The last time I reviewed Spider-Men, I was a bit underwhelmed at how one-sided the issue was towards Peter Parker. Now, we're given a chance to see things from Miles Morales' side of things, and it's rounded things out a little more.

And to be frank, I like this issue a lot more than I did the introduction; it still remains a very trade paperback-friendly story, but this issue opens up a little bit more characterization options, even if Miles is shoved to the background a little.

I think that's my main problem with all the things I've seen involving Miles so far. While he's pushed as a very interesting character, other figures like Nick Fury, Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy and Kitty Pryde always seem to steal "screen time" away from him, and keep him from becoming a fully fleshed-out, independent character.

I mention that independence because I think it's something that Marvel has to take a little bit more of a chance on; if you're going to throw the mantle of one of your biggest heroes on someone new, you have to be prepared to let him/her stand on their own, instead of just leashing them to "safe" characters. I didn't like this issue of Spider-Men, because ultimately it was anything but: it really should've been called "the regular Spider-man, Nick Fury and maybe a little bit of that Miles kid on the side."

Spider-Men Issue #2
Marvel Comics
$3.99

The Verdict: I wish I dealt in half-increments of scores so I could give this a three-point-five, but for the sake of consistency I'll stick with a three. It hasn't hit its stride yet, and there are still some issues involving character balance that keep it from being higher. I really like the banter between the two Spiders, but Miles needs more time than a couple-page fight. Better than the issue before it; I hope the trend continues.

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