Edge of the Spider-Verse 2 review

Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman, need anyone say more? That’s one of the beauties that the upcoming Spider-Verse brings; the potential for so many alternate-universe spider-people. Of all of those potential alternate versions though, Gwen Stacy is quite possibly the most fascinating.

Jason Latour’s Edge of the Spider-Verse 2 manages to tell a complete, compelling tale while also telling a backstory, explaining what happened with Peter Parker and furthering Gwen’s relationship with Mary Jane. It tells a story of someone who is guilt-ridden over the death of Peter Parker, who turned himself into The Lizard in an attempt to become someone special. It tells the story of a young woman who isn’t sure where to go in life, and easily separates herself from Peter Parker to avoid merely becoming a rule 63 Spider-Man. There are plenty of familiar elements to Spider-Man fans, yet everything is twisted to create a different world that would be fascinating to explore further. It packs so much story into one issue while still having a strong emotional impact.

The art by Robbi Rodriguez is appealing. It’s relatively light on detail, but does a great job at visually telling a story. It’s bright and colourful, with good use of stylized angles and lyrics, emphasizing the music theme behind the comic.

There’s not much more to say without spoiling this issue. If you’re a Spider-Man fan, this is pretty much a must buy. Even if you’re not all that interested in Edge of the Spider-Verse, this is a must buy. It’s not my favourite comic of the week, but it’s certainly the most fascinating comic I’ve read today.

And for the record, I’m mildly looking forward to the Spider-Verse event. It could be fun – it certainly looks better to me than Axis, but it might almost be a bit too big. This issue does make me feel a bit more optimistic about the event though, even if this wasn’t written by Dan Slott.