Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Vol. 1

Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Collected Editions)

by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Sara Pichelli (Artist), Gaetano Carlucci (Inker)

Miles Morales is hitting the big time! Not only is he joining the Marvel Universe, but he's also a card-carrying Avenger, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Iron Man, Thor and Captain America! And he'll soon be a media sensation in this All-New, All-Different New York! One thing's the same, though: non-stop action! Like when Earth's Mightiest heroes all fall, and Miles stands alone against a villain with the power to destroy the universe. Or when the Black Cat tries to get her claws in this new Spider-Man. Or when a new mutant threatens to grab the spotlight! And don't forget Miles' toughest foe yet: his grandmother! But his grades might be the ultimate challenge -- maybe a study session (date?) with Ms. Marvel would help? Welcome to the neighborhood, Spider-Man -- hope it's friendly!

Collecting SPIDER-MAN (2016) #1-5.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Superheroes, Spider Man, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

112 pages, Paperback

First published September 7, 2016

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I'm willing to give some of this volume's problems a pass because I just freaking love Miles so much. He's so flippin cute! Gah!
And having two boys around his age just makes me love this character even more.
I wanna squish him and squeeze him and hug him...



The good?
This is a nice set up for future stories, there's a great dynamic between Miles and his parents, and another good dynamic between Miles and his friends. He's got an entire support system of (mostly) healthy relationships in place, which is nice to see. You can tell Bendis loves this character, in other words. And it wouldn't be a bad jumping off place for the character if you're new to comics.



The bad?
Well, I still need to go back and read (and re-read) the original Ultimate stuff, but this volume 1 doesn't really address much of anything that happened in Secret Wars. I don't think it would be a spoiler at this point to mention that Miles comes from a different (now destroyed) Earth. There's not much in the way of an explanation for that transition, or what/how/why his friends and family are now here with him. I don't know if those answers are in an older title or not, but knowing how Marvel tends to do things sometimes I'm not going to bet any money on it.



All in all, I'm pretty happy with the tone, pacing, and art in this thing. It wasn't perfect, but I flew through it without wanting to put it down.
Definitley Recommended!

[Chelsea 🏳️‍🌈 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Look, I don't wanna go there. I really don't but this book is a great example of what can go wrong when you have a white guy writing for a character of color.

If you're a big fan of Bendis, this may not be the review for you. I have respect for the guy but he was wrong for this.

Bendis has been around for a long time. Whatever my issues with CW II and some of his inconsistent character work, I've enjoyed several things he's written. I enjoyed the hell out of the original run of Miles' series. Up until now, I haven't had huge problems with his writing and I realize that this was probably due to the fact that he hasn't tried to talk about Miles' race. It was for the best because when he attempted to bring that up in this volume, I rage quit twice.

Dude doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about.

This isn't a case where someone reached out to a member of the community to make sure they weren't writing something ignorant. White writers can write characters of color respectfully, see Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Ms. Marvel, and several of Brian K. Vaughn's books. It is possible. Bendis attempted to make a point in this book but failed completely and veered into ignorant and offensive territory.

Let's talk about this:




Clearly, Bendis was trying to tell the dudebros and other anti-Miles comic book readers that Miles is Spider-Man. In the same vein that these people refuse to call Jane Thor or Sam Cap, Miles is often referred to as the "black Spider-Man." I get where Bendis is coming from and I'm sure his heart was in the right place but he completely missed why Sam and Miles are different from Jane. When you're a black character taking the legacy of a historically white character (although, let's be clear, Isaiah Bradley was the first Captain America), your race is something that a lot of fans latch onto. Some for hateful reasons, but a lot of them, like me, read these books because we see someone that looks like us being a hero. I first bought Ultimate Spider-Man thinking that if I didn't like it, I could give it to my younger cousins because Miles is a black Spider-Man. He is a hero young black boys can look up to. That's amazing! The number of black heroes is growing but there aren't a lot of them out there. The few we have rarely get solo books that last.

