Spider-Man (2016) #2

Spider-Man, Issue #2 continues the story of Miles Morales.  And Peter Parker.  And the Avengers.  At first I was a little non-plussed by the idea of a "Spider-Man" comic being about Miles Morales.  Not "Ultimate Spider-Man," not, "Spider-Man in An Alternate Universe," but "Spider-Man."  I went along with it because Brian Michael Bendis is one of my favorite writers, but there still is an argument to be made that as good a character as Miles Morales is, he isn't ready for the big time.  Further, the question still remains if he's in the "Ultimate" universe or in Spider-Man's home universe, PRIME EARTH/Earth-616.  This question is brought up in the letters, and we are told to keep reading if we want to find out where this Spider-Man/these Spider-Men reside.

Miles Morales has a black father and a Latino mother, so he's pretty dark skinned.  This is revealed to the world when his suit gets torn in his battle with Blackheart, and an excited young woman uploads the footage on YouTube.  The woman doesn't know if he's black, Latino, Indian, or whatever, but her excitement that there is a new superhero of color echoes the interest Ms. Marvel, the female Thor, Old Man Logan, and other titles have brought to people of divergent backgrounds.  I think I would now defend Marvel's use of the title Spider-Man instead of Ultimate Spider-Man as a well-thought-out marketing platform.  When Thor became a woman, the comic wasn't Female Thor or All-New Thor.  It was Thor.  Like it or not, this is Spider-Man now, and I hope the comic does well.

I guess the main difference between Miles Morales and the Zan and Jaynas of the world (yes, I grew up in the 1970s and 1980s) is that Zan and Jayna always played a supporting role, while Miles Morales is the main star of this comic.  Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America get their butts handed to them by Blackheart, and Miles's venom zap takes Blackheart down with ease.  I really look forward to what this comic has to offer.  In particular, I like the lettering of VC's Cory Petit, which uses the same style as Shawn Lee from A Spoon Too Short, which I reviewed a couple of days ago.  Sara Pichelli is a fantastic artist, and Justin Ponsor is a good color artist.  I like the different shades of black he uses with Spider-Man's outfit.  No wonder Peter Parker says it's a cooler outfit than his.

To the left is an Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man.  In Ultimate Earth,  Peter Parker dies just before Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man.  Is this that Earth?  Read on to find out!