EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #1 Review

Is this a comic you must own? Or should fans skip it? Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

SPIDER-MAN NOIR RETURNS!

• The Peter Parker of the 1930’s finds himself not only up against Mysterio, but knee-deep in the Spider-Man event of 2014!

Things are certainly getting interesting as this event continues its beginning strides. And I have to say the whole concept right form the start had my attention because I’m a sucker for alternate reality versions of classic characters. It lends a lot of room for creativity, and even if there’s an already established iteration further exploration into their world is almost always welcome.

David Hine with Fabrice Sapolsky quickly thrust their audience back into the edgy but nonetheless tangled web of Spider-Man Noir. This version of Peter Parker shares quite a few similarities to the masked vigilante that we know, but his adventures are set in a vastly different period. For fans that missed out on his previous mini-series’ don’t worry because the comic contains a quick recap and wastes little time re-hashing prior plots. For the most part the text is thick and a bit dry but there’s a sense of gravitas that one normally doesn’t find in these types of tie-ins. And that right there sets it up for a downright engaging cliffhanger with a few noticeable wrinkles along the way.

I can’t imagine a better artist for this outing than Richard Isanove. Each page is immaculately rendered with acute details accounted for, as this old but fresh iteration of the time honored superhero myth gains some legs. Whether we’re dealing with a new antagonist or the core elements that set this creation apart from the rest, it’s clear from the first time the pencil hits the page that this is one talent that has a firm grip on the material. In short: the pictures were honestly second to none and they just looked great.

Edge of Spider-Verse #1 is a rousing beginning to what promises to be a unique but entertaining excursion into the various versions of everyone’s favorite wall-crawling menace. Recommended.