The heroism of Miles Morales, the new Spider-Man, kicks off with this issue! But poor, young Miles just isn’t ready for it. He’s only like 13, I think. He’s not a hero! He just wants to be a kid! I can really feel for the boy. Just because his best friend Ganke thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world (and it is) doesn’t mean Miles is ready to be a superhero.

But sometimes fate kills Peter Parker.

Ultimate Spider-Man #3

Comic rating: 5/5: Great!

I really enjoyed this issue. The All-New Spider-Man is not yet blowing me away, but it’s a fantastic read. And writer Brian Michael Bendis finally kicks off some real spidery-heroics with this issue. Miles makes his first big play at being the new Spider-Man, even if he doesn’t have the costume yet. And even if it’s a scene straight out of both the first and second Spider-Man movies. (Wow, now that I think about it, Spider-Man really did save a kid from a burning building in both movies…) Anyway, the introduction to Miles Morales continues to be stellar in both story and art.

But what the hell is up with that cover? Who thought it would be a great idea to awkwardly shove Spider-Man’s huge ass in our faces?

As I said, we finally get some real action in this book, and it’s very welcome. The first two issues were about discovery and introduction, with a heavy-handed speech about mortality in issue #2. Well with all that Miles has learned, it’s time to put it into practice. And what’s great about this story is that Miles doesn’t automatically want to be a superhero! It’s scary and it’s dangerous, and a kid of 13 isn’t so insane that he’d just jump right in. Peter Parker didn’t become Spider-Man right away, he had to learn the lesson about ‘With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”.

It’s fun seeing Miles learn his lessons. Though they have yet to appear in simple catch phrase form.

This series is the perfect example of how to reboot/restart a property and how to introduce a new hero. Those over at DC should take a look at what Bendis is doing with Miles Morales. Three issues in and there’s no sign of Spider-Man, but who cares? Miles is the far more fascinating character. This comic book is a great read, even though it doesn’t include Miles putting on a costume in the first issue and punching out Doctor Octopus. And since we’re spending so much time getting to know Miles as a person, and his thoughts on having Spider-powers, the moment when he finally decides to become a superhero will be that much more meaningful.

Miles doesn’t want to become a superhero just because it’s awesome. We don’t yet know what propels Miles to become the new Spider-Man. But when he does, it will matter so much more because we already know why he didn’t become Spider-Man as soon as he got his powers. This is the sort of characterization that turns a story into a classic.

The cliffhanger at the end of this issue is the perfect example of what I mean.

Anyway, we pick up shortly after we left off in issue #2. Miles has just crawled up to his ceiling, confirming that he has spider-powers. He calls his best friend Ganke over to come see, and Miles shares the truth with Ganke. The scene is delightful, because once again Bendis nails the dialogue between the two young friends. Ganke is super-excited that his best pal has spider-powers, while Miles is much less excited. The dialogue is a nice back-and-forth, which is one of Bendis’ trademarks.

Friends don’t let friends go web-slinging

Ganke wants Miles to suit up and go fight crime, but Miles doesn’t. They compromise and decide to go visit Miles’ Uncle Aaron, who we met last issue. Miles was bit by the spider in Aaron’s apartment, so the boys logically assume that Aaron might have something to do with it. But when they get over there, the whole place is cleaned out. Aaron and all of his possessions are long gone. We also find out it’s only been about a day since Miles was bitten. The Aaron character is getting much more mysterious. We’re led to believe he is the Ultimate Prowler, a costumed thief, and has served time in prison. Where could he have gone? Did Miles’ dad have something with Aaron’s disappearance after the speech he gave to Miles in issue #2?

Yay, free apartment!

The boys start walking home, and we finally get our first big action piece! There’s a building on fire and people are trapped inside! So yeah, exactly like the first two Spider-Man movies. I know Bendis is creative enough to come up with a new idea. So maybe this is an homage or something. He definitely gets a lot of mileage out of the firefighters’ reaction to Miles jumping in to save the day.

The scene is exciting. Miles needs some convincing from Ganke to jump into action, then he literally does. The art is particularly amazing in this scene, with little quirks like the fact that Miles takes off his shoes before jumping into the fray. He climbs up the wall with everyone watching, then pulls a scared woman out of a window so that he lands on a safety cushion below. Miles dodges some fire and heads inside. The crowd and Ganke watch with bated breath. The flames roar out the windows.

