Review by Frank Plowright

Dan Slott’s run on Spider-Man features several big ideas, and he isn’t a writer to coast between them, so only The Parker Luck separates Peter Parker taking back control of his body from the door opening into Spider-Verse.

Spider-Verse is Slott’s big adventure connecting and teaming the assorted variations of Spider-Man seen over the years, yet Slott’s never predictable, and the starting point is a lecture about how great power may confer great responsibility, but doesn’t equate to all responsibility. Thereafter we have two very different stories punctuated by several shorts in which alternate universe versions of Spider-Man are spotlighted.

In the present day Spider-Man has no idea what’s coming as he teams with Ms. Marvel to deal with someone committing crimes wearing the first costume Carol Danvers wore when trading as Ms. Marvel. It escalates rapidly, but the better elements are those out of costume, such as Cindy Moon adjusting to a new life.

The stronger story is Slott returning to Otto Octavius’s time as Spider-Man, filling in a brief gap in the continuity of the Necessary Evil collection (or Superior Spider-Man: The Complete Collection Vol. 2). There the Spider-Man of 2099 headed back to the present day, and Octavius was punted forward to 2099, returning with no memory of what happened. Slott now reveals those circumstances. In attempting to return home, Octavius instead transports to assorted parallel universes to see the devastation caused by the Inheritors, who hunt down and slay anyone with spider related powers. His solution is to raise an army. A gathering chapter is followed by a chapter of the gathered in action.

In reality it’s Slott introducing a number of the characters who’ll play a part in the crossover, and Spider-Man fans with long memories will appreciate how deeply Slott has researched the alternates who’ve appeared over the years. Remember the Spider-Man who joined the Fantastic Four when What If…? was launched? Well, let’s hope you don’t remember him too fondly.

Giuseppe Camuncoli draws most content extremely well, adapting his style to embrace a darkness as Octavius goes about his business, and moving in close for the superhero action in the present day. Some of the Spider-Men alternates are new, and he creates appropriate designs, never straying too far from the original costume. The silliness of Spider-Man as a Shakespearean actor takes some beating.

The short pieces are generally hopeful, but in some cases there’s heartbreak, needed to establish the Inheritors as self-serving killers. That’s not exactly a description that applies to Octavius, but throughout Superior Spider-Man Slott created situations emphasising the different approach to a situation Octavius had. When it comes to an existential threat, there’s no ethical hand-wringing on his part about mercy toward the attackers.

If you like the idea of a massive Spider-Person crossover, you may as well head straight to the all-encompassing Spider-Verse collection, which includes everything here and all of the next volume, naturally enough, Spider-Verse. The Spider-Verse/Spider-Geddon Omnibus also features everything.