So, let's discuss why this statement from Miles is problematic. Firstly, it seems to imply that Miles doesn't want to see himself as black. Which, why? It seems as if Bendis fell into the good old "I don't see race, I'm colorblind" schtick and ran with it. Let's explain why that's a problem: it implies that you have to ignore someone's background to treat them with respect. What is so wrong with Miles being black that you have to blind yourself to that part of him to appreciate him as a hero? Why does Miles wish to separate himself from his race?

Secondly, Bendis paints the blogger's vlog as a problem. Why? She is praising the fact that Marvel has taken some steps in the right direction in terms of representation. Jane Foster as Thor, Kamala Khan as Ms. Marvel, Sam Wilson as Cap: these are all good things. We need more heroes for children of all genders and races to look up to. What is Bendis' angle here?

Thirdly, this is something a person of color would probably never say. (I say probably because there are black people out there that do try to distance themselves from their race and that's an entirely different issue). We know why it matters. This is yet another sign that Bendis doesn't quite understand what it means to be black.

Why would he try to tackle this concept at all? Perhaps, someone complained that he was missing an opportunity here and he tried to rectify that. However, in true Lena Dunham fashion, he went about this in the wrong way entirely.

As if that wasn't enough, Miles and Ganke get into an argument about whether it's harder to be a black kid in New York or a chubby kid.





"So, you're black. Big whup." Big whup? Big whup? This was not far off from when the BLM protests were going on and Bendis actually sat down and fucking wrote this? Sorry, but what the hell was going on in his mind?

This is not like Happy Endings where a black man and a gay man argue over who has it worse. That show acknowledged that both suffer from oppression and it shouldn't be a contest. Instead, we have 2 men of color debating whether being overweight leads to a more challenging experience than that of a black man. This is utterly fucking ridiculous. And it somehow gets worse with this:



Seriously? I would understand this from a white character but Ganke is not white. Why would he say something like this? It's fucking 2016 and we're still pretending racism is over? Are you kidding me?

Sorry, but this bullshit took me out of the book. I rage quit twice.

Here are some viewpoints from other people of color who weren't pleased with this take on Miles either: 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Let's not talk about how Ganke outs Miles to Goldballs for the messiest of reasons. Ganke. The same guy who hasn't trusted any of the girls Miles has dated. Ganke who repeatedly tells Miles not to tell anyone his secret. That same Ganke that was acting like a complete ass this entire book.

This is the kind of shit that makes me want to say "Whoa, dude. Out of character." except the guy that wrote this created the characters.

I could have enjoyed the mediocrity of this book so much easier had Bendis not felt it necessary to try to make a statement. I worry about him writing for Riri Williams if this is the kind of shit we're getting. We already have the fuckery that's going on in Sam's book and now this? If I have to read about Riri Williams telling the world she doesn't want to be seen as the "Black Iron Woman", I will rage quit again!

2 bland ass, annoying stars.

[Sean Gibson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes it can be highly misleading to apply the same term to a broad category of things. Take ice cream, for example—certain kinds of ice cream may be very different (mint chocolate chip, moose tracks, peanut butter chocolate, fudge swirl), but are of comparable (and moan-inducingly delicious) quality. But, then there’s stuff like pistachio, or even “specialty” flavors like crab (thanks for that tomfoolery, Bar Harbor, ME) that, while also technically ice cream, are decidedly less orgasmic in one’s mouth (and, in fact, should be outlawed and/or launched into the center of the sun, never to plague humanity again…I’m looking at you, pistachio, because when I see green ice cream, I think mint chocolate chip and get all excited, and then I realize it’s…pistachio).

Spider-Man is a bit the same way, especially lately—the House of Ideas has been playing fast and loose with the application of that sobriquet, bestowing it upon everyone from 19th-century steampunk inventor ladies to talking cartoon pigs.

