Review by Ian Keogh
Marvel united their assorted different spider-based creations in Spider-Verse, with the core story a complete thriller. That doesn’t quite apply to this sequel as it’s different creators guiding the assorted cast, but it’s still spirited fun in places. Dan Slott provides the basic plot, but the writing is down to Christos Gage who has a good handle on the personalities, especially Otto Octavius.
The prime story once again involves the Inheritors, freed with no change to their intention of sucking the life energy from all spider-based heroes, and a nice touch is their release being down to the Superior Dr. Octopus. Once again his total self-belief blinds him to the possibility of errors, but these days he’s able to admit them, and so becomes the guiding force in gathering assorted heroes from alternate worlds to end the threat of the Inheritors. His solution is to kill them, which doesn’t sit well with all of his potential allies. These include a fair amount of new creations and greater space allocated to Spider-Man variants whose time in the spotlight during Spider-Verse was restricted.
Problematically, though, this is a sprawling and stop/start story despite not including the referenced encounters within the main Spider-Man series. Too much time is spent gathering the assorted allies and explaining them, and not enough on the threat, which manifests in brief skirmishes, although Gage drops in some great surprises, one to end the penultimate chapter. He also comes up trumps for the final chapter, although anyone not immersed in Spider-Man lore might find aspects of it a little too convenient.
Jorge Molina draws most of Spider-Geddon very proficiently considering the necessity of dozens of Spider-Man costumes in every chapter was surely a sanity-threatening occupation. Carlo Barberi fills in so subtly you’d not notice the difference, but Clayton Crain’s more obviously digital chapter is an intrusive contrast.
The various writers and artist credit is down to the inclusion of seven brief stories spotlighting assorted Spider-Men. The standouts are both front-ended. Cullen Bunn’s horror western is brought to life by the stunning cartooning of Javier Pulido, and Sheldon Vella goes the extra mile for Jed McKay’s manga pastiche. The tone of these stories constantly switches, ranging from the broad comedy of Aunt May as Spider Ma’am to the horrors of Spiders-Man, but they’re largely page-fillers, not standouts.
If you really enjoy Spider-Geddon catch up with some of the more obscure creations in Edge of Spider-Geddon or Spider-Geddon: Covert Ops, or everything is found in the Spider-Verse/Spider-Geddon Omnibus.
