Scan barcode
roxanamalinachirila's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars, rounded up.
I can really relate to Spider-Man right now - reading American comics is like taking a leap into the unknown and figuring out how to swing it on the way down. Or maybe it's like life: you drop in in the middle of things, try to piece everything together from the clues you have, and you don't know exactly where you're headed and how everything fits.
What I'm trying to say is that I watched the amazingly awesome movie "Into the Spider-Verse" and I decided I wanted more of Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales, but I had no idea where to start. Spider-Man Noir is harder to get, so I went for Spider-Gwen, and Wikipedia and Google landed me here.
"Edge of Spider-Verse" was surprisingly fun. Maybe I had bad luck with comics before, or at least with their translations, so my expectations were quite low. Anyway, this is a collection of five stories of alternate interpretations of Spider-Man, all starting from the same premise of man and spider, and ending in a very different place.
Spider-Man Noir is a crime fighter in a pulp/noir 1930s world. The villain is a stage magician who kidnaps one of his former love interests and dares him to come get her, preparing an elaborate trap to capture and kill him. The trap works, and Spider-Man is about to get killed live in front of the audience in a thrilling scene. It's quite delightful! Also, yay! Spider-Man Noir!
Spider-Gwen is... well, I was kind of hoping this would be the beginning of her story, but it feels like it's continued from somewhere else (AARGH, MARVEL, WHERE THE HECK DOES IT ALL BEGIN?!). Anyway, Gwen Stacy is Spider-Woman and people don't love her. At all. She's blamed for the death of Peter Parker, her best friend, and she's trying to prove she's not evil and to figure out her place in the world. Unfortunately, that's a pretty hard thing to do.
The Spider-Man, Aaron Aikman is a scientist from the future who injected himself with spider DNA to become a superhero. He fights next-level tech super-villains, but doesn't realize how grave the situation is until a whole army of supernatural creatures make their way into the world via his tech. It sounds very exciting, but somehow... it's not.
Patton Parnell is... seriously messed up. While every other spider-person here followed the idea of Spider-Man as a force for good, this alternate version of Peter Parker becomes a monstrous villain. As a young man with a fascination for science, with little empathy and a lot of abuse from his uncle Ted, Patton's reaction to becoming Spider-Man is to start indiscriminately killing animals and imprisoning people for food. I think every part of it is a villain cliche, but it works quite well in antithesis with the normal Spider-Man story.
SP//dr is as mecha as it gets and it will seem familiar to fans of mecha manga, Pacific Rim and other stories within the genre. Penni Parker is a teenage girl who is the only one compatible with a robot suit which she can access via telepathy with a spider, and she's needed by her country to save the day.
All in all, while not mind-blowing in its entirety, it's a good volume, and I think it works even if (or maybe especially if) you're new to the comics (as I am).
I can really relate to Spider-Man right now - reading American comics is like taking a leap into the unknown and figuring out how to swing it on the way down. Or maybe it's like life: you drop in in the middle of things, try to piece everything together from the clues you have, and you don't know exactly where you're headed and how everything fits.
What I'm trying to say is that I watched the amazingly awesome movie "Into the Spider-Verse" and I decided I wanted more of Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen and Miles Morales, but I had no idea where to start. Spider-Man Noir is harder to get, so I went for Spider-Gwen, and Wikipedia and Google landed me here.
"Edge of Spider-Verse" was surprisingly fun. Maybe I had bad luck with comics before, or at least with their translations, so my expectations were quite low. Anyway, this is a collection of five stories of alternate interpretations of Spider-Man, all starting from the same premise of man and spider, and ending in a very different place.
Spider-Man Noir is a crime fighter in a pulp/noir 1930s world. The villain is a stage magician who kidnaps one of his former love interests and dares him to come get her, preparing an elaborate trap to capture and kill him. The trap works, and Spider-Man is about to get killed live in front of the audience in a thrilling scene. It's quite delightful! Also, yay! Spider-Man Noir!
Spider-Gwen is... well, I was kind of hoping this would be the beginning of her story, but it feels like it's continued from somewhere else (AARGH, MARVEL, WHERE THE HECK DOES IT ALL BEGIN?!). Anyway, Gwen Stacy is Spider-Woman and people don't love her. At all. She's blamed for the death of Peter Parker, her best friend, and she's trying to prove she's not evil and to figure out her place in the world. Unfortunately, that's a pretty hard thing to do.
The Spider-Man, Aaron Aikman is a scientist from the future who injected himself with spider DNA to become a superhero. He fights next-level tech super-villains, but doesn't realize how grave the situation is until a whole army of supernatural creatures make their way into the world via his tech. It sounds very exciting, but somehow... it's not.
Patton Parnell is... seriously messed up. While every other spider-person here followed the idea of Spider-Man as a force for good, this alternate version of Peter Parker becomes a monstrous villain. As a young man with a fascination for science, with little empathy and a lot of abuse from his uncle Ted, Patton's reaction to becoming Spider-Man is to start indiscriminately killing animals and imprisoning people for food. I think every part of it is a villain cliche, but it works quite well in antithesis with the normal Spider-Man story.
SP//dr is as mecha as it gets and it will seem familiar to fans of mecha manga, Pacific Rim and other stories within the genre. Penni Parker is a teenage girl who is the only one compatible with a robot suit which she can access via telepathy with a spider, and she's needed by her country to save the day.
All in all, while not mind-blowing in its entirety, it's a good volume, and I think it works even if (or maybe especially if) you're new to the comics (as I am).
darylnash's review against another edition
3.0
Spider-Gwen might have been the breakout star of this series, but my favorites were the hungry spider and Sp//dr.
misssusan's review
2.0
mmm i didn't dig this a ton mostly because jumping between new spiderpeople didn't give me much chance to get attached to any. but hey, spider!gwen origin! i've got her first volume ready to go so i'm glad of that at least. i will also admit to being entertained by the neon genesis evangelion shout-outs in the sp//dr chapter (i recommend looking closely at peni's classmates :D)
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
srh_com_au's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.25
thunderbolt_kid's review
Some of this work was lovely, but other bits were counter to the classic Spider-Man narratives.
Good enough.
Good enough.
roseblight's review against another edition
4.0
This was a pretty strong 4 for me, especially for an anthology. I loved Issues #1, #2, and #5 (Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen, and SP//DR respectively) the most. I agree with most in that these stories should have been longer, I would've loved to see some of these developed further. I could've read a whole 6 issues of Gerard Way's anime love-letter SP//DR. The stylized cyberpunk world was really enjoyable, despite the cheesy cameos.
iggymcmuffin's review
3.0
Confusing. I have no idea what's going on and why it's important. Also, the stories are really inconsistent. Some were good others were hard to figure out.
sodope's review against another edition
3.0
This is a prelude to the spider-verse, these are 5 different short stories. Perhaps, they ain't the best.
mayarelmahdy's review against another edition
3.0
These stories were seriously cool! especially the last two with the abusive uncle Ted and a semi-venom spiderman, and the cute little spider-robot?
Even cooler: We get to se Matt Murdock! Twice!
Even cooler: We get to se Matt Murdock! Twice!
alex_ellermann's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fun little diversion, probably of interest only to serious Spider-Man fans, among which I do not number. Issue #4, however, “I Walked with a Spider,” is the scariest comic I may ever have read. It’s real nightmare fuel. I recommend checking this out from your library for that issue alone.