Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist, Colorist & Cover Artist: Juan Ferreyra
Letterers: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Release Date: January 31, 2023
Peter Parker lost his home and powers. The people in his life—Aunt May, Mary Jane, and J.J. Jameson—turned out to be murderous androids. People wearing masks hunted him in the forest. Mysterio appealed to him for help. Now Spidercide—a clone-brother who hates him—claims they’re all rats in a maze. Who turned Peter’s world upside down? And can Peter escape this madness? Let’s thwip into Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #4 and find out!
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Story
Fear propelled Peter through this nightmare series. Mysterio revealed that much of what Peter experienced wasn’t real. The unceasing horror skyrocketed Peter’s adrenaline, making it hard to think. Operating in a feverish state and unable to trust his memories, Peter gave in to primal instincts. He stabbed the bus conductor’s eye. He bit a hunter’s face. The overwhelming events eroded Peter’s ability to be your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Miles Warren, a.k.a. the Jackal, forced Mysterio and Spidercide to create this nightmare. Spidercide hates Spider-Man, but he’s no one’s puppet. The clone deactivates the technology that suppressed Peter’s superhero strength, reactions, and senses. The healing flood of energy and abilities overwhelms Peter again. With his great responsibility dispelled, Spider-Man redresses wrongs.
In Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #4, Saladin Ahmed probes what defines us. We all know we shouldn’t give in to fear and that anxiety never benefits anyone. Still, nightmares seep into reality. We worry about losing our jobs, homes, and loved ones. We fear friends will turn against us and villains will hunt and torment us. The girl on the train laid bare the worst fear of all: that of a parent losing a child. The Jackal tormented Peter with all of these because he hates him. Does Miles Warren still blame Peter for Gwen Stacey’s death? Did the blond girl on the train represent Gwen’s innocence?
While he provides no discernable links, Saladin Ahmed spins Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #4 into an intricate spider-verse. Peter combats Miles Warren as Spider-Man’s relationship with Miles Morales stumbles over rocky ground. Peter has struggled to return Rek-Rap’s adoration, while Spidercide–who resembles the loveable spider-oaf–wants Peter dead. Saladin Ahmed deconstructs our hero. Then he asks: can Peter ever come back from this?
Art
Strapped to an operating table, needles, and surgical tools surround Spidercide’s head as he recounts his reprogramming. The giant clone looms over Spider-Man. The way he thrusts his face toward Peter’s evokes the Alien Xenomorph preparing to launch his inner jaw. A bird’s eye view shows Spidercide unleash Peter’s powers. Spiders crawl toward Peter at the center of a web. This splash page also exposes Peter’s brain and reveals the Jackal’s lair.
Peter leaps from one masked hunter to the next in Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #4, ripping androids apart like a Predator pulling skull and spine from its prey. Unlike the gothic Un-Fun House, the Jackal resides in a modern stronghold. Featureless corridors give way to an operating theatre. Blood stains the surgical table and flows into a drain in the tile floor.
Blues and reds dominate Peter and Spidercide’s rainy night encounter. Gray and green dominate the Jackal’s lair. Rays of light stream through darkened panels, highlighting people and creating shadows. When Juan Ferreyra returns us to New York City, pastels color the skies, buildings, streets, and parks. Yet Spider-Man rises to the forefront, clad in his bold blue-and-red. Perhaps this, more than any other aspect of the story and art, suggests Peter’s future in Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #4.
Joe Caramagna thwips black uppercase letters into white dialogue balloons and red-edged narrative boxes. His large text grows bold for inflection and swells for shouts and yells. While yellow-and-red sound effects enhance Peter’s destructive dance, red ones enforce his brutal red fists. Most haunting is the sizzling surrounding Spidercide and the enormous black letters that fight to escape their balloon as the giant clone screams.
Final Thoughts
Spine-Tingling Spider-Man #4 plumbs Peter Parker’s soul. The issue leaves our hero with no easy answers. Will Peter hesitate the next time danger threatens? Will he overreact to a threatening villain? Peter survives this harrowing ordeal. But does he emerge the victor or the victim?