In this review of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26, the confrontation between The Vulture and Spider-Man comes to an end.
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #26
Writer: Cody Ziglar
Art: Frederico Vicentini
Main Cover: Frederico Vicentini
Variant Covers: Amanda Conner
Page Count: 22 Pages
Release Date: November 20, 2024
This review contains spoilers.
In Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26, the fight between Vulture and Spider-Man begins! Though Spider-Man begins with the upper hand, the Vulture is able to distract him by attacking Misty and Dr. Kwan. The Vulture tells him that he is protecting his granddaughter from Spider-Man, blaming him for causing a rift between his family and accusing him of being capable of hurting Starling. Miles does what he can to gain the upper hand and uses his Venom powers with his new suit, powering it up.
In the heat of the battle, Starling appears and fights her Grandfather herself, telling him that protecting her was not an excuse for all the people he’s hurt. She manages to defeat him with Miles’ help and tells him she can’t forgive him for what he’s done and wants to find her own flock. He leaves, hoping that she can forgive him someday. She breaks down in his absence, and Miles comforts her and apologizes for his past actions, but she has already forgiven him. Black Panther appears as they finish their talk, echoing their sentiments and telling them that the cure for Miles’ vampirism lies back in Wakanda.
Analysis:
The art in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26 is nothing short of dynamic! Everyone is constantly in motion, even those who aren’t part of the fight. When there is a background, it feels incredibly detailed, and when there isn’t, the shifting colors and choice of characters’ positions and movements still make it feel like the panels are full of life. Miles’ new suit looks great here, too, but it truly shines when he fills it with venom energy and all the red changes to gold. The suit stands out all the more against the vulture’s green outfit. The panels where he powers it up and looks Bulture in the eye were some of my favorites from the entire issue.
My only complaint was that I wish it had been gold for longer, mainly because it would have shown a bigger difference between Spider-Man and Starling’s suits. Starling’s suit is mostly beige, but she is usually drawn either at an angle where her feathers block the view of the beige or in such a way that most of her is covered in shadow. She and Spider-Man spend the last few panels at each other’s sides, making their color schemes far more similar than they are for many of them. I like their contrasting colors, and I wish we got to see them more. It’s not a major part of the art, but it was still something I noticed.
The expressions in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26 are very well done. Most of what we see during the fight is Vulture’s mouth, yet it’s enough to see when he’s shocked, angry, or in pain. Towards the end of the issue, Starling has to deal with the emotions of the confrontation with her grandfather. The combination of her angry expression, the tear running from her eye, and the way a panel on the same page conveys how hard she’s trying to hold back her tears, with less than half of her face showing, caught my attention.
I wasn’t expecting much from Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26 since I knew from the ending of the last one that it would be mostly fighting, but I was pleasantly surprised. The writing in this chapter feels organic yet fun. Miles’ quips feel like his own, which is not always the case when he’s featured in comics, and it never feels like people are speaking too much or too little. It’s a good balance all around.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26 is also full of character development for Spider-Man, The Vulture, and Starling. I expected to see development from Spider-Man to some extent but the level at which he focused on controlling himself through the use of his new suit was more than I anticipated. I was also expecting some talk from the Vulture about the comparison between him and Spider-Man, considering that he truly viewed Spider-Man as the villain of his story, and that was there. What I wasn’t expecting at all was the change in Starling and the Vulture’s relationship.
Starling being the one to end the entire confrontation and Vulture both understanding and leaving of his own accord is the best way this could have ended. I like Starling and Spider-Man together, and anything negative happening to Vulture could have caused resentment to grow between them in the future. Ending this on Starling’s terms allows them to move on from this together without forcing a confrontation from them in the future.
Final Thoughts:
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26 is filled with great art and character development, which has put the story in a strong position to continue into the next chapter.
Marvel Comics provided The Comic Book Spot with an advanced copy of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #26 for review purposes. Find more reviews here. You can find this comic and help support us in the process by ordering this issue digitally on Amazon or a physical copy of the title through Things From Another World.
