Miles is getting closer to solving the mystery of the thievery ring plaguing Brooklyn, but the Rhino has complicated matters quite a lot. Rhino doesn’t usually have minions preferring to charge alone. What’s behind this change of methodology? Plus, meet a new antagonist who may just become Miles’ most dangerous foe!
Okay, permit me to give you a bit of context regarding where my head was at when opening this comic. I’d not had the best of days. To put it mildly (professionally – thankfully all my loved ones are okay). It was the kind of day where the absolute last thing I wanted to do was come home and write about comics. The last thing. Then I read this comic, and for ten minutes I lost myself; because of Miles Morales, I forgot what was bothering me. Because of the Rhino, my shoulders felt a lot lighter.
And suddenly, I wanted to write about comics. Specifically, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #2. Now I understand that not everybody will be in the same place as me when reading this comic, and I know that technically I should remain objective and logically look at the merits of this book, but that’s not going to happen. Whenever one reads a book or comic, listens to music or watches a movie then then one will have, on some scale, an emotional reaction. And I had one with this comic; I had fun while reading it. For the fifteen minutes it took me to read this, I had forgotten my troubles and I didn’t care about tomorrow. I was happy and lost within the pages of a comic book.
At this point, you’re probably wondering when I’ll start talking about the book itself. I appreciate your patience, dear reader, and will let you know that while the first issue was fun, this was amazing. Sensational, even. The first issue found Spider-Man battling the Rhino over a misunderstanding (and without giving too much away, it’s a pretty hilarious issue), but this issue took everything that worked and runs with it. Saladin Ahmed has such a wonderful grasp of the characters within this book that each page’s dialogue a vibrantly natural feeling. The pacing is spot on; relentless, exhausting. A day in the life of Miles Morales is not for the faint of heart. Although it makes an awesome comic.
But as good as the writing is, Javier Garron and David Curiel match every beat. Garron’s layouts, choreography and kinetic figures carry remarkable weight on the page (especially Rhino). Curiel adds the cherry on top of a pretty fantastic pie with his colouring. Artistically the book is solid. Very, very solid.
Objectively, this may not be the best Spider-Man comic you’ll ever read, but it was exactly the comic I needed to read today. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also very good, but the impact for me was immeasurable. Sometimes the right comic (or song or whatever) can lift you, and Miles Morales: Spider-Man #2 has done that for me. So thank you, Saladin Ahmed. Thank you Javier Garron. Thank you David Curiel. Thank you for being the bright spot in a day that was, up until the opening of this comic, pretty shitty.
Story: Saladin Ahmed Art: Javier Garron Colours: David Curiel
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy
Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
