Scarlet Spiders #1

By Mike Costa, Paco Diaz & Israel Silva

Scarlet Spiders is another mini-series and another tie-in to the massive Edge of Spider-Verse event that’s been going on lately. It follows the adventures of all the various Spider-characters from the Multiverse joining forces and this particular series zones in on the various Scarlet Spiders, all clones of Peter Parker. As well of the inclusion of Jessica Drew, this book throws readers right into the deep end assuming they’re familiar with the events of the main spider-verse title. There’s a lot to take in and it isn’t especially new reader friendly, so unless you’re familiar with the Spider-Verse book, which let’s face it, if you’re a Spider-Man fan you’re probably reading it right now.

It’s great watching the various Spider-characters interact with each other. The book sees them thrust into an alternate reality on what is seemingly a suicide mission and the respective interactions are handled very well. There’s an amusing scene where one of the Spiders references the fact that there isn’t even a single Starbucks in sight upon arriving on the alternate reality. The main selling point of this book is always going to be the featured characters interactions, and it’s a relief to see that they don’t disappoint. Ultimate Jessica Drew, Ben Reilly and Kaine, all of whom are clones, get plenty of page time here and it’s good to see them in action as the issue progresses.

The first issue of this three issue mini-series is relatively straightforward as the world that the Scarlet Spiders have found themselves in fleshed out and developed like the characters themselves. Mike Costa handles the concept well and delivers a promising start.  Even though the plot is fairly straightforward it’s fun and fairly light hearted, making it a refreshing read.

Paco Diaz’s artwork is also light and energetic. The various poses of the characters are pulled off very well and Diaz makes a great addition to this book with several good panels that make this book look strong. When you take Israel Silva’s colours into consideration as well, the creative team does a great job at creating a fun, engaging atmosphere to this book.

The narration itself is fairly straightforward however and there’s nothing really here that makes this book standout as unique or original. It’s a fairly standard team up book that probably won’t really make much of an impact on the main event. It’s nowhere near a must buy, but if you’re looking to explore some creators that you might not be overly familiar with and want to return to some beloved characters, then there are worse comics out there than Scarlet Spiders