Spider-Geddon #4 // Review
It’s a very strange thing to have a major crossover series lacking in the title character. In the case of Spider-Geddon, the story has become as much about the lack of Peter Parker as much as it is about the fight between the Spiders and the Inheritors. While Peter does fight the Inheritor Morlun once more in the pages of Spectacular Spider-Man, the event only makes a vague mention of this and instead brings two fan-favorites to the forefront: Otto Octavius, the Superior Spider-Man, and Miles Morales, the younger Spider-Man.
Spider-Geddon #4 is written once more by Christos Gage, with Jorge Molina returning to join forces with Carlo Barberi on pencils. Jay Leisten and Jose Marazan Jr also cooperate on inks, while David Curiel continues his job as colorist. Finally, Travis Lanham returns to provide lettering.
After opening with a spoiler to an unreleased issue of the tie-in Spider-Force miniseries, the father of the Inheritors walks the Earth once again. Unaware of this drastic change in their fortunes, the combined forces of Miles Morales and Otto Octavius return to the site of the biggest battle from the previous crossover, Spider-Verse. On Earth-13, where a Peter Parker who was Captain Universe was devoured, Otto hopes to find new inspiration to fight off the Inheritors, while Miles wonders if it’s worth uniting forces with Otto after all.
Once again, Christos Gage creates a fantastic story. Focusing on a ‘gathering of forces’ issue after the mid-series big battle is a great choice, allowing the tension to build once more as Solus returns to the living. Gage also takes the chance to contrast both Miles and Otto’s leadership styles, while also showing that both are equally in the right without vilifying one over the other. As seen in many other Marvel events, several viewpoints with main characters on opposing views can be notoriously hard to make both sides seem equally right. Thankfully, Gage nails it. He may also be layering in another storyline with the Norman Osborn of Earth-44145, which already makes for an interesting twist in the story.
The art is, of course, simply spectacular. It’s great to see Molina back on the book, and Barberi’s pencils blend seamlessly with his to make one great-looking comic. Once more, the two artists go through great pains to highlight minor differences in many similar costumes, making what could be a sea of one Spider-Man into an army of unique characters. A special note here goes to Spiders-Man, who seems to be falling into a tattered costume held together with a skeleton of Spiders now. Leisten and Marazan also work well together, making sure that the book keeps a uniform appearance. Curiel’s colors are also great, making sure that each Spider-Character stays visually distinct by glance alone. There is one panel, though, where some bright blues are used on Otto’s Superior costume instead of black. It actually looks great, but was incredibly confusing as a reader.
With Spider-Geddon two-thirds over, the story is really beginning to rev up on what looks like it could be a fantastic climax. Events these days tend to sputter out around this time or are often hit with delays that kill momentum. However, Spider-Geddon seems to be avoiding this so far, and the execution of this story so far gives hope that it finishes as strong as it began.
