Writers: Zeb Wells, Cody Ziglar, Steve Foxe, Stephanie Phillips, Greg Weisman & Alex Segura
Artists: Eleonora Carlini, Ig Guara, Eric Gapstur, Joey Vazquez & Salvador Larroca
Pencilers: John Romita Jr., Ed McGuinness & Greg Land
Inkers: Scott Hanna, Mark Farmer & Jay Leisten
Colorists: Marcio Menyz, Arthur Hesli, Arif Prianto, Matt Milla, Frank D’Armata, Edgar Delgado & GURU-eFX
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $7.99
Release Date: March 20, 2024
Peter Parker’s unhappy with Tombstone. A happy Hightail worries Miles. Spider-Woman moves house to escape her troubled past. Norman Osborn’s heroism provides little satisfaction. With the goblins menacing and spider heroes embracing evil, might the Web Of Life and Destiny unravel? Let’s leap into Web Of Spider-Man #1 and find out!
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Amazing Spider-Man Part 1
Story
Tombstone asked Spider-Man to help save his daughter. He claimed his life of crime was over. Like Wilson Fisk, he wanted to protect his family. Instead, after Janice consolidated control over half of New York City and Spider-Man’s team engaged Madame Masque’s forces, Tombstone removed his daughter and people from the Battle Of Central Park. So, in Web Of Spider-Man #1, Peter Parker says, “Fair enough. You used our partnership for your gain. Now, it’s my turn.” Openly associating with Tombstone could hurt Peter’s popularity. Tombstone could devote his vast resources to destroying Spider-Man. Zeb Wells’ story suggests rising tensions between the two men in forthcoming issues of Amazing Spider-Man.
Art
John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna compare the sedate meeting between Kingpin and the Rabbit with Spider-Man’s actions at the docks. While Spider-Man looks in his element as he’s taking down villains, Tombstone looks like he expected this. The Rabbit’s discomfort shows as she’s failed her boss after briefly abandoning him to serve his daughter. Marcio Menyz brightens the evening raid, helping us follow the frenetic action amid the glow of the city that never sleeps. Rich coloring brings interest and nuance to the tension in Tombstone’s office.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man
Story
Miles enjoys a night of thwipping when he spots violence in the streets. Brooklyn’s Spider-Man discovers vampires attacking people. Then he spots Hightail taking down the undead. Yet he’s used to fighting her. So, instead of helping combat the enemy, Miles attacks her. R’YM’R’s seductive call fills Hightail’s head, taunting her with memories of her brief experience as one of his vampires. The perpetually mad Hightail is smiling. Miles’ attack doesn’t even ruffle her feathers. Does Agent Gao’s attempt to keep wielding her Cape Killers after Luke Cage disbanded the squad and reassigned her to Vice explain Hightail’s happiness? Cody Ziglar hints at the return of R’YM’R, another team-up with Blade and Bloodline, and a friendlier relationship between Miles and the speedster.
Art
Artist Eleonora Carlini communicates the energy of this fraught night fight. Sharp angles and thin limbs enhance Miles’ arachnidian appeal. With her long braids whipping around as she runs, kicks, and (gasp) smiles, Hightail’s rounded curves, comfortable attire, and easy moves imbue her with more humanity. Colorist Arthur Hesli brings a full palette of bright colors to panels. The undead and some of the bystanders look gray and drained of color. Yet pages glow with neon-like intensity, and Hesli adds interest by painting or stippling backgrounds with secondary colors.
Spider-Woman
Story
Heartbroken about her son, Spider-Woman opted for a change of scene. San Francisco may not overflow with superheroes, but HYDRA has tentacles everywhere. The televisions in a shopfront window suggest she may soon meet others who fight crime without a badge.
Art
Artist Ig Guara breathes life and energy into Steve Foxe’s teaser as Spider-Woman leaps off a cablecar to zap a villain. Guara reveals hints of the crowded streets. Tilted camera angles remind us that Spider-Woman isn’t on her home turf. Arif Prianto provides bold colors and brightens Spider-Woman to suggest the reflected glow from the television screens.
