Issue #7

Some interesting things raised in this issue. For the first time since Peter has returned to his own body he has acknowledged that Doc Ock’s methods were effective. Anna Maria calls Peter out on his sense of responsibility and suggests that great responsibility doesn’t mean all of the responsibility. She reminds him that he has different kinds of responsibilities in the form of his company and the associated employees. She also observes that the authorities are more than capable of dealing with many of the issues that arise in the city. There’s a slew of evidence that Spider-Man isn’t needed all of the time.

I like how the two sides of the argument are put across here. Anna Maria uses the term “small stuff” which is something that Peter can’t subscribe to. According to his principles there’s no such thing as a small thing as it calls back to the very beginning of his career as Spider-Man where he looked the other way once and as a result his Uncle was killed. Personally I’d be more inclined to agree with Anna Maria’s assessment. Spider-Man isn’t needed all of the time, especially considering the multitude of superheroes in New York in this universe. His obligation doesn’t extend to helping everyone all of the time. Hopefully Peter will use this verbal slap in the face to rethink his position as a hero and mature somewhat.

Silk is still hanging around but I can’t really fathom the reason why. Ever since this character was introduced she’s not done anything all that interesting and nothing seems to be happening with her beyond the pheromone based attraction that they have for one another. It really does nothing for me and doesn’t fill me with a lot of confidence for this story leading up to anything interesting.

This issue features something I’ve been looking forward to for a while; Spider-Man’s first team-up with the new Ms Marvel. There are similarities in their characters and what they stand for at the stage of their origin. Ms Marvel is an awkward teenager representative of many young girls and becomes relatable to an audience who really need a hero. Peter Parker fulfilled a similar niche when he was created so seeing these two characters together is quite an event.

Readers of Ms Marvel will be right at home with her appearance here as the tone is nailed perfectly from the outset and the comedy widely associated with her own comic. I got a good laugh out her “fangirling” over meeting Spider-Man and talking about how she “ships Spider-Marvel”. She is clearly distracted by this team-up which is just hilarious given Spidey’s reaction as he has no idea how to react to this.

Sadly this story is very short as it has to make way for a Spider-Verse tie in involving Billy Braddock who pulls double duty in his universe as both Spider-Man (also known as Spider-UK) and Captain Britain. The victim universe in this case is the universe that houses Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends. It’s quite grim to talk about how funny this carnage is but it really is amusing. Morlun makes reference to the universe being “like a child’s confection” obviously drawing attention to the fact that the cartoon was made for children and was very light in tone. Hilarity aside I can take this story or leave it, it doesn’t really add anything interesting to the Spider-Verse story and we’re not given much in the way of new information. It’s a shame that a good story was shortened to make room for this,