Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s digital comics subscription service, is once again offering all fans free access to some of Marvel’s most iconic stories from recent years, including now-classic Marvel Comics events and critically acclaimed runs featuring the Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and more.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to take a look back at these classic stories and maybe help you decide whether or not you would like to check them out. Our next series focuses on Spider-Man, but uh, not THAT Spider-Man. Miles Morales is the new web-slinger and he’s trying to follow in Peter Parker’s footsteps.
Mile Morales: Spider-Man: Straight Out of Brooklyn
Miles Morales received spider powers after an encounter with a genetically enhanced spider, making him the second friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Only, his neighborhood is Brooklyn, while the other Spidey is still swinging around Queens. Still, Miles learns a lot from Peter Parker, including the ever-important lesson that “with great power, there must also come great responsibility.”
Miles does his best to follow that lesson in this story arc, when he finds that his (girl)friend’s cousin has gone missing. After following a trail of missing children, he finds not only the crime boss known as Tombstone, but also a very unlikely ally in the supervillain known as Rhino.
To make this aventure even crazier for Miles, he and Rhino are joined by none other than Captain America. Together, this ragtag group will do everything they can to free the missing children, but that’s not the end of it. While still following Tombstone, Miles meets another unlikely ally, but this time it’s someone new. Meanwhile, he’s still struggling with school and keeping his identity a secret from those he cares about. You know, typical Spidey stuff.
Spider-Man comics are always fun because the character bring so much energy and wit to each page while still being so relatable. That goes just as much, if not more, for Miles as it does for Peter Parker. Miles is just a kid dealing with all the responsibilities of the real world on top of is superhero responsibilities, and the weight of it all is constantly overwhelming him. Still, he manages to put on a smile and trade banter with every thug and goon he comes in contact with.
This story offers a good balance of web-spinning, wall-crawling action with the day-to-day life of Miles. You can go from Miles being berated by his school’s vice principal to doing tag-team wrestling moves with the Rhino in just a couple of pages.
After reading stories like “Secret Wars” and “Doctor Strange: The Way of the Weird,” where the fate of the entire planet, or even multiple planets across the multiverse, is at stake, it’s nice to get back to a much simpler story. Sure, Miles has dealt with those huge crossover events before. But now, he’s back to just being a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, with emphasis on the “neighborhood.”
And of course, those aforementioned guest appearances add to the fun of this story. Not only is it fun to see Spider-Man team up with a guy like Rhino, but anytime you can see a young, starstruck hero get to work with Captain America, there’s always a fun dynamic. Plus, the appearance of a certain new flying vigilante adds a layer of intrigue to Spider-Man comics going forward.
You can read “Miles Morales: Spider-Man: Straight Out of Brooklyn” for free now. And be sure to check back as we look back the rest of these classic Marvel Comics stories over the next several weeks.