Posted in: Comics, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man | Tagged: black cat, bombshell, brian michael bendis, goldballs, Hammerhead, HRL, Marvel Comics, miles morales, Oscar Bazaldua, spider-man

Spider-Man #18 Review: An Emotionally Vulnerable Miles Morales

Reeling from a battle with Hammerhead, Spider-Man is in big trouble!

This means his old X-Men friend, Goldballs, must come to his rescue. Miles manages to escape, but he finds his mom back at his home. They have to connect on the Spider-Man issue, and Miles Morales has to come to terms with the fact that he was ready to kill Hammerhead.

Hammerhead isn't through with Miles, though, and he is already scheming on what to do with the Wall-Crawler next.

This comic brings Miles to an emotionally vulnerable moment. He almost killed the Hammerhead, and he is having to tangle with his mom, who has never approved of his superhero persona. This leads to a nice moment where she has to show some level of encouragement for his Spider-Man career and encourage him that he can be better than even Peter Parker.

[Some Spoilers Ahead] Goldballs bringing down Hammerhead was a pretty neat and amusing moment. He essentially keeps producing balls until he manifests a giant one which takes out the mobster.

Bombshell admitting her feelings for Miles was a pretty sweet moment, too. You have to feel bad for Goldballs, because she tells the hero and her feelings are reciprocated. It's a bit of juvenile love triangle foolishness, but it's handled in a novel enough way (given her interpretation of how Miles handled Hammerhead) that it was at least unique.

Oscar Bazaldua's artwork is quite good. He manages to hybridize a comic and cartoonish style that is quite fitting for the adventures of Spider-Man. It's also generally very visually appealing, and is actually pretty in line with frequent Brian Michael Bendis partner David Marquez.

There are some panel sequencing issues — sometimes it's hard to tell in which order you are supposed to read. This seems to be a frequent problem with Brian Michael Bendis. It's a relatively minor issue, but it's still frustrating, because it's something that would be quite simple to fix.

In addition, the action is also a bit sparse beyond the Goldballs-Hammerhead fight, so it does leave the comic feeling a little slow.

Miles Morales is an endlessly likable character, and it makes this a fairly enjoyable comic. It's another stepping stone on the journey of the new Spider-Man, and it helps remind you why this character became so popular so quickly. This one comes with a recommendation. Check it out.

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