In this review of The Spectacular Spider-Men #7, Peter Parker and Miles Morales face off against a new villain by the name of K.N.A.I.V.E.
The Spectacular Spider-Men #7
Written by: Greg Weisman
Art and Main Cover by: Humberto Ramos
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Main Cover: Humberto Ramos
Variant Cover: Francesco Manna
Page Count: 19 pages
Release Date: September 4, 2024
This review contains spoilers
The Spectacular Spider-Men #7 begins where the last issue left off, with the reveal of K.N.A.I.V.E. Shortly after the fight begins, it is revealed that this sentient AI isn’t working alone, and Miles Warren, as the Jackal and new clones produced by K.N.A.I.V.E., come to join the battle. The Jackal takes control of the Vermin clones, sending them to fight against Shift and Hammerhead, while Miles and Peter take on K.N.A.I.V.E. on their own.
During the battle, they crash through everyone’s fantasies, shattering their illusions before returning to the fantasies they were once trapped in. Added to their enemies are the robot versions of Peter’s family, Miles’ parents, and Ms. Marvel. Miles is able to stop K.N.A.I.V.E.’s control over them by shocking him with his bio-electricity, leaving Shift to deal the final blow.
Just as the Jackal is about to continue the fight against the Spider-Men, Shari and Sha Shan stop him, force him to stop the clones’ attack, and unmask him. Though it initially appears as though the Jackal is Raymond Warren, they reveal that it’s really his brother, Miles Warren. The Jackal-Hulk from the first issue was a distraction, and the body they had been trying to identify was actually Raymond. Miles had killed his brother during the attack and was going to take his place.
With the mystery solved and Jackal, K.N.A.I.V.E., and Hammerhead incapacitated, it’s on to the next step: helping the victims of Arcadium, including Miles and Peter themselves.
Analysis
The Spectacular Spider-Men #7 involves a lot of action as the Spider-Men are practically fighting K.N.A.I.V.E. from beginning to end! As Miles and Peter have been brought to a fantasy world in the Arcadium with no buildings for them to swing on, the backgrounds for most of the scenes are brightly colored but empty. It was something that I couldn’t help but notice, even though it provides an excellent contrast to the backgrounds in the vertical panels as Peter, Miles, and K.N.A.I.V.E. come crashing through everyone’s fantasies. At certain points, the lack of background is unnoticeable.
Many characters are involved in this battle, and tighter panels are filled with heroes, villains, movements, and effects. It’s more than enough to catch your eye. But, in panels with only one or two characters, the space can feel like they’re missing something. The main exception to this is the final panel of the issue. The background has turned dark, and the lonely, battle-ravaged space is an intense tone change that reminds you that this story doesn’t end with the villain’s defeat, and there are still consequences of using the Arcadium that need to be dealt with.
When it comes to the story, K.N.A.I.V.E. initially caught my attention. The design of this sentient artificial intelligence is fantastic. K.N.A.I.V.E. is enormous compared to the Spider-Men, with a mix of robotic and organic material, thanks to Miles Warren. There was a lot of emphasis in the story about the Arcadium’s use of technology and telepathy, and I kept waiting for the moment when K.N.A.I.V.E. pulled something new and unique out of that arsenal. Instead, all we saw were the reanimated robots from the fantasies we got a look into in past issues, which left me wanting more from this villain.
I did appreciate the parallels between Shift and K.N.A.I.V.E. They were both created for criminal purposes, but Shift decided to be good, while K.N.A.I.V.E. chose to be a villain, only to discover that wasn’t the way to achieve its goals before it was destroyed.
I was interested in the conclusion of the mystery surrounding the Warren brothers. I thought that Peter was right and clones were somehow involved with the body that was discovered in the first issue. But, finding out that the body belonged to Raymond Warren and Miles Warren was trying to take his place was something that I hadn’t picked up on.
The Spider-Men began this series hoping to draw a bigger line between their lives as heroes and their secret identities, but this moment served as a great reminder that those lines are already blurred, and there’s nothing they can do to change it. I know it’s kind of cliche, but I hope to see this theme continue through the series. These stories are the most interesting when the stakes are just as high for the civilian as they are for the hero. As Peter said in issue 1, “Guys like us Don’t get to just have something normal and human in our lives.”
Final Thoughts
The Spectacular Spider-Men #7 involves a lot of action and an interesting twist to the mystery, but most of the story was the fight with K.N.A.I.V.E., and it left me wishing we had gotten more.
Marvel Comics provided The Comic Book Spot with an advance copy of The Spectacular Spider-Men #7 for review purposes. Find more reviews here. If you would like to buy a copy of this title, and help support the Comic Book Spot at the same time, consider purchasing this book at Amazon, My Comic Shop, or at Things From Another World.
