Writer: Greg Weisman
Penciler: Humberto Ramos
Inker: Victor Olazaba & Humberto Ramos
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski
Cover Artists: Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado; Nic Klein; Jerome Opeña & Matt Hollingsworth; Declan Shalvey; Elizabeth Torque & Tríona Ferrell
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Release Date: August 7, 2024
Arcade and Mentallo tricked Peter and Miles into fighting each other. When the spider-men ruined Turk’s Amazing Fantasy, he helped them realize they were ghost-spiders in the machine. But before they could hatch an escape plan, Hammerhead transported Butch Parker and the Arachnid Kid to The Wild Wild West! Are the fastest webslingers in New York City ready for a showdown at the Gang War Corral? Let’s grab our augmented reality glasses, thwip into The Spectacular Spider-Men #6, and find out!
Story
New York Police Detective Shari Sebbens is hunting for a clone. Flash Thompson's former girlfriend, Sha Shan, wants to find Peter Parker and her absent friends from The Coffee Bean. The women pool their knowledge and venture into the alleys near Empire State University. Unfortunately, Sha Shan told Raymond Aaron Warren about ESU’s new favorite game. Unlike Cedric, the professor isn’t interested in playing The Dating Game.
Hammerhead dreamed of ruling the New York underworld but became the Gang War's biggest loser. He hoped to polish his tarnished reputation by investing in Mentallo and Arcade's creation, but Peter and Miles are wrecking his game. So, Hammerhead transports the spider-men from a New York rooftop to Hadleyville for a High Noon hoedown. With dancing partners like Mr Negative, Silvermane, and Kingpin, Hammerhead intends to steal the show in The Spectacular Spider-Men #6. The best part is that his gang won't question his orders!
Peter and Miles discovered their families and lovers were robots in disguise. They’re not surprised when Arcade and Mentallo’s robots wear criminals' likenesses. The robots prove less inclined to deactivation than Peter and Miles hoped. Worse, Hammerhead forces the "spider-mooks" to fight Black Cat. Peter knows she's a robot. Still, Peter can't bear to hurt Felicia after failing to build a relationship with her, forcing the webslingers to fight apart in Greg Weisman's arachnid ode. But is a divide-and-conquer offense the best defense?
Amid all the thwipping and quipping, Weisman delivers plenty for spider-fans to sink their fangs into in The Spectacular Spider-Men #6. Among the evolving relationships, none is more intriguing than Raymond Aaron Warren's relationship with the Arcadium. Or should I say Miles Warren’s, as his consciousness inhabits his brother's cloned body? Miles may have created the clone, but the way he usurps it feels akin to demon possession or when a dominating parent, spouse, teacher, preacher, or authority figure attempts to destroy another’s will. Arcadium’s consciousness is a gestalt identity. The program may be a Frankenstein’s monster sewn together from the severed code created by heroes and villains, but it has achieved sentience. Is it the master of its fate? And if so, what must it do to survive?
Art
Miles and Peter crouch before the Spaghetti Western Six. The ground tilts beneath the face off in the Old West town. Mentallo and Arcade lean over a tilted control board in their control room. A component panel glows in the darkness next to a viewscreen focused on Hammerhead’s face. Darkness subsumes the Arcadium as Miles Warren, wearing Raymond's body, interacts with the newborn artificial intelligence. Miles Morales battles Black Cat across the top of two pages, while the simulated cyborg Silvermane gives Peter Parker a Super Power Beat Down along the bottom. Shadows threaten to obscure Sha Shan and Shari Sebbins’ steps past distressed industrial buildings with metal rolldown doors.
Edgar Delgado lavishes beautiful and nuanced colors on Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba’s action-packed and atmospheric art in The Spectacular Spider-Men #6. Heroes and villains charge between mustard and gray buildings under a lemon and orange cloudy sky. Sunlight glares on flesh, metal, and costumes, bleaching colors as warriors exchange blows, unleash energy weapons, and kick up clouds of white and brown dirt when they crash into the tan hardpan. Blood splattered Madame Masque rises amid a flurry of Hammerhead shots. Her gold face gleams as she clutches a dripping metal rod before a mauve and purple haze.
Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase letters into white balloons and narrative boxes. Dialogue emboldens and italicizes for intonation and never shrinks. Intense emotions swell words, growls, and roars to epic proportions. Sound effects help us hear Miles kick Black Cat in the stomach, Hammerhead ram headfirst into Peter’s six-pack abs, and Peter and Miles emulate Chewbacca when droids defeat him at the Millenium Falcon's Hologame table. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
Friends, villains, and flunkies team up to achieve more than they could individually as Peter and Miles become the fastest webslingers in the West. A cloned scientist befriends a newborn Artificial Intelligence to help both evolve. Deadpool wants to murder a space toddler who shows him Captain America with his brain in a jar, a Robot Hawkeye, and the multiversal truth about his relationship with Wolverine in The Spectacular Spider-Men #6.
Rating 9.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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