If original, teenage Peter Parker—fresh off learning that with great power comes great responsibility (bar none the greatest origin story in comics)—is the gold standard for Spider-Man stories (we’ll think of him as the mint chocolate chip of Spideys), what is Miles Morales? Caveat: I didn’t hang out with Miles much in the Ultimate universe (though I immensely enjoyed Bendis’s work on Ultimate Spider-Man during the first several years of its run), so my exposure to him has primarily been post-Secret Wars (which is pretty much the pistachio of comic crossovers, as I drone on at length about here). That said, and perhaps ironically (trigger warning: ironic not-really-race-related joke coming), he’s vanilla.

Vanilla ice cream is good. Very good, in fact. But, in and of itself, it’s not at the top of the ice cream spectrum (with chocolate syrup and whipped cream sitting on top of a hot brownie…well, sure). It’s squarely in the middle—in some ways, a blank canvas to be adorned and festooned and improved with goodness, which is essentially where Miles is right now. He’s high school Peter Parker light, an attempt to strip away the baggage of 50 years of Spidey continuity (not to mention the trappings of running a major corporation that is bogging down the core Spidey books) while simultaneously presenting a diverse hero who might speak to and appeal to a broader audience. In those aspects, he’s a success. Further, Bendis remains an ace dialogue writer, and Pichelli’s art is lovely.

This could evolve into something more dynamic (though if Miles remains tied to the Avengers and every earth-shaking crossover, it will continue to stunt the book’s potential to carve out its own niche), but, right now, it’s a pleasant, if occasionally unremarkable, modern retread of a tried-and-true formula.

I prefer my vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup, but, hey—it does just fine on its own, so I’ll keep eating what Bendis and Pichelli are serving up. Call it 3.5 stars.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following Secret Wars Miles Morales, his friends, and family have joined the main Marvel Universe. An even bigger surprise is Miles' Mom is alive again. Now Miles is once again attempting to balance his superhero work with his school work.

Unfortunately his school work isn't fairing so well at the moment.

Post Secret Wars Miles Morales' existence is anything but clear. His Mom's alive again which is a massive plus. No one seems to have any memory of the Ultimate Universe. Even Peter Parker who met Miles in Spider-Men has no recollection of the other world where Miles and his loved ones are from. Miles' father still knows he's Spider-Man, but there is no longer any anger over that point. Prowler is alive and no word if he's Miles' uncle or not in this world. It's frustratingly confusing because the story is saying, Forget what you learned before...well except for the characters...um well that's not entirely true because some of them have changed and one came back to life. Don't be concerned that no one remembers Miles' past even him.


The storyline itself is the standard school aged hero. Basically it's I have to save the world, but I have to do my homework too. I imagine it speaks to kids, unfortunately I'm way past that point in my life so reading about balancing school and being a superhero holds little interest to me at this point. I do like Miles, but the comic's focus is significantly different from my own.

All in all Spider-Man: Miles Morales vol. 1 is a good title, but I'm not sure it's what I'm looking for anymore.

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Secret Wars the Ultimates universe was blowed up along with almost everyone in it - except for Ultimate Spider-Man/Miles Morales who is now just Spider-Man. Sharing New York City with Peter Parker/Spider-Man. That’s not confusing. And why the hell are so many superheroes in New York City anyway? You’d have to be a moron to consider being a supervillain or even just an ordinary criminal there! Go to Wolverhampton or something, ain’t no Spider-People across the pond!

So once again Brian Michael Bendis has written a book and forgotten to include a story. Witness Miles juggling being a superhero with school, aka the Spider-Man boilerplate, before his granny is brought in to up his grades. His grandmother. And this is interesting to who??

Miles battles a contrivance called Blackheart who’s transparently there to be beaten by Miles to show the audience how capable he is, before he fights Black Cat and Hammerhead for vague reasons. But don’t worry, none of this shit is going to carry over, this is just background stuff while Miles’ gran gives him the business!

It was amusing to see Goldballs rock up to Miles’ school. He’s a mutant who can make volley ball-sized golden balls appear from his skin - I know, he’s a thing! I like Goldballs because he’s such a silly character whose bizarreness is appealing for its inscrutability. It’s like a callback to Silver Age Marvel when characters like him abounded.

