The Amazing Spider-Man #11
Write- Dan Slott
Pencils- Olivier Coipel
Color- Justin Ponsor
As I sit down to read each issue of Spider-Verse I find myself feeling an equal sense of excitement and dread. Knowing that Dan Slott will kill off any one of these Spiders without a moments notice makes me seriously nervous each time I turn the page. However, the story and art are so good that I can’t stop turning them. That balance is what’s making Spider-Verse so great.
It was teased at the end of last issue, but finally we have the big showdown between Peter and Otto. Anyone who has been reading either Superior or Amazing Spider-Man has been anxiously awaiting this moment where the two would actually come to physical blows. Of course Dan Slott twists what we were expecting it to be in the slightest way, and it makes it all the more true to who these characters are. The hubris of Otto and the heart of Peter shine in those pages. Speaking of Peter, he had a moment which may not stand out to all who read the book, but stood as a big moment for me. Peter/Spider-Man is a character who, when written in a team setting, always comes off as more of a supporting character to the team. That’s why this issue stood out to me. Watching Peter tell Otto that he is in charge of this team and battle was as surprising to him as it was exciting for me to see.
The Inheritors are a wrecking ball of force every time they show up on a page. As a reader, if you feel a sense of “oh no” whenever the villains show up, that exemplifies outstanding work by the writer to make you afraid for the characters to have to go up against them. I find myself not being able to take my eyes off the Inheritors when I see them. especially Solus. The father figure gets his first taste of the action in this issue and wow, look out. I really look forward to learning more about the Inheritors in the future.
Since Spider-Verse began there’s been talk of these three totems, the Bride, the Other and the Scion. We already knew the identities of the Bride and the Other, this issue reveals the identity of the Scion. I’ve been on multiple forums where people were taking guesses at who this character would be. While I won’t spoil the identity here I will say that I found it to be very intriguing. I can’t wait to see what all of this actually means for these characters.
Olivier Coipel continues to knock it out of the park with this book. This issue had a few different inkers and it doesn’t really matter at all. The book still looks absolutely incredible. I’ve mentioned it before, but what has stood out the most to me is the facial work he does. In each issue it seems like there is a page were multiple characters are standing together in conversation and the facial work there in those scenes is striking. I can’t talk about this art without mentioning the color worked on by Justin Ponsor. This is some beautiful work. Near the end of the book the battle scenes are so gorgeous I had to pause and stare at the page. His colors add so much to Coipel pencils, they give a sense of warmth and pop off the page even without being overly bright. It’s safe to say I didn’t expect the art changeup that happened midway through the book. Coipel draws the adventure of Miles and Peter from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon going into the, we’ll say dated, world of the 60’s Spiderman cartoon. The work that is done to make that art look just like that 60’s cartoon is spot on. From Jonah’s perplexing flat head to the odd sense of character proportions, it matches perfectly.
Verdict.
Buy it. Spider-Verse continues to be a shining example of what crossovers should look like. The book makes mention of numerous tie in issues you can read (I highly recommend Spider-Verse Team-Up #2 this week), but they aren’t necessary at all. This book is stocked with insanity, excitement and tension. It’s something you should be reading.
