The Good
Jefferson Davis, Miles Morales' father, is back and he has a story for Miles. Jefferson hasn't always been the man that Miles knows. At one time, he was working with Nick Fury to help take down crime from the inside. That's right. Jefferson Davis was essentially an undercover agent for S.H.I.E.L.D.
The issue follows the early days of Davis as he and his brother Aaron get into a mess of trouble over and over again. It's a very different issue of MILES MORALES, but a welcomed one nonetheless. The reader doesn't know entirely too much about Davis, so this secret history is a pretty cool addition to the series.
The issue has a completely different tone and vibe, and surprisingly, it does work relatively well. This isn't an issue of Miles swinging through the streets fighting a bad guy. The issue has a ground level feel to it and it's more about the inner-workings of crime than anything else. Davis is a guy you will be rooting for, even though he's doing some deplorable things.
The issue brings the reader to a point where we know where everything is headed, in a sense, and it seems like we're going to see something really cool in the next part. In addition, we find out that while things seemed rough for Jefferson, back 25 years ago, things are only going to get rougher in the next part of this story.
The Bad
While I've been a huge fan of Justin Ponsor's work on this book and while there are some cool techniques on this issue, his work felt too heavily shadowed and overall just too dark for the issue. Again, he does some cool things with background washes, but this issue felt so out of place, artistically.
What about those two Spider-Men robbers? What about Peter Parker. It feels like these main plots keep getting pushed aside for new ones.
The Verdict
The direction MILES MORALES is taking is really cool. Going back through Jefferson's past, when he met Nick Fury, is a cool little addition to the series. The biggest problem with the issue is the coloring and the art. It feels a bit off and way too dark for the book. While I appreciate Ponsor trying a new technique, it's not working. The next issue is sure to offer a lot more in the way of story, so I recommend picking this up and staying with the book a few ore issues, especially if you love the crime syndicate part of the Marvel universe.