Goldballs and Sara Pichelli’s art were the only bright spots in an otherwise dull and unmemorable debut for Miles Morales. I know he’s Bendis’ character but he’s been writing him for 5 years now and all this sub-par book shows is that he’s clearly run out of things to write about. Maybe it’s time for Bendis to hand Miles over to someone else now?

[Chad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Secret Wars has allowed Bendis to retcon some things. Miles's mother is alive and well now, although his Dad still knows he's Spider-Man. I hate this kind of thing, because I no longer know what part of Miles's history is still canon and what is now a figment of my imagination. Miles also appears to be a bit older now looking more like 16 than 13. The book here isn't quite as focused as I'm used to with Bendis. The plot kind of jumps around all over the place. That being said, it's still a Bendis penned Spider-Man book, so it's still top-notch. Sara Pichelli is a very talented artist. I like the introduction of Goldballs to the book. He has such a dumb mutant power, it cracks me up.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were definitely some flaws in this story, but it being about Miles Morales I am inclined to still like it. I am not sure why I am such a sucker for Miles but I am!

However here is a list of what I did NOT like:
1) Ganke- like what the fuck man you are supposed to be Miles friend?
2) The name Goldballs, I mean is that a joke?
3) The super unnecessary involvement of that youtuber girl, she just annoys the crap out of me.

But things I liked:
1) Miles
2) Mrs. Marvel
3) Black Cat- I am also a sucker for anything Black Cat, sue me.

[Baba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like a hand to a glove, the Bendis team seamlessly add Miles Morales and his world into the Marvel reality, and stick his name in the comic book title to boot.. except they don't. The comic book title is "Spider-Man" - it was this issue that led to Bendis finally leaving Marvel, don't ya know?

This volume is certainly more a place setter than anything else to settle Morales into Earth 616, so it's mostly local / school / relationships stuff plus some Hammerhead, Ms Marvel (yay), Blackheart (yikes) and Goldenballs, a character that Bendis just can't let go of, it seems! 7 out of 12.

[Prabhjot Kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miles Morales is Spiderman but he isn't the only Spiderman. He beats a demon called Blackheart even when the avengers failed to beat the demon collectively. His best friend, Ganke and his father are the only ones who know his secret.

Miles attends high school but his grades are going down what with him being the Spiderman and being busy all the time. This doesn't go well with his family. He is friends with Ms Marvel and she also knows his identity. Black cat offers a bounty to take down the new Spiderman, Miles but he ends up defeating them but Black cat gets away.

This was a weird one. There was no real story and this read like a character set up book for Miles. He defeats a demon at the very beginning when even the avengers failed. He goes to school sometimes. His best friend also tells him not to tell his secret to others only he ends up telling Miles' secret to a total stranger even when it was clear that Miles didn't want his secret out. Then Miles also defeats Hammer head and Black cat. I am not sure what the author was trying to do but I couldn't find a story or a plot. I liked the diversity for sure but that's about it.

2 stars

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd probably say this is the best title Bendis is writing lately, and I think it's because he can get away with his 'heavy-dialogue and not much plot movement' in this title because Miles and the supporting cast (like Ganke and Golden Balls) are such great characters that you don't mind the dialogue moments. They're enjoyable. That's not to say there's no plot here. Miles is established in the 616verse by taking on The Black Cat (who is the Kingpin of crime now? Which is news to me, unless I just passed over when Slott did it in the main Spidey book because it was boring....) and it's the usually still young and learning arc. Slotts Spider-man book has been better post- Secret Wars, but this is still the better Spider-man book. And I'm glad to see Bendis can write good comics because I still want to refer to him as one of my favourite writers and not the writer of Guardians of the Galaxy and Civil War II...

