Review by Ian Keogh

It might not seem the case in hindsight, but Dan Slott’s run on Spider-Man was characterised by constant risks and pushing boundaries by messing with the status quo. This new series opens with Peter Parker working for Oscorp, run by a reformed Norman Osborn without a Green Goblin in sight, and rapidly broadens into a fully-fledged team-up of Spider-Man alternates.

The Spider-Verse has been an ongoing thing for some while, with Peter well aware he has counterparts across the multiverse, never mind several more in New York. Well, now they’re all endangered, and in fact several have already become corrupted and have joined something called the Hive. The threat behind it is seen on the sample art.

While there’s always a novelty in seeing Slott flex his imagination for new spider-based creations, and the singing princess version is great, there’s also a feeling for a long while of it being one multiple spider-crisis too many after Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon. Assorted heroes from numerous worlds are being corrupted into savage wasplike hunters and are on a mission to wipe others from existence entirely by disconnecting them from the web of life and destiny. Slott emphasises this disturbingly early in the story, but the chosen victim ensures all but the naivest of readers will be certain there’s a get-out clause and people haven’t been wiped from existence after all.

Mark Bagley has long been an exemplary Spider-Man artist, his clear storytelling never at the expense of dynamism, and he’s a workhorse for filling the pages with assorted Spider-Men. By the end it seems he’s on a personal quest to set the world record for the number of Spider-Men on a single spread. Central to the story is a dimension hidden away from the sight of main villain Shathra, and Bagley designs that to have the look of a 1960s superhero comic, complete with dot colour printing.

Because of overcrowding over the earlier chapters, a reworking of Spider-Man’s origin and early days is welcome respite. It’s the best here, not only for the mystery behind it, but for Slott taking a markedly different turn, and once it’s introduced End of the Spider-Verse picks up considerably.

Slott and Bagley have always had something to offer, and Slott’s plot comes good by the end, but the set-up is too long and your eyes will see Spider-Man costumes for hours after reading. The finish introduces a new mystery, and that’s picked up in Who is Spider-Boy? Those who can’t get enough of the alternates should check out their solo stories in three volumes of Edge of Spider-Verse and the single Spider-Society collection.