Spider-Man vol. 2: Spider-Verse Prelude

If you came here for all the preludes to the title event you could want, then you’re not going to be disappointed!  Really, with the exception of the two issues of “Amazing” collected here, all of the stories work to set up a different aspect of “Spider-Verse.”  Most of them introduce us to new characters like the Wolverine-trained Assassin Spider-Man or the self-explanatory Cyborg Spider-Man, or reintroduce ones from lesser-known titles like “Spider-Man:  Noir” and “Spider-Man:  India.”  While it’s cool to see such a diverse takes on the title character in one comic, my enthusiasm is dampened somewhat due to the fact that most of them feel like they’re being brought in to be grist for the mill.  I’ve never read an issue of “Spider-Girl,” but the fate of Mayday Parker and her family came off as senselessly and gratuitously violent.  This is to say nothing of what happens to the cast of “Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends,” which felt like writer Dan Slott was just trying to troll his audience.  As for the beings doing all of the killing, Morlun and his family of Inheritors, we don’t get to know a whole lot about them save for the fact that they’re a nigh-invulnerable bunch of vampires who feed off of animal (and especially spider) totems.  They make for a big enough threat to build a crossover around, but they don’t come off as interesting enough to suggest that it’s going to be a very memorable one.

In fact, the two issues of “Amazing” in this collection represent the most enjoyable story being told here.  It’s nothing special, just a team-up between Spidey and Kamala Khan, the new Ms. Marvel.  I haven’t read anything from her new series yet, though I think it’s time to correct that.  Kamala’s star-struck fangirl presence here makes a nice contrast with the title character, who actually manages to come off as the mature and sensible presence in his own series for once.  The story, in which they team up to fight one of Carol Danvers’ old rogues, is fairly standard issue yet is executed with a good deal of energy and fun.  It was enjoyable fluff, which is in stark contrast to the two issues of “Superior Spider-Man” which follow it and showcase what happened to Otto Octavius back when Horizon Labs exploded in vol. 4 of his title.  After being flung into the year 2099, Otto’s efforts to return to his home era only lead him to discover that Spider-Men throughout the multiverse are being killed.  So he rounds up a posse of survivors and looks to take the fight to the hunters, with decidedly mixed results.  Easily the most intriguing of the set-ups for “Spider-Verse” if only for letting us know that we’ll be seeing the Superior and Amazing Spider-Men face off for the first time ever in this event.  The build-up in this volume may be uneven (and probably would’ve read better if I had known to skip this volume and read these stories in the forthcoming “Spider-Verse” hardcover), yet there’s nothing to really put me off getting the next volume and seeing how the event ultimately plays out.