. And when this comic’s primary focus is humour and overdrawn mystery that is unlikely to have a worthwhile reveal, that does not bold well. 

But lets talk about what works first. One of the best moments in the comic is when Peter fails to web Taskmaster and instead hits Miles in the back in the head. It is not a particularly funny joke, but it is a great callback to the Miles/Peter fight in the original Spider-Men. There is also a nice scene where Miles hits on his classmate, Barbara. Unlike the rest of the comic, it does not feel forced and Justin Ponsor gives the night a calming blue palette that feels refreshing when compared to the bombastic purples and explosions on other pages. Bendis’ writing of Miles reads better than his handle on Peter, because his Peter is just a little too immature for my tastes. I also really like the Taskmaster redesign and Sara Pichelli has a lot of fun reimagining Taskmaster as a Jason Voorhees-esqe figure, working in the shadows and towering over our Spider-Men. There is also some creative panelling in this comic. When Miles and Taskmaster fight, the panelling is done in a way that makes the page resemble Taskmaster’s blade. The blows exchanged during the fights look like they hurt and explosions send our character reeling through the panel. And when there is little more than talking figures, Pichelli gives the characters dynamic body poses and uses a variety of camera angles to keep things exciting. Pichelli/Ponsor really are one of the best artistic teams at Marvel right now. 

But they are not without fault. While water reflects the supernatural purples of the comic, windows do not (and there are a lot more windows than puddles in this comic). Pichelli’s webs also don’t pop on the page like they usually do, perhaps because of inking assistance from Elisabetta D’Amico? My biggest art problem is everyone looks just a little too young. Jessica Jones definitely does not look like a mother and Peter looks like a college freshman, not the CEO of Parker Industries (speaking of, Parker Industries has not been mentioned in this story yet.) 

Which brings me to my big complaints with Bendis’ script. The first is Peter references being only three years older than Miles Morales, who we found out is seventeen during the Sitting in a Tree crossover with Spider-Gwen (he mentioned he would be 17 in a month, safe to say a month has passed since then.) That makes Peter… 20. Which is impossible, given all Peter has done in Amazing Spider-Man. Perhaps it is a reference to the deceased Ultimate Peter Parker, but it is a line that makes no sense. 

My second complaint is… WHAT THE HELL IS JESSICA DREW DOING IN THE WRONG OUTFIT? I am so tired of Bendis just deciding to make up continuity as he feels like it and after everything Dennis Hopeless and crew put Jessica through in Spider-Woman, you would think they would at least allow her to keep her costume. Perhaps Bendis is just bitter someone else put their mark on his second favourite Jessica because there is no way this was an oversight on Pichelli’s end.

Verdict: It is clear to me that Brian Michael Bendis wants this story to be continuity light, what with a lack of references to Peter’s current status, Jessica’s inaccurate costume, and Peter’s supposed age. And there is a place for continuity light stories, but this is a sequel to a storyline so continuity matters. This story tries too hard to be funny and not even stellar work from the artistic team can save this book from Bendis’ quirks. This book makes me wish we got a Slott written Generations: Spider-Man instead. 

Pros:

• Pichelli/Ponsor
• Miles solo pages

Cons:

• Continuity errors
• Characters look too young
• Humor misses the mark often

D+