REVIEW: ‘Miles Morales: Spider-Man Annual,’ Issue #1

The Spider-Man of Brooklyn meets the newest hero of Jersey City, Amulet (AKA Fadi Fadlalah)! The young heroes must team up to take down the villainous “Red Owl” who seeks to wreak havoc in the city! But will their combined powers be enough?  Miles Morales: Spider-Man Annual #1 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Saladin Ahmed, with art by Luca Maresca, colors by Fernando Sifuentes, cover by Kim Jacinto, and Felipe Sobeirno, and letters by VC’s Cory Petit.

Ahmed’s story is based on building the friendship between Miles and Fadi as they face this enemy.  Miles happens to be swinging through Jersey City when he encounters the “Cyklop” that Fadi must defeat and joins him in the fight. This issue sees Miles imparting superheroic advice to this newer hero, letting him know to take more value in the good work he’s doing. These are poignant moments in an action-filled issue, and Ahmed continues to build great dynamics between Miles and the featured heroes he has in his run.

Fadi is very much the featured character of this issue. If you haven’t read his introduction in the Magnificent Ms. Marvel series, then you’ll get another introduction to him here. He’s someone trying to do his best as a hero but still deals with shaky confidence that Miles helps him bolster. But we get to see how the fights wear on Miles as well, as Ahmed balances between the perspectives of the two well, each with their own internal monologue. In some ways, however, this feels like it would work better as an Amulet issue. Ahmed clearly has many ideas for this new character that are genuinely very intriguing, and it would be more ideal for Marvel to give him a story in a new original series. Time will tell on that front.

The art by Maresca and Sifuentes is fantastic, with the aforementioned packed action. The monsters and creatures are towering and mesmerizing, the action angles and stunts are dynamic, the depictions of medieval Baghdad are stunning, and there’s overall such a great crispness that Maresca brings with his art. Sifuentes’ colors range from bright and vibrant to cool and dark, and he makes great use of shadows and light throughout. Along with Ahmed’s words, it’s an immersive read.

The lettering by Petit is once again excellent. Besides the great placement and size of speech bubbles, the sound effects are put to great usage throughout, making this comic all the more immersive.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man Annual #1 is an overall great ride that sees Miles team up with a new hero. The action is constant, the characters are compelling, and there are some exciting stories told within the story. Spider-Man and Amulet make a great team as they take down the bad guys, and there’s the promise of many more adventures to come.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man Annual #1 is available now wherever comics are sold.