Writer: Greg Weisman
Penciler: Emilio Laiso & Andrés Genolet
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Production: Gabriel Mata
Editors: Kaeden McGahey, Kaitlyn Lindtvedt, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski
Cover Artists: Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado; Cory Smith & Edgar Delgado
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $3.99
Release Date: October 16, 2024
Sha Shan Nguyen requested Professor Raymond Aaron Warren’s help to find Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and her other missing friends. But Miles Warren, aka the Jackal, was masquerading as his brother. The Jackal used Sha Shan’s tip to find Arcadium and help it achieve its ultimate form. As Peter and Miles defeated the Jackal’s forces and KNAIVE, the robot AI child of Arcadium, Sha Shan, and Detective Shari Sebbens arrived to arrest Miles Warren, Hammerhead, Arcade, and Mentallo. Now, everyone from the Coffee Bean can thank Sha Shan, Peter, and Miles and resume their lives, right? Let’s grab a latte, thwip into The Spectacular Spider-Men #8, and find out!
Story
Professor Raymond Aaron Warren is dead. He was the incinerated corpse Peter, Miles, and Seymour Krepps discovered in Miles Warren’s lab. Unlike his brother, Raymond devoted his life to inspiring others. So, the friends from the Coffee Bean gather to celebrate his life with other former students and ESU faculty. Yet they have much more to mourn in The Spectacular Spider-Men #8.
Perhaps they should mourn the passing of KNAIVE, a newly born lifeform. They likely would if the AI infant hadn't tried to kill them. But the human relationships they lost weigh more heavily on their minds. Unlike the Avengers, the participants can't reclaim the friends they lost. Perhaps Coffee Bean newcomer Adam Blackveil feels this most acutely, as he used Arcadium to battle Thanos alongside his late friend Kevin. As for the rest, promising careers and marriage awaited them. Even the Infinity Stones can't help the friends reclaim those losses.
In Greg Weisman’s story, the friends convert their weekly meetups at the ESU Coffee Bean into therapy sessions. Peter’s friend Cindy Moon helps them find a therapist. But while Peter, Miles, and the others share their feelings with Sierra Sinclair, the villains aren’t sitting on their hands in The Spectacular Spider-Men #8. Unlike most participants, Turk Barrett used Arcadium to garner riches, defeat superheroes, and thumb his nose at society. So, after Turk pulled free of Peter and Miles' webbing, he helped Arcade and Mentallo evade Detective Shari Sebbens’ forces. Turk may lack Hammerhead's deep pockets. But as an enthusiastic beta tester, Turk wants to help Arcade and Mentallo rebuild and improve the augmented reality game in every conceivable way.
Art
Peter Parker claims two spaces on a Tic-Tac-Toe of torment before overtaking the entire board. The spider-men watch as Shari Sebbens’ officers force Hammerhead and Jackyl into a PDNY police van. Lights shine behind Sha Shan as she requests help finding Peter and Miles. So, two quick changes follow in The Spectacular Spider-Men #8. First, Manhattan’s Spider-Man “finds” Miles Morales. Then, Brooklyn's Spider-Man escorts Peter to his former schoolmate. While mourners gather across two pages to memorialize a beloved teacher, a smaller panel shows Shift celebrating a new life with the Vermin, the newly birthed Jackals, and the Unhoused in New York City sewers.
The reds, blues, and blacks of the spider-men, Detective Shari Sebbens, and uniformed officers show off against the gray evening illuminated by blue-and-red lights. Mourners dress in gray and black to commemorate their fallen friend. Shades of yellow and green fill the sewers as Spider-Man and Silk battle a green-and-yellow-clad villain. Their teamwork precipitates an explosion of blue-white light evoking Estrella Lopez's rebirth as Supernova, while the primary colors of red, blue, yellow, and green accompany the emotional energy swirling through ESU's Coffee Bean.
After Emilio Laiso & Andrés Genolet's soulful portrayal of people in pain and Edgar Delgado’ sensitive, celebratory, and electrifying colors, Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase letters into white balloons and narrative boxes in The Spectacular Spider-Men #8. While dialogue emboldens, italicizes for intonation, and rarely shrinks, dozens of red-edged white boxes remind us of ongoing characters and introduce new ones. As the cast swells, sound effects accentuate a villain's rising anger and the sorrow of a departing friend. Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.
Final Thoughts
As friends regroup in ESU’s Coffee Bean to assess the wreckage of their lives, the threat of new villains and Arcadium hangs over them. The Spectacular Spider-Men #8 addresses the families we create and the joys and pain we experience as relationships evolve and end.
Rating 9.6/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
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