11 Spider-Man Comics to Read After Seeing ‘Across the Spider-Verse’

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You know about the one and only Spider-Man, right? He’s Peter Parker, a teenager who got bit by a radioactive spider and learned the hard way that with great power came great responsibility. Even in an age of superhero saturation, Spider-Man is the most popular character in the world, recognizable in nearly every country.

However, with the Academy Award-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, audiences learned that the Peter Parker we knew was hardly the only Spider-Person in the multiverse. Other heroes fight crime in arachnid gear, including Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham, Peni Parker and her mech SP/dr, and the two-fisted Spider-Man Noir. But none of these characters stood out like Miles Morales, the Brooklyn teen who dons the mask after the Kingpin kills the Spider-Man of his world.

Some viewers were thrilled to meet Miles in Into the Spider-Verse, loving his updated twist on the classic great power trope. But comic book readers have been well-acquainted with the newest Spider-Man, both in the alternate reality Ultimate Marvel Comics and in the mainstream comics.

Thanks to the work of outstanding writers such as Brian Michael Bendis and Saladin Ahmed, and artists such as Sara Pichelli and Federico Vincentini, Miles has become a fixture of modern Marvel, no small feat for a new guy calling himself Spider-Man. And as Into the Spider-Verse proved and the long-awaited sequel Across the Spider-Verse reminds us, Miles Morales is no mere also-ran. If you need more proof, check out these comics about Miles Morales, the one and only Spider-Man.

“Who Is Miles Morales” (Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1-12, 2011)

In 2011, the unthinkable happened: Peter Parker, the one and only Spider-Man, sacrificed his life to save his loved ones from an onslaught of enemies. This story may have occurred in the Ultimate Comics universe, a reboot of Marvel Comics that let all of its heroes start afresh, but it was no less shocking. Fortunately, that world didn’t have to go without a Spider-Man for long, thanks to a mishap with an irradiated spider stolen by Aaron Davis aka the Prowler. When that spider bites his nephew, Miles Morales, a new Spider-Man is born.

The first adventures of Miles Morales may be familiar to readers, and not just because the broad outlines appeared in the movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The story, written by long-time comics scribe Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by Sara Pichelli, contains the germ of what makes every Spider-Man great, the willingness to do the right thing, no matter how outmatched or overwhelmed one might be.

Spider-Men (2012)

In the Ultimate Universe, Miles never really got to know his predecessor. But when Mysterio finds a way to bring Peter Parker to the Ultimate universe, the two Spider-Men need to join forces to get him back home. On a plot level, there’s not much to Spider-Men (but it's better than the 2017 sequel Spider-Men II, which suffers from too much plot). However, the pleasure of the book comes from watching how the two heroes learn from each other, getting a sense of how their lives could have gone in a very different direction.

Brian Michael Bendis once again proves himself to be one of the best at writing Peter Parker, emphasizing both his commitment to doing good and his nervous motor mouth. Bendis takes time to show Peter meeting the Ultimate Universe Gwen Stacy, a version of a woman he loved in his reality, and letting the variant of his beloved Aunt May see her nephew one last time. But it’s Miles who really shines in the first team-up, proving himself to be a worthy successor to the mask, not only by helping his counterpart get back home, but also taking down an incredibly dangerous Mysterio. More than any other story, Spider-Men laid the groundwork for the first Spider-Verse movies, introducing the mentor/mentee relationship between Peter and Miles.

“Ultimate End” (Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man #10-12, 2015)

Several years after taking on the mantle, Miles Morales fully established himself as Spider-Man and acquired a cadre of amazing friends, including Cloak and Dagger, Spider-Woman, and even a girlfriend in Kate Bishop (known to MCU fans as Hailee Steinfeld’s character from Hawkeye). But just like his predecessor, Miles soon learns the difficulties of balancing a superhero’s life with everyday commitments, including estrangement from his father, Jefferson.

“The End” represents the climax of Miles’s time in the Ultimate Universe, where he was not only the sole Spider-Man, but one of the most beloved heroes in that line. Before the Ultimate Universe meets its end in the Secret Wars storyline (more on that in a minute), Miles and his friends must deal with an army of antagonists, including not only the forces of Hydra but also Doctor Doom himself. With sharp and dynamic artwork from David Marquez, the close of the hero’s run in the Ultimate Universe finds Miles once again proving himself as a true hero, never willing to give up, even in the face of overwhelming odds.

