Edge of Spider-Verse #1
Writers- David Hine with Fabrice Sapolsky
Artist- Richard Isanove
Review by Justin Townson
Back in 2009/2010 Marvel launched a mini-series called Marvel Noir. Out of the stories they told one character that seemed to stick, Spider-Man Noir. Since that series ended, the character has shown up in everything from cartoons to video games. He was a major playable character in the multiple Spider-Men game, Shattered Dimensions. Fittingly enough, he stands to play a big part in the universe hopping, Spider-Men assembling upcoming Spider-Verse.
Spider-Man Noir kicks off the first of 5 Edge of Spider-Verse tales where we’ll be meeting all sorts of Spider-Men or Spider-Ladies. The story is pretty inviting to those who didn’t read the original 4 issue run. Not much is explained about what came before, but it’s not necessary here. I liked this story, seeing different versions of heroes and villains is always fun. Mysterio as a Houdini wanna-be was good fun but then again we got the same old Wilson Fisk. One character that needed more page time was MJ. This looked to be one of the more intriguing takes on Mary Jane I’ve ever seen. When Spider-Verse is all said and done I wouldn’t mind another mini series on these characters in the future.
The art in this book is, also, really well done. Richard Isanove sets mood with his art that matches the tone of the book and with the time period. Dark and grim but not devoid of color at all. What really caught my eyes was the few different times in the book Peter’s spider sense would go off, it’s drawn in a very different way than were used to seeing it portrayed. Perhaps that has more to do with the origins of Peter’s powers in this universe than anything else, but I found it was really cool to look at.
Verdict
Buy it. It’s almost here! As you can tell I’m extremely psyched for Spider-Verse, and I think you should be as well. This is supposed to be the biggest Spider-Man story ever and it’s starting here. Read it.