Amazing Spider-Man Part 2
Story
Madelyne Pryor rules Limbo. Rek-Rap and Re-Po hunted down the Insidious Six. So why is Norman Osborn, the Golden Goblin, apprehending the Grave Goblin in Web Of Spider-Man #1? The interplay between the two goblins reveals Norman’s uncertainty over who he is and where he belongs. Zeb Wells’ story also hints that Madelyne Pryor’s relationship with New York City has changed.
Art
Ed McGuinness and Mark Farmer bring us a brief, high-octane battle. A punch sends one goblin spiraling out of control, his glider belching smoke and fire. Colorist Marcio Menyz contrasts Norman’s gold and white with his adversary’s purple and lavender. Yet the Grave Goblin’s orange and yellow glider exhaust and the Golden Goblin’s purple headlamp and purple projectiles emphasize Norman’s final words to his skeletal foe.
Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider
Story
Stephanie Phillips introduces Spider-Gwen’s upcoming series. Crows or ravens lend a gothic tone, while these harbingers of danger remind Gwen of bonding with her father over an Alfred Hitchcock classic. While Madame Web studies the Web Of Life And Destiny, another observer risks his job to enlist Gwen’s aid. Did his actions create these horrific events? Or do they signal a growing cancer?
Art
As Gwen sits in a diner reading a hardcover book, life outside the windows on Earth-65 harkens back to an earlier era on Earth 616. Smoke rises from Gwen’s coffee like a twisting paper streamer. Like a symbiote, the coffee leaps out of her mug. The liquid forms a hand and dives toward her, only to splatter on the floor. When Gwen leaves the diner, night has fallen, and lightning from Gwen’s head fills the darkness. Then Eric Gapstur shows her city in ruins. Gwen walks rubble-filled streets and thwips through the air, pursued by Poe’s favorite birds. Matt Milla lavishes soft pastels on the daytime diner scenes and infuses the apocalyptic night with pink, purple, red, and orange, while the observer’s office-bound scenes are awash with light. The pink walls and upholstery of the diner speak to the apocalyptic sky, while the green coffee mug and floor link with the observer who acts on behalf of the Web Of Life And Destiny.
Chasm
Story
Steve Foxe’s story picks up where Zeb Wells’ second Amazing Spider-Man story ended, with Gold Goblin delivering Grave Goblin to Limbo. Madeline Pryor accepts him, yet she’s tired of being Limbo’s warden. She identifies with those placed in her care, remembering how others hurt her and vowing never to let others hurt her again. Like Madelyne, Chasm isn’t embracing gratitude as his superpower. He also concentrates on what he has lost. After a year trapped in Limbo, his resentment has become an inferno. Steve Foxe’s meditation on how power isolates people from others burns with the promise of a Goblin Queen indifferent to the concerns of humanity and a raging Chasm intent on destroying anyone and anything that ever hurt him.
Art
Greg Land and Jay Leisten imbue Madelyne with glamor and poise. Her beloved Havoc looks uneasy in her presence. Chasm crouches and prepares to strike. With smoke wisping off him, Chasm attacks his guards. The artists imbue the demons with personality. Some show more humanity than Madelyne and Chasm. Colorist Frank D’Armata makes life outside the Limbo Embassy seem cold and lifeless in Web Of Spider-Man #1. With the gates, Madelyne’s hair radiates a red glow. Torches blaze yellow behind the gold-and-silver armored guards. Chasm summons power that reflects his blue, purple, and green costume. Chasm whips a green serrated power-whip through the air like a web-slinging Indiana Jones when more red demons arrive.