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the record, I'm absolutely overjoyed that Miles Morales survived the destruction of his home universe as I'm a big fan of Spidey, Jr. In fact, his adventures are scratching my Spidey itch much more than Peter Parker's are at the moment. Seriously, I don't even recognise Pete anymore.

It's a shame then that this first volume of Miles' Earth-616 adventures was a bit of a mess. There were a bunch of different stories here, all kinda splodged together with no real sense of deliberate intent or cohesion. It would also have been nice to get some kind of explanation of Miles' new status quo.

Fortunately, Sarah Pichelli's artwork was as gorgeous as ever. This book's worth reading for her work alone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that volume 2 will be an improvement.

[Donovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this, surprisingly. I've always wanted to read about Miles Morales, and I'm glad I finally did.

I haven't read enough Bendis to say whether I'm a fan or not, but his writing is great here. Solid dialog, plotting, and characterization. Because Miles is a teenager struggling with the hero-student balance much like the classic Peter Parker, there's complexity to the character: constant conflict between him and his friends, teachers, parents, and of course villains. While the villain Blackheart the Demon takes a backseat to Miles himself, I can tell a deeper conflict has begun and I'm curious to see where it's going.

I've never heard of Sara Pichelli, but her artwork is fantastic and complements the light tone of storytelling. Clean sketchy lines and rich, realistic colors. It just feels like Spider-Man.

Speaking of the elephant in the comic, I like Miles as Spider-Man. Bendis addresses this directly through characters' opinions on a Spider-Man of color, and it's very well done, with Miles even saying, "I don't want to the black Spider-Man, I just want to be Spider-Man." (Paraphrasing.) There are countless diverse characters, from Miles' best friend Ganke, to his mixed race parents, his two love interests, and other Avengers Ms. Marvel and Sam Wilson. It doesn't feel like liberal "feel good" pandering either. I get the impression that Bendis and Marvel are really trying to break the status quo of white faces dominating comics. And it's great!

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it was sort of an ordinary book, but was worth reading for a few reasons. Kamala Khan's Ms. Marvel - my favorite in the newer crop of super-heroines - makes a cameo appearance, as does a certain private investigator (that last full page illustration cries out for a musical stinger) ; the old-school villains Black Cat and Hammerhead pop up to cause trouble in the final act; and some of Morales' teen melodrama nostalgically recalls Peter Parker's early years. The artwork was good, too.

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's time for yet another Volume 1 for my favourite Spider-Man, Miles Morales. And it's a good one!

First of all, I think it was a great idea to finally bring Miles into the main Marvel universe. It just makes sense. He is probably the only great thing to come out of the late Ultimate universe, and it is so refreshing to see him teamed up with characters like Ms. Marvel and other Avengers.

Story-wise, the volume is kind of slow, but it sets up a lot of (hopefully) interesting things to come. I was kind of annoyed by the introduction of Miles's tyrannous grandmother, and I hope that she turns out to be some sort of a villain in disguise, so that Miles could kick her hateful ass. Other aspects of the story look promising, though — Goldballs is a fun character from Bendis's X-Men run who I never thought would show up anywhere else, but here he is. Miles's conflict with the Black Cat can end up somewhere interesting. And then there's his father, who is up to something weird again. There is also a video-blogging Miles fangirl plot that can go either way, but like I said, there are no resolutions in this volume — only setup.

What I really enjoy about Bendis's writing, though, is his sense of humour and great dialogue. And there is a lot of that here. Like, you know that little inside joke that he does with all of his books, where a seemingly crazy person at a police station is yelling something about the events that take place in a parallel universe? Well, even though there is no Marvel multiverse anymore, Bendis still finds a way to crack a joke that made me laugh out loud.



The book boasts some great artwork by Sara Pichelli. She used to draw Miles's book from the very beginning, and now she's back and as great as ever! From character work to action scenes, she draws every page perfectly. I am a bit annoyed with the abundance of double-page spreads, as they can be hard to follow at times, and are also hard to read on a tablet screen (I read 98% of my comics digitally). Still, this is a minor complaint and more of a Bendis issue anyway, it is he who loves those damn double-pagers so much.

Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Vol. 1 is a good comeback for a beloved character that sets many stories to come. Let's hope Brian Michael Bendis still has enough inspiration in him to keep this series interesting. After all, he's been writing Ultimate Spider-Man for almost 16 years! Based on this volume though, I think it's going to be fine.

[Diz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miles, as always, is a great Spider-Man, and this volume has some interesting things going on. However, there are a few things that didn't work very well in this volume. First, Ganke isn't a very good friend in this story. Second, a character called Goldballs plays a large roll (who names these characters?). Finally, there are some questionable messages about race in this story. There seems to be some criticism of people fetishizing race, but in that criticism, some actual valuable advances in representation are also seemingly criticized. In the end, the message is not clear.

[Carolt_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book for my “Reading like the boys from outer banks” video!! Check out my thoughts here:

https://youtu.be/IXqJ5UssJn8

[Ken W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Excellent Spider-Man comic! There was even a Peter Parker appearance! If Peter approves of Miles being Spider-Man then no one should have a problem 🤷‍♂️ 😂 I loved this even more than I thought I would! 5 stars!

[Subham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun I guess.

We pick up with Spider-man aka Miles in 616 after secret wars and well he is fighting enemies here and there but he is having problems at school with falling grade and so Grandma Gloria is here and we see the family drama there and also some insane stuff in the main universe where he has to fight Blackheart and later on deal with Black cat and Tombhead and I love the way they show it here and Miles gets one challenge after another. There are moments with Ms Marvel and later on Goldballs which is fun!

Its a really well done volume and Bendis is really at his best focusing on supporting cast and showing Miles in a new environment and expanding on his world here and the complications of being Spider-man. He taps into the classic zeitgeist of "hero life compromises personal life" well here and he also sets up future plots here which will be interesting to read. Plus the art was so good omg I love it!

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me to Brian Michael Bendis on any given day:


Really good stuff. Not sure why I didn't pick this up sooner other than it being Marvel, I guess. Mistake on my part. It flew by and Miles is very likable. Interested in seeing where this story goes.

[Grace Arango · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars!

So glad to see my baby Miles again in this introduction to a new run!
This has everything you want from a Miles Morales story and that cliffhanger is making me beg for more!!!!!

[James DeSantis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2023 Review: So upon re-read I enjoyed this more but still around a 3-3.5. The art is solid, Miles is fun, the conversation about fat vs race is still dumb, and the ending not as good as the first 3 issues, but overall a fun start for the 616 universe to let Miles grow.

Original Review: I read all of the Ultimate line Miles, and reading the current Miles storyline, but never did get a chance to read the middle when Bendis wrote Miles for the last time.

This is pretty good but nothing remarkable. Bendis fits Miles into the main Marvel Universe pretty easy. He has his friend Ganke, his mother is back alive, his father still worked for Shield, so nothing major changes. He goes to school and tries to live his best life...that is until a former X-Men joins the school and things spiral.

I think there's some great fight scenes here, I like SOME of the conversations, and the art is solid. What Bendis tries too hard here is to add in the "I'm fat no one likes me" and "Dude I'm black, try to live that" back and forth and it just doesn't work. Even as teenagers it seems forced. Like I'm a pretty big guy, I'd never say something as stupid as "Try being fat it's the same as being Black in America" Like what?

But anyway, it was okay besides that. I can see why people wanted Bendis off this after awhile, he's running out of stories here.

[Lashaan Balasingam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly enjoyable introduction to Miles Morales as he attempts to juggle superhero'ing with school work. With countless other heroes to look up to, including the one who created a legacy under the name of Spider-Man, he now finds himself at the heart of the action with countless others seeing in him a problem for society.

Writer Brian Michael Bendis looks to also insert him within multiple sub-plots that connect him to other heroes in the Marvel universe and does a good job in teasing those arcs without giving us too much.

