Midnight Spider-Man #1 review

Marvel’s Midnight Universe is here, bringing with it horrific takes on familiar characters. And coming in as possibly the most horrific of them is a much more literal Spider-Man that promises to be an arachnophobic nightmare both in-universe and out. 

*Mild spoilers ahead for Midnight Spider-Man #1*

“With great power comes great responsibility.” One of the most famous lines in pop culture history, Uncle Ben’s wise words have guided countless variations of Spider-Men across the Marvel multiverse, shaping them into heroes just as concerned for the well-being of an elderly woman as they are for universal/multiversal threats. But what if the words that shaped young Peter’s left a far less altruistic influence? What if instead of responsibility, the lesson Peter learned was that “power creates monsters, and monsters just do what they do?”

Such is the message that writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson’s Midnight Spider-Man opens on, with the lesson dispensed not by Uncle Ben, but rather by Peter’s father Richard after six-year-old Peter discovers the rotting remains of his cat Bamf, complete with a spider crawling out of the poor creature’s eye socket. Yep, that’s where we’re starting, and it only gets worse from there. Buckle in, folks. Hope you’ve got a strong stomach.

Once the story reaches the present day, we find some semblance of familiarity, at least for a moment. A now-seventeen-year-old Peter is being raised by his Uncle Ben after an undisclosed incident involving his parents. It’s unclear whether his parents are dead or simply not in a condition to raise Peter, though what is clear is that Oscorp is to blame for whatever happened (shocker). Uncle Ben has been attempting to sue them for some time, to no avail. Peter doesn’t see a point in him continuing to do so (especially since they barely have enough money to get by), but Ben is determined that some manner of justice be awarded to his brother.

Peter’s cynicism about the matter is not unfounded, however. The Midnight Universe version of New York is dominated by various megacorporations like Oscorp that utilize their immense wealth to ensure they remain free to do essentially whatever they want. This includes gruesome genetic experimentation, which several of these corporations enact upon unwilling test subjects. Said subjects are often their own employees, many of whom are required to sign away the rights to their own genetic codes when accepting a job without any idea of what that might entail. I’m sure it’s definitely nothing at all unpleasant.

Cynical as he might be on the outside, however, Peter does stand up to these corporations in his own secret way. Hiding behind the username Sagan Ritual, Peter releases online takedowns of them, revealing the unsavory business practices hidden behind their shining exteriors. It appears there’s already a hero inside of him, albeit a careful one. Of course, brilliant as Peter is, he’s still just a teenager with very limited resources, taking on foes with more than enough money and power to destroy him without batting an eye should they discover his identity.   

This Cyberpunk-esque dystopian setting serves perfectly to set up the horrors that are coming. It becomes clear throughout the story that biological and genetic experimentation has become commonplace amongst these various corporations, and even in the government, to such a degree that human life and humanity itself have been cast aside in the name of power and wealth. There’s one scene in particular in which one of these experiments is shown, and the sickening cavalierness by those observing speaks volumes about the state of this world.

Of course, the most effective horror stories are the ones in which you can feel something coming, but can’t fully see until it’s too late. In that regard, artist Scietronc kills it, wrapping the story in a cloak of bright, colorful artwork that veils the gruesome truth in the same way the various corporations conceal themselves behind shining exteriors. Interspersed within these otherwise normal moments is the same panel of the spider crawling out of the body of Peter’s dead cat from the beginning, foreshadowing the issue’s horrific ending. 

I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest fan of horror myself (especially body horror), nor am I the biggest fan of spiders (the irony of me being such a big Spider-Man fan is not lost on me), so this issue had me on edge from the beginning, especially given the previews I’d seen. With that said, I’ll admit I’m very interested to see where this twisted new version of the character will go. Spider-Man comics have explored the idea of the Webslinger taking on more monstrous forms in the past, and this version of Peter stands to be one of the most horrific ones to date. I want to know what’s going to happen even as I dread it. Which is exactly what makes it such a good horror story. 

Midnight Spider-Man #1 is available now from Marvel Comics.