In this review of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1, Miles Morales resolves to stay close to Brooklyn and strike a balance between his two lives, amid a new villain with a connection to his family wreaking havoc.
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #1
Written by: Bryan Edward Hill
Art: Nico Leon, Valentine De Landro
Main Cover: Simone Di Meo
Variant Covers: Pere Pérez, Skottie Young, ACO, Pablo Villalobos, Kaare Andrews, Chrissie Zullo, Luciano Vecchio
Page Count: 31 pages
Release Date: August 12, 2026
This review contains spoilers
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1 begins with a flashback, featuring Miles rescuing construction workers off of a collapsing crane. As the people cheer and he swings away to school, he remarks that he’s starting to figure the Spider-Man gig out.
In the present, Miles works on a science project with his crush, Valentina. They get along, and she can sense he wants to ask her out, but is too nervous. So, she makes the move for him, telling him to find a spot for tea.
Miles entrusts the responsibility to his guy in the chair, Ganke Lee, as he responds to a distress call from Spider-Gwen and Miguel O’Hara. Miguel tells them they don’t particularly need Miles’ skillset for the mission, and Gwen chimes in saying she’d like to have him for the team chemistry. Brooklyn’s Spider-Man turns them down, stating he’d like to stay local and focus on protecting his city. They say goodbye and Miles returns to his dorm.
At the dorm, he and Ganke discuss recent events. Miles doubles down on wanting to work on protecting Brooklyn, tired of taking on jobs above his pay-grade while they play a Marvel fighting game. Ganke finds a tea spot for Miles and Valentina at the Japanese Cultural Society.
Later, Jeff Morales is attacked by a villain who can control kinetic energy and make hard-light weapons. The villain speaks of betrayal, and almost gets Jeff until Spider-Man arrives to save his father. Miles thwarts him away, but not before the villain marks him.
Jeff informs Miles of the backstory, stating the man was a bookkeeper for Kingpin named Martin Moore. On Nick Fury’s behest, Jeff manipulated Martin to get into the operation, before Fury busted him. Now the man is back for revenge, and Spider-Man has also joined his radar. Miles swings off into the city to find him before Jeff can get hurt.
Analysis
I thoroughly enjoyed the genesis of Miles Morales: Spider-Man. It struck a neat balance between exploring Miles’ daily life and Spider-Man, by starting off with a flashback amid Miles’ science class to avoid disrupting pace.
It doesn’t slow down either, allowing itself to be fun. Scenes like Miles using Ms. Marvel to whoop Ganke’s Magneto in a fighting game, leaping off the Statue of Liberty, and doing a backflip mid-fight against Moore are fun. It’s a nice contrast to Amazing Spider-Man, which tends to take itself a bit too seriously sometimes.
I like that this series is staying close to home in Brooklyn after Ultimate Incursion and allowing Miles to move on from Starling in a lax manner. He does speak a bit too much on balancing his two lives, but it fits the teenage aesthetic, as I can remember constantly having redundant thoughts as a teen.
As for Moore, connecting Spider-Man’s main villain for this arc to his father is a fascinating decision, considering the desire to balance and separate his two lives. Moore himself so far is a basic villain, but I’m intrigued on what Nick Fury and SHIELD did to him for this transformation to take place. Where do his powers come from?
On the topic of his powers, they are a well-crafted foil for Miles. The highlight of the action for me was watching Miles save an innocent lady that Moore charged with kinetic energy. He has to keep her in motion, and launches her into the air to expel the energy before catching her mid-fight. That type of quick-thinking and agility made for a very interesting sequence, thanks to Moore’s powers.
Final Thoughts
An entertaining and engaging first issue, Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1 starts Miles off fresh with a new arc, alongside a villain who will test his abilities to a high extent.
