After the intensity of the previous volume, which did the impossible that is successfully giving Miles Morales his own Clone Saga, this volume takes a bit of a breather. The first issue features the eponymous Spidey looking back on the recent events that have taken a toll on Miles, from losing his uncle and his baby sister getting kidnapped by evil clones – except for Shift, he’s good now – whilst balancing his time at Brooklyn Visions Academy. Saladin Ahmed takes the classic Spider-Man dilemma that we all know, which is our hero balancing the two lives, but feels unique to Miles as he continuously writes his journal that serves an inner monologue.
Advised by his teacher, who tells him to write his assigned essay about how those events have shaped him, Miles also decides it’s time for a change as his costume has been shredded and seeks the help of aspiring fashion designer Kenneth Kingston, he receives a brand-new costume. Very different aesthetic from his original get-up as the new suit feels more casual with the sweater that has a collar that covers the mouth, whilst maintaining his red-black motif. I'm liking the suit so far as the two artists Christopher Allen and Carmen Carnero create some nice visuals with it, though I doubt it’s going to last long and we’ll get Miles’ classic suit back.
The rest of the volume shows Miles going on a date with Tiana AKA Starling in their costumed personas, only to be targeted by Taskmaster. As someone who has always had a soft spot towards Taskmaster (despite his lacklustre appearance in last year’s Black Widow movie), he serves a decent foe for both the two lovebirds, even if the conflict has a bit of an anti-climax when Taskmaster bows out and we never find out who hired him. Instead, the ending is a nice set-up for what could be happening to Miles during the current Beyond era that is occurring in The Amazing Spider-Man.
Going back to the artists, my initial thoughts towards Allen’s art was not great as all his characters look older than they should, particularly the students. His Miles actually looks better when he’s donning the mask and throughout the volume, Allen improves his work with masked characters battling each other. Only doing one third of issue #30, Carmen Carnero is the better artist here as her work is cleaner and has a great grasp into superhero storytelling that feels more slice-of-life, where Miles can go from fighting a guy in a big robot suit to finding a missing dog for twins.
As last year marked the tenth anniversary of Miles Morales, the aforementioned issue #30 celebrates the positivity of the character with two backups. One of which is written by Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Kemp Powers, Jeff Loveness, and drawn by Sara Pichelli, and it’s about Miles’ connection with New York. Given this is from some of the minds behind the cinematic masterpiece Into the Spider-Verse, it is not only hilarious as one would expect from Lord and Miller, but it’s also incredibly touching as it carries the central message from the movie, which is that anyone can wear the mask and be Spider-Man in their own way.
This theme is also carried over in the second backup, written by Cody Ziglar and drawn by Anthony Piper, in which an older Miles confronts a trio of burglars, only to be chatting with one of them, who was initially reluctant about doing the burglary. We all know that “with great power, comes great responsibility”, but Miles puts his own spin on that message and it’s wonderful. As much as Peter Parker will always be my Spider-Man, but Miles is a very strong contender of overtaking that position as Saladin Ahmed continues to thrive with his current run.