Review by Ian Keogh

In taking over the guidance of Miles Morales and his superhero life, Cody Ziglar pulls out the Spider-Man template of a wise-cracking hero masking an increasingly troubled teenager. He’s having difficulty combining school life with a costumed career, and a scholarship keeps him in New York, but away from his family. In isolation it works, and there’s a fair chance the readers at whom Ziglar is aiming won’t realise how derivative the approach is, and what Ziglar adds is Miles risking breaking the law when in costume as it’s an illegal activity for anyone under sixteen.

Ziglar’s series reboots Miles after a successful run under Saladin Ahmed ended with Empire of the Spider, and from that run he continues Miles’ friendship with Starling, while introducing a capable new villain, eventually named as the Rabble, with a novel personal reason for despising Miles. She’s interesting, and so is the idea of Miles being mentored by Misty Knight, a respected figure throughout Marvel’s superhero New York.

As individual drawings the art of Federico Vicentini is striking, but the image is prioritised over storytelling during action scenes. He has an extremely delicate line, and when Brian Valenza’s colour is applied the result is seemingly a lack of character outlines, which is striking, as is the visual effect on the Rabble’s visor. If Ziglar’s version of Miles is a spirited reworking of the familiar that younger readers might not recognise, Vincentini and Valenza’s version is more original, but not always successful.

Rather than instantly grabbing readers, Trial By Spider shows promise without standing out. Before Bad Blood Miles is involved in the Carnage Reigns crossover.