Spectacular Spider-Men
Story
After visiting the Coffee Bean for months, the locals know Miles and Peter, and the baristas Shelly and Kenny know their usual orders. In Greg Weisman’s story, after losing Mary Jane and Felicia Hardy, and Gang War tore his word apart, Peter returns to his past, where once again he’s accepted. So when two thieves break into the Coffee Bean and assault Shelly and Kenny, this feels like a home invasion. Miles wanted a deeper relationship with Peter, and the spectacular spider-men intended to make these weekly meetups relaxing and low-key. The thieves represent another chance to share a Spiderific exploit. Weisman also introduces a character who might be involved with the incident in Jackal’s lab and promises to prove a foil for the webslingers in upcoming issues.
Art
Joey Vazquez draws readers into the coffee shop with detailed characters in a realistic setting. When masked intruders burst in, he focuses on the principles while background details fade, and some customers and the crowd gathering outside become cutouts. Kenny radiates fright while Peter and Miles share a smile, and two coffee cups webbed to the brick wall speak volumes. Vazquez lavishes detail on the final scenes, highlighting the spider pals’ camaraderie and all the web fluid they can summon. Edgar Delgado imbues interior scenes with warmth in Web Of Spider-Man #1, creates mood with downlights, and uses darker and lighter colors to represent highlights and shadows. He applies a wash of blues to Vazquez’s cutouts, which echo the blue-and-white of the thieves’ cocoon.
Kaine
Story
Kaine searches the Manhattan sewers. He seeks not Morlocks but Ben Reilly. Kaine feels kinship with Ben and regards Chasm as an aberration. Although Ben’s fall may not be his fault, Kaine feels responsible for the man with whom he shared the Scarlet Spider mantle. Kaine discovers four claw marks on the wall. Any thoughts of Freddy Kreuger vanish when an abomination attacks. Steve Foxe’s story underlines Madame Web’s concerns and introduces another powerful foe intent on wreaking chaos on our world in Web Of Spider-Man #1.
Art
Penciler Greg Land and inker Jay Leisten deliver detailed Humans, Kaine, and creatures in Manhattan’s sewers. Kaine projects a dominating presence as he hunts through circular stone tunnels with aged brickwork, metal stair rails, and scaly, spiked creatures who crash through walls near the unused train lines. Colorist Frank D’Armata enhances Kaine’s red and black costume with highlighting and shading while a haunting blue light guides Kaine through the monster-filled underworld.
Spider-Society
Story
Miguel O’Hara has seen better days. Or should I say nights? A full moon glows in a star-filled sky as Miguel thwips above the city. A silhouette looms above him, perched on a sinister glider. As a nearby explosion hurls him into a rain of rubble, he remembers how he got here. Madame Web approached Miguel with a warning. She prophesied a danger to the Web Of Life And Destiny and charged him with organizing a team to defeat it. But then he was attacked. Miles escaped capture. Still, his foe pursues him. Alex Segura’s eight-page story is the longest in Web Of Spider-Man #1. It’s also the most action-packed, with numerous panels on every page. Segura never lets the pace lag while weaving other spider-heroes into this tale that delivers on Madame Web’s concern about a threat to the Web, the universe, and everything.
Art
Miguel’s torn red-and-blue suit shows muscle definition. Buildings reveal aging and architectural features. Characters convey the ferocity of the fight as the goblin swoops in, Miguel leaps acrobatically to evade explosions, and his spider friends join the fight before the full moon. The goblin removes the green and purple mask to reveal a familiar face twisted by foul desire. GURU-eFX’s bright, rich colors enhance Salvador Larroca’s compelling art, bringing this oversized issue to an explosive finale.
Lettering
Throughout Web Of Spider-Man #1, Travis Lanham thwips words into dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. Words vary in size from magnificent to minute, but most offer normal spider-readability. Colored, inventive, and exciting sound effects enhance each story but rise to symphonic proportions for action scenes in Chasm and Spider-Society. Thanks to Marvel for providing this issue for review.
Final Thoughts
As crimelords, vampires, HYDRA, goblins, and Eternals threaten our world, Limbo’s borders weaken, and heroes from across the spider-verse unite to combat threats to the Web Of Life And Destiny in Web Of Spider-Man #1.