Amazing Spider-Man #13 Review: No More Spider-Men?

Things are getting serious in Spider-Verse now. The spiders have claimed some small victories, destroying the Inheritors’ cloning chambers and helping Silk escape to a world where the villains couldn’t follow, though that was more a happy accident than part of any grand design.

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Yet in Amazing Spider-Man #13, Solus is feeling pretty confident. He has the Scion, and he trusts in the Weaver’s prophecy that the Bride and the Other (you know them as Silk and Kaine) will come to them. Lo and behold, that’s pretty much what happens.

As with many penultimate chapters, this one has a lot of set-up in it, but at least it holds your interest. Dan Slott fills us in on the backstory of Ben Parker of Earth-3145, where Peter’s famous uncle has to internalize his lesson about power and responsibility after he ends up getting bitten by the spider instead of his nephew. The problem is that his world went to hell after he gave up on using his powers, and his tale has a personal impact on our Spider-Men, both the Amazing and Superior varieties.

A number of pep talks are required before the remaining spiders start pulling in the right direction. Meanwhile, Silk and Kaine end up potentially making things even worse, though the latter at least does a little better on offense than most of his counterparts have done so far. By the end of the issue, Slott has most of the pieces in place for what’s almost certain to be a action-packed conclusion. Even Miguel O’Hara and Miles Morales, who have been sort of relegated to the periphery of this tale, should get a chance to make a difference before it’s all said and done.

Props definitely go to Giuseppe Camuncoli for juggling this ensemble cast. Not only do different Spider-Men have their own body language, but there’s plenty of emoting done even by characters who spend most of this story with masks on their faces. That can’t be easy. Also, if I were him, every time Slott asked me to draw the manga Spider-Man (stylistically much different from all the others), I’d be sending him a long distance virtual smack upside the head.

All told, it got me anxious for the finale, and I’m not even a regular Amazing Spider-Man reader.

SPOILERS PAST THIS POINT!

All of Solus’ kids seem to be apologizing for failing him, but the patriarch of the Inheritors doesn’t seem worried. In fact, he’s feeling his oats so much that he boldly declares that there will soon be “Spider-Men no more.”

(Maniacal laugh. Maniacal laugh.)

In the bunker on Earth-3145, Ben Parker tells his story. After he was bitten by the spider, he became his world’s Spider-Man, but the Emerald Elf — his world’s Green Goblin analogue — blew up his home, killing May and Peter. Ben decided to give up his costume after that, though he listened to Sims’ plea to hide in the bunker. It actually gets worse, as that Earth’s Otto Octavius ended up miscalculating and irradiating the whole planet, something that Superior Spider-Man is upset to learn (for obvious reasons).

An effort to decipher the scrolls given to the spiders by Jessica Drew ensues, with Spider-UK bucking up the spirits of Spider-Man: India and Otto accidentally learning that our Peter is from the present, not the past, meaning the Superior Spider-Man is fated to lose everything. In the end, it turns out Anya Corazon can read the scrolls due to her specific origin. And, oh hey, has anyone seen Silk?

Cindy and Spider-Gwen decide to try saving Jessica from Loomworld, where Silk immediately gets their teleporter destroyed. Again. Separately, Kaine chooses to seek revenge on Loomworld too, inadvertently playing right into the Inheritors’ hands.

See, the scrolls contain a prophecy that says the Inheritors can do away with all the spider totems by performing a ceremony using the blood of the Scion, the Bride and the Other. And speaking of Kaine, he transforms into a giant spider and seemingly is able to kill Solus. That doesn’t save him from Morlun stabbing him through the head with his own claw. Even without Solus, they plan to perform the ceremony.

The other Inheritors and their hounds chase after Silk while Peter tries to convince Ben they need his help. That doesn’t work, but Otto’s tougher love approach, that gets through to him. Ben suits up and stands beside the others, and since Spider-Man 2099 and Lady Spider and Miles Morales and his Web Warriors are on the way as well, it looks like we’re getting one big throwdown in Part 6 of Spider-Verse. And that’s as it should be.

Favorite moment: Otto coming up with the big speech that convinces Ben to fight, even after he has leaned his run as Superior Spider-Man is likely over as soon as this battle is finished. That’s good stuff, especially if you’re in the camp that enjoys seeing Otto try to be a true hero.

Final thought: So, the Inheritors feed on the life energies of spider totems. They also want to make sure all spiders are extinct across all realities. Won’t they just, I don’t know, starve to death after that? This might not be the most well thought-out plan in the history of super villainy …

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