Seriously Marvel, what's up with that format?
The energy sucking vampire named Morlun has returned, and along with his family they are traveling across all dimensions with intentions on devouring all Spider-Men. Peter Parker is soon encountered by various Spider-Men, Spider-Girls, etc. to become their leader in this struggle for survival, since he's the only one among them to have ever killed Morlun, not only once but twice. The war of the Spider-Men begins. -summary
The build up that began towards the closing of Superior Spider-Man which continued in the first six issues of the Amazing Spider-Man reaches its boiling point here in Spider-Verse, written by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Peter David, and various others. The event crosses over into various titles of the Spider-Man universe as they battle against Morlun's family the Inheritors; the event definitely delivers the goods in the form of some really good and at times brutal action, mild suspense, return of some familiar and even lovable characters. However, the best thing going on for this story is that it does a well enough job standing on its own, and it really doesn't require any backtracking. In case for those whom are interested in the Morlun character after this event, backtrack to The Amazing Spider-Man Ultimate Collection written by J. Michael Straczynski and Spider-Man: The Other for their first and earlier encounters, and brace yourself for some sick action. Now for this Hardcover, it collects the Spider-Verse main story along with side stories across Amazing Spider-Man 7-15, Superior Spider-Man 32-33, Spider-Verse 1-2, Spider-Verse team Up 1-3, Scarlet Spiders 1-3, Spider-Woman 1-4, Spider-Man 2099 5-8, and material from Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Guardians of the Galaxy) #1.
The plot begins as the Inheritors wreak havoc across the Spider-Verse devouring as many Spiders as possible, whom they refer to as Totems. Two different outfits of Spider-Men being lead by Peter Parker and one by the Superior Spider-Man aka Otto Octavius devise their own ways to defend themselves. From here all hell breaks loose with many confrontations taking place to showcase just how powerful the Inheritors are.
Morlun is a character that was shrouded in mystery and I'm happy to see that Dan Slott did something with the character. He is by far the most interesting Spider-Man villain to come around in a while, due to his appearance adding more background to Peter being bitten by the spider in the first place. His psychotic family adds a bit more to him and their overall purpose. One thing for sure is, the Inheritors are going to pull some emotion from readers, even if it is a bit of loathing because I wanted them to pay for their murders.
There are plenty of guest stars with most notable characters being Miles Morales(Ultimate Spider-Man), Jessice Jones(original Spider-Woman), Anya, Kaine, Ben Reilly, Silk, and even Spider-Ham. The fun is never ending through some really good character interactions and Dan Slott weaves in the usual Spider-Man comedy in the coolest of ways. There are a few laugh out loud moments, but it doesn't damage any type of gloomy atmosphere because the story never really takes itself so seriously. One thing I definitely have to mention is that before this time I really began to like Spider-Otto much more than Peter. As established in The Superior Spider-Man, he plays by a totally different set of rules and his appearance added quite a bit to the story. My only gripe in regards to characters is that I wish he got his way a lot more, because quite frankly, Peter's moral compass comes off quite irritating at times.
The artwork is delivered by a revolving door of artist such as Camuncoli, Coipel, Kubert, and others; overall this book looks really good. Many crossovers are heavily inconsistent with some down right bad artwork at times but not here though. The main story for the most part looks great with finely detailed and serious looking character designs. There's a nice smoothness and it can be very easy to follow on many occasions. Some of the stories in the crossover can go for a goofier appearance that still can look good, yet it depends on one's taste. In addition, the different stylistic choices also works within the story. Unfortunately, there are some mishaps and this occurs when the artist are shooting for that cinematic visual style. On some occasions it can be a little hard to follow and it does hamper the pacing a bit. The inks have many moments of being quite beautiful with colorful splash pages and vivid foggy backgrounds.
While the quality of the book is quite sturdy with nice pages and a pretty strong binding. There is a small issue with gutter space though. It's not as finely done as let's say, Acts of Vengeance. There is a little that can be lost and the book at times had to be held just right to read every word. It's not that big of an issue because I seen much worse. Now what is in issue, is that the book is not in chronological order. The side stories all take place after the main event being grouped together by title, and while it doesn't hurt the story's pacing too much, certain reveals do lose some impact though and even the ending's aftermath feels a little weird. This really is laziness on Marvel's part though and anyone who thinks otherwise, then I recommend taking a look at how IDW put together their Transformers Collections. If that series can be put in chronological order then ANY series can be put in order.
Overall, Spider-Verse is indeed a really good event that Marvel is even taking some advantage of now with some of its characters; with Spider-Woman, Spider-Gwen, and Silk solo titles spinning from it. Even if The Superior Spider-Man series left a bad taste in your mouth on premise alone, this is still a nice place to renew one's interest in Spider-Man. It's a fairly linear story that doesn't try to be a serious brain twister in the least. Recommended.
Pros: Some really cool action and artwork, and good enough story
Cons: Lazy format that Marvel has no excuse for