Review by Ian Keogh
Edge of Spider-Geddon is a prelude to Spider-Geddon, looking at five variations of Spider-Man who didn’t get much time in the spotlight during their introduction in Spider-Verse.
With a name like Spider-Punk, Hobie Brown ought to be a whole lot more interesting than he actually is in Jed McKay and Gerardo Sandoval’s opener. Kang the Conqueror comes calling, and while Captain Anarchy is at least an interesting name it’s not even Spider-Punk who saves the day. Nothing about this is memorable, although don’t give up on Hobie just yet as under other creative brains he stars in Spider-Punk: Battle of the Banned, revealing there’s potential after all.
Gerard Way supplies the plot about high school student Peni Parker, pilot of the dumbly named SP//dr, but her battle against the city-threatening M.O.R.B.I.U.S. is scripted by Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson. Artist Alberto Alburquerque buys into the teen-themed simplicity (sample spread left), which is fun, but the ending could really do with some beefing up to properly address what’s happened.
Even more fun is Jason Latour and Tonči Zonič’s exploration of a world where a spider-infused blood transfusion from Peter Parker not only saved his Uncle Ben’s life, but also gave him a crime-fighting partner. It’s a sentimental play on the Spider-Man legend of great power coming with great responsibility and Zonič’s expressive art (sample right) is a real treat.
Also good is a world where Norman Osborn has seemingly killed Peter Parker and it’s left to Harry Osborn to set things right. Aaron Kuder both writes and draws, and if you’re willing to accept no Spider-Man it’s tense and thrilling in introducing a character with a key role in Spider-Geddon.
The final outing has Christos Gage and Mike Hawthorne spotlight the Superior Octopus, which is the personality of Otto Octavius, formerly Doctor Octopus, in the body of a cloned Peter Parker. After his spell as Spider-Man he’s decided being a hero is his calling, and he’s going to protect San Francisco, which he does, but in his own unconventional way. Again, this is fun and Gage is successful in creating some sympathy for Otto despite his largely objectionable character and a clever ending extrapolating Otto’s pride leads into the main Spider-Geddon.
McKay’s final story also picks up on that, better than his first outing in building a bridge between Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon. A variety of Spider-people feature, all nicely drawn by Mark Bagley.
It’s rare that the support act betters the headliner, but it can happen, and this is one of those cases. Edge of Spider-Geddon is raised by some fine art, and after a sluggish start there’s fun to be had reading each contribution. These stories also appear in the Spider-Verse/Spider-Geddon Omnibus.
