The Good
Whew! What a ride! Spider-Verse has concluded, and now it’s simply a matter of sending everyone back to their respective home dimensions. Well it would be, but for a couple of minor wrinkles. Wrinkles like the Captain Britain Corps’ dimension no longer being there. Or Superior Spider-Man connecting all the dots and realizing that he’s being sent back to his death. That second one propels the central conflict of the issue as he begins to slash at the web in a way that is both willy AND nilly while also searching for the thread of his own destiny so that he might prevent it. Dan Slott delivers a great team-up of all the 616 spiders battling against Doc Ock, and still manages to make the dialog extremely punchy and witty. There’s a Sinister Six crack that’s especially well-delivered, and the dialog never seems to slow the pace of the fight nor the core story. It also feels like a true ending, seeing the send-offs of all these characters we've come to know across this massive event rather than just setting up whatever's next in store for Peter (though OTHER setups aren't handled as well).
Giuseppe Camuncoli is to praise for that, drawing some of the most dynamic, fluid and just downright COOL-looking Spider-poses that we’ve seen all event. For an artist who’s been going hard since this whole thing started, it would’ve been easy to rest on what’s already been a satisfying, solid event, but some of the panels in this issue are the best of the series. Cam Smith and Roberto Poggi’s inks are likewise fantastic, lending a sense of density and kinetic impact to what is a surprisingly action-heavy issue and Justin Ponsor’s colors are bright and vivid while still maintaining a very palpable sense of darkness at the loss of so many heroes.
The Bad
As great as the one final action scene was, it felt perfunctory in a way, especially in the wake of what happened last issue. It felt like a fight for fight’s sake, and while it wasn’t out of character for anyone, it would’ve been nice if this issue could have used the good-byes and character denouement as its central focus rather than tossing in one final brawl.
Hopefully this will also be the last issue that campaigns so heavily for other books. There’s a fine line between trying to direct potential new readers to new titles, which can be incredibly helpful at getting the new books off the ground, and throwing so much information out that it all becomes noise or disruptive.
The Verdict
A very fun end to what has been a rather grim event. Slott even brings up a few head-scratchers left from Spider-Verse, most notably that Karn was rather quickly forgiven despite his murder of literally hundreds of people both innocent and heroic. Minor complaints pop up, but ultimately solid, satisfying endings are so rare in comics, both mainstream and otherwise, that it feels like a victory anytime there is one, and that’s what this feels like: a great ending to a better-than-average (or better than it had any right to be) event.
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