Spider-Verse, Here I Come!!!

Send me straight to the Spider-Verse, no stops along the way!!!

The Edge of Spider-Verse event has officially begun and I couldn't be more thrilled. With the return of Spider-Man Noir in issue one, Marvel has set us up for a heck of a ride through "every Spider-Man ever." While I can't say this was the alternate Spidey I was looking forward to the most, I thought issue one was a lot of fun. The alternate version of Mysterio was clever and worked as a good one-off antagonist.

I've personally been pretty bored with the big events going on in both the DC (*cough* Future's End *cough*) and Marvel universes, but I really want to believe this one will be good. Personally I am a sucker for alternate universes and timelines, so maybe I should just reserve my judgement for another month or so... With that being said, let's talk more about Edge of Spider-Verse #1.

The best thing about this issue (and hopefully the whole event) is that it's basically a series of one-offs. While, yes, it's planned to lead into something with a slightly more continuity, you don't have to care about that right now. The story opens and throws us right back into the world of Spider-Man Noir. Without touching on spoiler territory, some time has passed and Spider-man hasn't been seen in sometime. While there is a good bit of exposure that feels slightly slow to develop at first, once the main plot kicks in, everything moves real fast.

I won't talk plot anymore because this book is just too quick to get into it without spoiling things. What I can talk about is what I feel this book did right. Within just 24 pages, you get to see plenty of noir versions of your favorite Spidey characters. The elements of this story run their course very quickly and lead into the bigger plot of Edge of Spider-Verse without missing a beat.

The art of Richard Isanove is crisp and believable and sucks you into the past. And then immediately leads you into the far future. If you've kept up with the latest unexpected issue of Superior Spider-Man, then you already know what's going on here. If not, I urge you to jump on board before you miss another installment of this extra-dimensional spider-tale.

I, for one, can't wait to see Gwen Stacy and Spider-Woman in #2!