Then, success!

Miles Morales from downtown!

Miles leaps to the ground with young child in his arms. The paramedics rush to help the girl, and there’s a fantastic little scene where the girl tugs on Miles’ shirt before she’s taken away. The smile on Miles’ face is brilliant.

Enough cannot be said about artist Sara Pichelli. Her characters are fantastic and unique, their faces alive with emotion. She keeps the art realistic enough to be taken seriously, but cartoony enough that you know you’re reading a comic book. This isn’t photo-realism, but it’s not charicature either. She definitely handles the leaping and wall-crawling well, making Miles look almost ordinary while performing such strange actions. I can’t wait for her to draw our hero in costume, let alone fighting some real super-villains. I’m hoping she gets to design some new villain looks, or even some new villains. They’re going to look amazing.

Maybe they’ll even use her art style for the next Ultimate Spider-Man video game.

Hey, watch it! That’s his favorite shirt!

So Miles leaps away from the fire and finds refuge in a nearby alley. One of the firefighters comments that he knew Spider-Man was black, which means these three issues have been taking place sometime during Peter Parker’s career as Spider-Man. We know the spider that bit Miles’ came from Norman Osborn’s laboratory. But as we soon find out, there was no way for Peter to ever know there was another kid out there with spider-powers.

Ganke finds Miles in the alley, and Miles is more the worse for wear. He’s crying and hacking up a lung. He may have saved those people, but his psyche has been shattered. He’s too young to deal with that kind of action and responsibility. As much as Ganke doesn’t want to hear it, Miles swears off being a superhero, spider-powers or not. After all, there already is a Spider-Man and he seems to be doing a good job. Miles is just going to sit this one out.

What a wuss.

The next few pages are a montage as Miles’ life returns to normal. He starts at the new charter school that he was picked for in the first issue. For some reason, Ganke got in as well. Did we know that already? I know Ganke wasn’t at the lottery. Maybe Ganke’s parents are rich enough to pay his way or something…either way, it gives us Miles and Ganke rooming together, so I don’t mind at all. They also meet their new roommate, a guy named Judge. He sort of just shows up, so I’m sure he’ll be flesh out more as time goes on. We don’t see Miles’ parents at all this issue, which is a shame. After that speech last issue, I was hoping to see Miles’ father flesh out more. And his mother barely appeared in issue #1.

Miles’ parents need to see more panel-time if they’re going to be expected to carry any emotional weight. But then again, maybe they won’t be killed off in an effort to teach Miles’ some sort of lesson. At this point, I hope they’re not.

Anyway, one night at school, Miles has a nightmare about Electro coming into his room. The all-electricity body for Electro looks boring, and I hope Pichelli gets to design him a new look. We don’t know why Miles has a nightmare about Electro (or why he even knows about Electro), but it so happens to be the same night that Peter Parker is killed. This happened in Peter’s Ultimate Spider-Man series a few months ago. I read it and liked it, even if I disliked the whole getting rid of Peter thing in the first place. Peter’s story was in no way finished. There was a lot more to see and do, a lot more stories to tell. But someone up at the top of Marvel wanted something new, so Bendis had to kill off Peter long before his time and then create Miles.

I’m over it. Peter’s dead and Miles is so far awesome. Long live Miles.

So all the students are brought into the gymnasium because Spider-Man’s death involves a big super-villain attack in New York City. The Ultimates are there, and the Sinister Six, basically it was a huge fight scene where Peter heroically fought to the very end. Miles and his classmates are told not to panic, that they should be safe. Reports are coming in…and Spider-Man has been shot.

The look on Miles’ face in that final panel says it all.

Shit just got real

Months have passed since that day Miles saved the girl from the burning building. He’s put his spider-powers behind him. He’s not Spider-Man, there already is a Spider-Man…until now.

And this is what I meant about how knowing Miles’ motivations makes this moment all the sweeter. We’ve taken the story slow, learned what Miles really thinks about his spider-powers. But now his beliefs, his hopes for himself, are going to be put to the test. What does Miles do once he finds out that Spider-Man is dead? We can safely assume that he’s going to become the new Spider-Man (the costume is on the cover, after all).

But it’s the journey to that decision that’s going to be the most entertaining.