In this review of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #33, Dr. Kwan takes on a Demigod!
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #33
Writer: Cody Ziglar
Art: Marco Renna
Main Cover: Frederico Vicentini
Variant Covers: Logan Lubera, Taurin Clarke, Rogê Antônio
Page Count: 22 pages
Release Date: May 14, 2025
This review contains spoilers
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #33 opens with Jaime eating lunch at school, where most of the other kids avoid him. Jade, also known as Gust, approaches him, and she sits with him as they start a conversation and begin a friendship. Meanwhile, Aries agrees to Anansi’s proposal of an Agon, a test of strength, and gives Miles a limited time to pick three others to be on his team.
Miles panics and thinks of the last people he spoke to, and Jaime, Jade, and Dr. Kwan are all brought to the scene. Though Aries tries to protest at the number of people, Anansi says that Miles and Jaime are one and the same, finding a loophole. Accepting this, Aries transports them to Olympus, where his Champions wait.
It is decided that the first fight will be between Dr. Kwan and Philomelus, the Demigod of Agriculture. Though he is kind, he is also strong, and he uses his full strength to try to knock down Dr. Kwan quickly. Surprisingly, she keeps getting up until she suddenly transforms, revealing that she is a gamma-powered warrior called Powerlift.
Analysis
The group that Miles picked initially confused me, but it’s nice to see a group that is all his own instead of cameos of other superheroes and villains originally created for Peter Parker. Still, the group was surprising. While it’s good to see Jade since she hasn’t been around since Gang Wars, it was still syrprising to see her and Dr. Kwan instead of Starling, Miles said he picked the last people he spoke to, but it’s still surprising that his girlfriend didn’t come to mind, or at least that she wasn’t even mentioned.
The gods themselves are all enjoyable characters, but they are taking up a lot of the plot, and we’re beginning to enter a level where Miles feels like a side character in his own comic. A large portion of the comic is taken up by them negotiating and explaining, and while it’s necessary, it’s definitely the part that drags the most.
God War has just started, so as we exit the part of the story where a lot of the conversation is exposition and explanation, I hope we’ll get to see Miles shine alongside his newest teammates.
Hopefully, every face-off is more than just a fight. If they are, it will take effort to stop this arc from being too repetitive. However, if they decide to go the route of various trials, they will have to do some work to ensure this arc isn’t too similar to the Eight Deaths of Spider-Man that just wrapped up. With those two things in mind, it’s hard to see what direction this arc is heading in.
Dr. Kwan’s fight with Philomelus was a highlight. Not only did it feel like a calculated decision, using the only God who wasn’t known for fighting to take on someone who they thought had no powers or superhuman strength, but it also perfectly set up Powerlift’s reveal. Anyone who didn’t know it was coming was definitely surprised. It did lower my hopes that at least one of the challenges would be based on mental strengths rather than physical, but it was a good reveal nonetheless.
The art in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #33 is excellent once again. The lighting, in particular, is impressive from scene to scene. Light casts through windows, glows with the power of the gods, and shines with the colors of the sunset on Mount Olympus. All the characters are incredibly expressive, even those like Miles with masks covering their faces.
Though the fight on the cover doesn’t happen in Miles Morales: Spider-Man #33, it still looks fantastic, with dynamic posing, lighting, and expressions from all three characters involved.
Final Thoughts
This series continues to feature good artwork, and Miles Morales: Spider-Man #33 has a few standout character moments, but has storytelling moments that feel like Miles gets sidelined in favor of exposition by the Gods and feels like we’re entering an arc that will not feel unique.
