Spider-Verse 5 review

So, for the second time in two months, I only picked up 4 comics in one week. As such, I’ll just write 4 reviews and not bother with my first impressions post. First up is Spider-Verse 5, the mini’s finale.

Spider-Verse 5 isn’t necessarily great, but it’s fun. It’s about 6 alternate versions of Spider-Man working together to defeat Norman Osborne’s Sinister 6. Spider-Gwen takes the lead, but Spider-Ham, British Spider-Man, Indian Spider-Man, Spider-Man Noir and Anya Corzana each have a notable roll. A powerless Peter Parker also appeared about half-way through the mini, and in the conclusion, he contributes on the strategy front while the others do the fighting.

The action scene is fun and uses each Spider-Person in different ways. Throw in a chair that can affect the Great Web and a Thor and things get pretty intense. The way Norman Osborn is defeated is hilarious. However there’s another joke that would have been much funnier with better timing. Norman Osborn asks how much damage 6 Spider-People can do, and then his building explodes … 6 pages later. The pacing jumps around at times too, even if the story is easy to follow.

The art by Andre Araujo is decent. There’s not always a lot of detail with anything, and the floating Knowhere head in the sky is inconsistent with most of its appearances. Some body poses look stiff when they’re fighting too. However, facial expression do a good job at expressing characters’ emotions, and the fight scenes are easy to follow. Also the look on Norman’s face after he’s defeated is priceless. There’s a nice little text message in a cable on the very last panel, saying “Bye! See you soon.” It’s a little touch that’s easy to miss, but feels a little special. The colouring by Rachelle Rosenberg is good, and makes great use of lighting effects.

Mike Costa has written a fun little mini-series here, and although this issue isn’t perfect, I’d read more Spider-Verse stories of this sort from him. The different spider characters bounce off each other in entertaining ways and Norman Osborn is entertaining as usual. This mini is definitely worth checking out if you like Spider-Gwen, or any of the involved characters.