Spider-Man: Miles Morales vol. 2

As far as getting an actual superhero story about Miles Morales’ adventures in the Marvel Universe, this volume is a step in the right direction.  The main issue here is that “Miles Negotiates the Fallout From ‘Civil War II’” isn’t really a proper story.  It starts off with our protagonist getting a call from Tony Stark to talk about the new Inhuman who can see the future through a precognitive version of profiling.  The narrative then goes on to touch upon a couple key events of the crossover while also weaving in story threads from the previous volume.  It makes for a choppy read where everything is pretty much defined by how the characters are reacting to events that are happening outside of the series.

It’s a testament to the solid character work from Bendis that this winds up being less of an issue than I’m making it sound.  Taking in the characters’ discussion of these events, whether it’s Miles coming to his dad about whether to join Stark’s side or not, or Miles’ Mom trying to find out what Jessica Jones knows about her son, the characters’ actions and emotions feel genuine and relatable.  Actually, all of the cast has something worthwhile to contribute to Miles’ struggle, from regular supporting cast members Ganke and Fabio “Goldballs” Medina” to guest-star Ms. Marvel.  So when they all come together in the next-to-last story to help Miles come to grips with his showdown in D.C. with Captains America and Marvel, and Iron Man it winds up being cathartic and heartwarming in all the right ways.

Another reason all the character drama works so well is because the artist illustrating most of it, Nico Leon, has a really appealing style.  Leon has a style that at once appears effortlessly grounded, but also allows for enough exaggeration to make the characters’ actions lively along with the action.  Sara Pichelli returns for the final story, a one-off detailing the new complications in Miles’ dad Jefferson’s life now that he’s back working for S.H.I.E.L.D.  It’s a solid piece of work that shows, when he puts his mind to it, Bendis can take a familiar setup from another (spy) genre and make it effortlessly work within the context of the Marvel Universe.  Overall, this volume shows that even if we’re still left waiting for a proper superhero story about Miles’ adventures in this universe, having him talk through his issues with friends and family is a setup for a good read nonetheless.