Secret Wars (2015)

On first glance, Secret Wars seems like a strange choice for list of Miles Morales comics. In the story of Doctor Doom recreating the universe in his own image, a street-level Spider-Man has little chance of standing out, even if he gets a few licks in on the god-powered being. But after escaping from the destruction of the Ultimate Universe, Miles once again teams with Peter, one of the few people who remember the world before Doom remade it. And thanks to a simple act of kindness, Miles becomes the key to making the world aright, proving that compassion is always Spider-Man’s true power.

Written by Jonathan Hickman and drawn by Esad Ribic, Secret Wars is truly epic in scope, pitting a small band of heroes against an all-powerful Doctor Doom, who has not only Stephen Strange as an advisor but an army of Thors as his personal police. Even within these heightened stakes, Miles acquits himself well, not only playing a key part in the resistance against God Emperor Doom, but also making his way into a newly-created universe, in which he is one of two Spider-Men saving New York City.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2016)

Over in the Ultimate Universe, Miles was the one and only Spider-Man, save for the occasional clone or inter-dimensional crossover. But after the events of Secret Wars, Miles became part of the primary Marvel Universe, and fans worried that he would be subjected to secondary status behind Peter Parker. But Marvel put all those fears to rest with the title of Miles’s first book in the Marvel Universe proper: Spider-Man.

To be sure, that title is a statement of purpose. But it’s also a challenge to Miles, who finds himself fully integrated into the Marvel Universe and thrust right into the center. Under the direction of creators Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli, Miles immediately gets called in to help Earth’s Mightiest Heroes after a supernatural baddie takes out the Avengers. Fortunately, he finds a new set of allies in teen heroes Ms. Marvel and Nova (who will later form the Champions), as well as his best friend Ganke and his father Jefferson, the only people who know Miles’s secret. In these first issues, Miles learns that life in the main universe won’t be easy, but that comes with the job when you’re Spider-Man.

The Clone Saga (Miles Morales: Spider-Man #22 - 28, 2022)

Say the words “Clone Saga” to a nerd of a certain age, and they might break out in hives. Back in the 1990s, the Clone Saga storyline encapsulated everything wrong with Marvel Comics of the time, a sprawling Spider-Man story that started to replace Peter Parker with clone Ben Reilly and then suddenly reversed course. Although Bendis did revisit, and greatly improve, the concept during his Ultimate Spider-Man run with Peter Parker, it was writer Saladin Ahmed who finally explored the full potential of Spider-clones in his take on the infamous story.

Unlike Peter’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales, now known as the Spider-Man of Brooklyn, always had a positive reputation among citizens. But when Miles starts getting blamed for outrageous acts of violence, even by Peter Parker, he discovers that he’s not the only one in a black and red costume. Between Ahmed’s character-driven writing and clean artwork from Carmen Carnero, The Clone Saga redeems one the most hated phrases in comics and shows us all why Miles is so special. Even as gloopy clones try to take his place, Miles’s heroism shows them all that he’s one in a million.

Miles Morales: The End (2020)

In the future, monsters have made a mess of New York. Only Brooklyn remains as a safe haven, thanks to the efforts of the man known as El Alcalde aka the Mayor aka Miles Morales. Now in his 60s, Miles continues his mission as the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, even when Brooklyn is the only neighborhood left. With his Maxine at his side—daughter of his late best friend Ganke, remembered as the hero of Brooklyn—Miles fights to protect his neighborhood from all threats, including a hate-monger dressed in the costume of Captain America, who wants to destroy anyone who doesn’t look like him.

Final stories tend to be sour affairs, from the influential Batman tale The Dark Knight Returns to the oft-mocked Peter Parker dystopia Spider-Man: Reign to the recent Old Man Logan series. But writer Saladin Ahmed stays away from the grim and gritty, showing how Miles grew into the symbol of hope he was always met to be. Paired with energetic and angular art from penciler Damian Scott and colorist Dono Sánchez-Almara, Miles Morales: The End gives a hopeful look at a possible future for the second Spider-Man.

