Oh Boy.
Despite some alarmingly not-great reviews for “Spider-Verse,” and the fact that the event is not even completely over yet – Marvel has excitedly announced Spider-Verse #1 – perhaps the most confusingly titled (or timed) “Secret Wars” tie-in so far.
From Marvel:
New York, NY—February 12th, 2015— The biggest Spider-Man event of all time continues in the WARZONE! this May as spider-powered heroes from every universe find themselves stranded on the surface of Battleworld in SPIDER-VERSE #1! From writer Mike Costa (Scarlet Spiders, G.I. Joe) and Andre Lima Araujo (Avengers A.I.) comes a brand-new Secret Wars series pitting the breakout stars of the Spider-Verse event against the worst Battleworld can throw at them!
You guys know I’m a big bundle of optimism, so let’s go over the facts; it’s not as bad as it sounds.
Here’s what we know: Spider-Verse #1 will feature Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Man: India, Spider-Girl, Spider-UK and Spider-Ham. The lineup is interesting for several reasons. First off, Spider-Man Vanilla seems to be missing from this greatest hits of Spider-Man flavors and variations that the book will follow; keeping with the delicious ice-cream imagery, Secret Wars seems to be giving us a double-scoop of something most people enjoyed about “Spider-Verse” (interesting tastes of alternate Spiders) without too many characters, nonsense, ext. With only six “flavors” to deal with, this tie-in has potential to please us with it’s diversity and colliding zest – much like an ice-cream sundae or three flavored triple cone, and less like the Soda-Fountain-Suicide-gone-wrong Slurpee that “Spider-Verse” so eagerly metamorphosed. “Spider-Verse” became ensnared in an unreadable and wide lens that took us out of focus long before our favorite six Spider-Men/Women/Swine were able to head back home.
Or… were they? Despite seeing the Inheritors banished to starvation, we haven’t yet seen many Spider-Totems return home; Marvel seems to be hinting that those homes may no longer exist:
How did they get here? What happened to their homes? What tragedy has befallen this region of Battleworld and how will these Spider-Men and Women deal with it?
However I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that this is good news (as I did with News that 2099 would have a slice of Battleworld) – as this allows for the possible survival of these six Spiders. Spider-Gwen will likely have a series after all the insanity of “Secret Wars” calms down; but before this announcement, Spider-Ham’s future as a living punchline might have been in danger – now (at least) the porker has a shot.
The last and best part of Spider-Verse #1 is undoubtedly the addition of “Spider-Verse” tie-in veteran, Mike Costa (Scarlet Spiders). Along with Andre Lima Araujo doing the pencils, Mike Costa will handle exactly double the amount of Totems he oversaw in Scarlet Spiders – a book with significantly better reviews than the original “Spider-Verse,” and a much better aftertaste.
Scarlet Spiders was received well, despite the sobering end; and perhaps that is a flavor of emotional ice-cream that Costa will find necessary to serve again – as “Secret Wars” looks to shake up and wreck the Marvel Universe like never before. Think ice-cream truck with a broken air conditioner.
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