Spider-Gwen, Noir, and others, helps round out the Spider-Verse.
In the 1930's, Spider-Man Noir is being observed by one of his enemies Mysterio. He seeks to capture and kill Spider-Man for some personal reason. Little does Spider-Man know, Mysterio will be the least of his worries. At the same time, 4 different Spider-Men/Women will also learn they have more to worry about then their current problems. -summary
Edge of Spider-Verse isn't so much as a crossover with the main Spider-Verse storyline, as it's more of a prequel highlighting a few characters that made their way to the event. Written by David Hine and several others, Edge of Spider-Verse is a collection of stories following five people and it's surprisingly good despite the bite-size feel of things. This TPB collects Edge of Spider-Verse issues 1-5.
The first four stories are very well written as each world delivers a very different feel, and there's quite a bit of diversity between the characters despite them all being Spider-Man related. Spider-Man Noir was a fun read with a nice twist to a very familiar feel. It makes me want to go back and re-read Spider-Man Noir since he does feel quite different from the real Peter Parker. Spider-Gwen whom has become the most popular character to spin out of the event has a nice enough world with loads of potential. Here she has become a fugitive and the law is completely against her. This is not new material at all since Peter has went through this so many times, but Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman adds a very fresh feel to it, and her personality simply makes her someone to want to follow. Her world is shaping up to be quite good and that ending leaves one wanting more.
Another story follows a futuristic Spider-Man using quite a bit of tech, but this story is probably more memorable for its outcome than its interesting atmosphere. It clearly makes one wonder what a world without a Spider-Man can quickly become. The fourth story which is my favorite has a totally different feel than the others, as it utilizes more of a horror atmosphere and it's quite dark heading towards the end. This one follows a sinister version of Peter and the less said about this awesome take on the character the better. The final story is the only one that didn't do a thing for me. It really didn't have enough to rope me into its world; there were no real twist that delivered enough fan service like the other stories, and it simply felt like it wanted to move from point A to B.
I got into the artwork quite a bit. The character designs had their own identity through out with Spider-Noir looking the most mature of the bunch. Spider-Gwen had a more upbeat, manga style to reflect her spunky personality. I especially love Gwen's character design; for a Spider related character there's just nothing like it although there is some influence from the original Scarlet-Spider. Still, the cool factor is just so high with this character. The futuristic Spider-Man story has a standout moment that long time fans whom remember the Marvel collecting cards of the late 80's to 90's will find awesome. The little bit of action contained here is decent for what's it worth, with perhaps only one brutal moment. Action fans will get something out of here though.
Overall, outside of one mediocre story and the fact these stories will leave folks wanting more; the only real crime committed is that Marvel didn't add this into the Spider-Verse event book. These stories would have fit in perfectly had Marvel formatted their book correctly and added them. In any case, these stories really don't add anything too important to the main event so I really wouldn't consider it a must buy; but if you're planning on working towards completion sake then definitely pick it up since it is worth a read.
Pros: Nice batch of prequel stories with standout artwork
Cons: One mediocre story, and Marvel is just milking this event