Beyond Corporation has orchestrated the battle between Miles Morales and Ben Reilly. Yet, the Spider-Men find themselves working alongside one another.
In this issue, Ben Reilly aka Spider-Man is tasked with two missions. His first mission is to take down a new villain named Rhizome. The other one is to stop Miles Morales from operating as Spider-Man. This is because Beyond Corp owns the trademark on the character. We are introduced to a few unfamiliar faces. Peter’s proteges put their differences aside to fight a common enemy.
Let’s see what the Spider-Men are up to. Ben’s handler, Marcus gives him the rundown about this new foe. He also informs Ben about Miles illegally operating as the wall-crawler. Ben understands his assignments as he storms off, throwing away his corporate smoothie. We then jump to Ben entering his apartment, paid for by Beyond. He is greeted by his girlfriend, Janine. She knows about his mission and worries about him. Janine is considered for Ben’s state due to a recent battle with Kraven the Hunter. He tells her that he’s fine and is appreciative of her concern.
Ben then files off with his new tech, courtesy of Marcus. He then finds himself in Bed-Stuy, after an attack from Rhizome. Ben tells everyone that his job is to stop the bad guy. He avoids helping the nearby civilians. He is then confronted by Miles, believing that this is another imposter. He even referenced his own clone saga this past year.
The older Spider-Man attacks and both heroes fight. Ben then reveals to Miles that Peter temporarily passed down the Spider-Man title to him. Peter is currently in the hospital in a coma. After explaining this to Miles, he reveals that Beyond made him the one and only wall-crawler. Yet, freaks out as the corporation is trying to sue him for it. Ben is in the dark about the situation. The two then work together to stop a huge brick wall from falling on some residents of the city.
Before fighting Rhizome, Miles tells Ben that he feels as if the two met already. Back in the Spider-Geddon storyline, the pair did in fact meet. The Spider-Men make many efforts to take down the monster. Miles then realizes that Rhizome is electrically-based. He short circuits the device that made a man this monster. Miles also sees that this tech is very familiar. It was originally constructed by The Assessor. The being that was behind Miles’s clone saga. Miles tells Ben that he will follow the trail. As for Ben, he will give the message to Beyond Corp.
Back at Beyond, Ben is greeted by Maxine. She is the head of the corporation’s Super Hero Development. She informs Ben that Marcus is in trouble for not looking after one of Ben’s missions. The one to take down Miles. Ben explodes at her as she explains that he is important to them. She continues by saying that he has everything because of Beyond. If he continues to disobey, then he could ruin everything for them and himself.
Minutes later, Director Maxine is informed about Otto Octavius. Doc Ock is digging into anything he can find on the corporation. Maxine is not frightened in the slightest, showing off a solution to stop him. She holds up a container with a mysterious creature within, as the issue ends.
The writing from Saladin was pretty good here. I liked how at first Miles was going against Ben. Then realizing the truth and the pair working together. However, I loved how Ben showed what kind of superhero he was here. He was more focused on the mission. Yet, the civilians did not like that as they saw Spider-Man helping in any way he can. It kind of reminds me of John Walker as Captain America. Ben chooses to be the perfect soldier, over a good man.
As for the art, it was great! Carlos Gómez and Bryan Valenza killed it! I can’t stress this enough, I love Ben’s design! The one-shots of him and Miles, before their fight, were great. In general, the illustrations were really good to look at. Also, this gets me more hyped for Spider-Man: No Way Home!
Want to discuss things further? Hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. And for more film, gaming, anime, and TV news, trailers, and updates make sure to keep it locked right here at The Nerdy Basement. While you’re here, please consider supporting us on Patreon! It’s an easy way of supporting us so we can keep proving you with your Nerdy News!