Spider-Man 2099 (1994)

We met many, many Spider-People throughout Into the Spider-Verse. But one of the most compelling appeared in the post-credit sequence, which shifts over to the year 2099, where a new Spider-Man (voiced by Oscar Isaac) looks with concern at the results of Miles’ adventure. Although that scene ends with a reference to the infamous Spider-Man pointing scene, it also sets up Across the Spider-Verse, in which Spider-Man 2099 serves as a major antagonist. We won’t spoil here why Miquel O’Hara, the Spider-Man of the year 2099, runs afoul of Miles, but even in that jokey post-credit sequence, it’s clear that he’s a formidable opponent.

Comic readers know Miquel O’Hara as the most successful (and possibly only successful) character from Marvel’s 2099 experiment, a series of books launched in 1994 that imagined the future of the universe. Written by the great Peter David and drawn by Rick Leonardi, the first Spider-Man 2099 storyline introduced Miquel as a scientist at the evil Alchemax Corporation, whose attempts to control its employee resulted in O’Hara gaining Spider-powers. Unlike his 20th-century predecessor, O’Hara has a decidedly more edgy take on the hero, complete with death’s head costume and talons on his fingers. But for all his frightening looks, no one would consider Spider-Man 2099 to be anything but a hero—well, no one except Miles Morales, that is.

Spider-Verse (2014)

The one that started it all! When the Spider-Verse event hit 2014, readers rightly questioned the concept. Sure, multiversal stories have been a part of superhero fiction for years and, as Nick Fury so gently told Tom Holland’s wall-crawler in Spider-Man: Far From Home, Spidey has been to space. But we still tend to think of Spider-Man as a friendly neighborhood sort of hero, not the type to deal with doppelgangers and reality-warping effects. But when the evil Morlun and his vampiric family start feeding on Spider-people from across all universes, Peter must team up with every version of Spider-Man, in every reality.

Writer Dan Slott and his collaborators—including writer Christos Gage and artists Oliver Coipel, David A. Williams, and Ty Templeton —used the event to wink at decades of Spider-Man history, bringing in the Spider-Man from Hostess ads that used to run in comic books, the silent Spider-Man from kid’s tv show The Electric Company, and even the Japanese Spider-Man from the odd-ball tv series, complete with his mech Leopardon. But the real pleasure of the comic came from seeing the ties that bound all of the Spiders together, including Miles Morales. Instead of getting drowned out by the other versions, Miles stood out as one of the most exciting takes on Spider-Man and a worthy protagonist for the film adaptation of the Spider-Verse event.

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider (2015)

Up until very recently, Gwen Stacy was known for one thing: dying. Published in 1973, “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” marked a turning point in Marvel Comics, showing the grave stakes of heroic life when the Green Goblin tossed Peter Parker’s girlfriend off a bridge. For decades, the event haunted Peter, even as he went on to marry Mary Jane Watson (at least until reality reset, thanks to the Satanic Mephisto). But when the Spider-Verse event explored different variations of Spider-Man’s world, Gwen Stacy returned to the scene, this time as a hero in her own right.

Created by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez, Spider-Gwen (or Ghost-Spider, to use her official, but less popular, code-name) is the Gwen Stacy of Earth-65, a teen at Midtown High who gain amazing powers after being bitted by a spider. Thanks to Hailee Steinfeld’s vibrant take on the character in the Spider-Verse films, and the excellent development Latour and Rodriguez brought to the character in her first ongoing Gwen Stacy: Spider-Gwen, Gwen Stacy is no longer simply the girl who died. She’s a superhero herself, an exciting addition to the world of Spider-Man.

“Trial By Spider” (Miles Morales: Spider-Man #1-5, 2022)

In his best moments, Miles Morales updates and revitalizes the classic Spider-Man story, giving readers an unlikely hero who saves the day against unbelievable odds. But sometimes, Miles suffers from standing too far in Peter Parker’s shadow, especially in the rogues department. When in the ultimate universe, it made sense to have Miles fight the Green Goblin and Mysterio, because Peter wasn’t around anymore. But with both Spideys in the main Marvel Universe, it sometimes feels like Miles gets Peter’s leftovers.

In the latest series of Miles Morales: Spider-Man, writer Cody Ziglar and artist Federico Vincentini rectify this problem. The five-issue arc “Trial By Spider” begins by pitting Miles against Mac Gagan aka The Scorpion, a long-time baddie for Peter Parker. But the storyline also introduces a new enemy, unique to Miles: Rabble. A technological genius with a personal grudge against Miles, Rabble not only follows in the footsteps of the best bad guys by highlighting real-world inequality, but also helps further establish the newest Spider-Man as a compelling character in his own right.

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