Inevitably, he also inserts some social commentary on prominent and omnipresent issues about representation (race, weight, etc.) and succeeds in exposing them without getting preachy. Miles Morales' own take on these matters matches that of a teenager still going through a certain learning curve.

Yours truly,

Lashaan | Blogger and Book Reviewer
Official blog: https://bookidote.com/

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wordy , filled with lots and lots of dialogue. Little to no action ..but so many things going
PERFECT!
I haven't read Spider in about 15-20 years but this is the perfect Jumping on point and great new version of the old WebHead.
Can't recommend enough !

[Logan Mendivil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Miles as a character but at times I felt the plot could use some improvement. Plus his best friend doesn't seem like that great of a friend to me in this take. Art was nonetheless pretty good and in spite of my couple complaints, I enjoyed reading this.

[Max's Comic Reviews and Lists · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goldballs
Just saw Spider-Man Into the Spider Verse tonight. Amazing character piece and flawless animation. ANYWAY. Miles Morales. A product of the ultimate universe. In this comic he has grown a little as Spider-Man since his debut, and definitely learned a lot more from when he started. This book was a bit of a mixed bag for me. Issues 1-3 were pretty good and 4 & 5 sucked. We get to know Miles in this book and his methods as Spider-Man as well as his fears. The only supporting characters I really gave a shit about were he parents. Ganke, Miles’ roommate was a little irritating. Especially at he end. Holy crap. Issues 1-3 were very very entertaining and fast paced. Issues 4 and 5 were very very boring, without a clear direction and stuffed to the brim. A lot of plot lines are written for those last 2 issues and it wasn’t for the better. Especially this subplot with Miles’ grandma. HOLY SHITE. Bendis you managed to write the most annoying character since Professor Umbrige from Order of the Phoenix
The art is serviceable and well done. Nothing to write home about though. Issue 2 has some very detailed penciling moments. So look out for that.

In the end if you are looking to get into the character of Miles Morales in preparation for watching Into the Spider Verse, I know there is better books out there, but this isn’t bad at all. It’s a perfectly entertaining superhero comic for the first 3 issues. Letter Grade:(B-)

[Travis Duke · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good start to the series but it is also pretty safe in terms of story. Miles is a great spider-man, I like the additional powers he has and his personality is fun. In the book he has the classic and somewhat repetitive high school backdrop while he balances his other life as Spidey and the avengers. We see him fight blackheart and hammerhead, which was cool to get away from the sinister six that is usually used.
Spider-man to me is over saturated and never really been a favorite of mine and the coexistence of Peter Parker doesn't help the overall image of spider-man. Bendis is once again middle of the road, playing it safe and it is fine, it marvel, they don't take a lot of risks especially with their baby spidey. I Will say the art is great, it has a very smooth digital feel but it works. Not sure I will read more, it just doesn't hold a lot of interest for me.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miles is now in the regular Marvel Universe and I guess all the subtlety that Bendis wrote him with in the Ultimates Universe is just out the window. Plus, his mom is still alive(?) and he's got a horrible, cliched grandmother (yech!). Miles Morales was a great character, but this first volume really does nothing to further his story--just a bunch of random incidents, no real story. Plus, it looks like we're going to have to jump into Civil War II in the next volume before this story even gets a chance to get rolling.

[The Sapphic Nerd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read Miles Morales for years and only got to it now thanks to my local library!

This was a lot of fun! I love the representation and how on point it is for Miles to say he doesn't want to be known as "black Spider-Man" but just as "Spider-Man". It's beautiful and sums up why representation is important.

Highly recommended.

[Vinton Bayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Miles. This series gives me a lot of hope for his integration into the main universe. My only real negative note is they are playing fast and loose with his secret identity, IT IS WAY TO EARLY FOR THAT. Heck I think they still do it too much with Parker even after all this time.

[Kat(ja) · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, story-wise not all that much happened, but I like Miles. He's funny and his friends and family are awesome. Also, basically everyone ever was mentioned at some point. I really liked it.