All New, All Different Marvel: Your Guide to the Spider-Books

As previously announced, Ultimate Spider-Man is now part of the Marvel Universe and has dropped the Ultimate. The big question for me is, how much of the Ultimate Universe is he bringing with him? For any Spider-Hero, the supporting cast is a big part of the character.

Hey, guess what, Peter Parker is still Spider-Man, and Dan Slott is still writing his adventures. I know! No, this should not have surprised you, but a lot of people read something into the Miles Morales book announcement that Marvel never actually said. Of course there is still a Slott Spider-Man book. There has always been a Slott Spider-Man book. There will always be a Slott Spider-Man book. The big change this time is that Spidey is now a globetrotting hero with a light-up costume and a Spider-Mobile, and he's pulling a Tony Stark and playing his own bodyguard. Sounds bizarre, but Slott's track record on the character is tremendous.

A new #1, but the same book as before. I'm an advocate for the idea that ongoing series should relaunch at #1 to reflect the idea of new 'seasons' in the narrative, but this is defintiely one of many examples of Marvel tripping over its own feet in trying to reconcile the success of individual books with the grand plan for its wider line. Hopefully books like Spider-Gwen can hold their momentum.

Another relaunch of a recent launch, and another continuation of creative team. It looks like Silk is a bank robber now. Turning evil is a recurring theme in several of the post-Secret Wars books (along with being an old guy). Weirdly, I think more characters are turning bad now than when AXIS ended. Spoiler: This is probably another ruse. It's only a true heel turn when they put 'Superior' in the title.

And another continuation. Let me say this: I know it's not popular, but I love Rick Leonardi's Spider-Man 2099 costume design with the weird skull motif, and I am not on board with the new look.

And another continuation. Jess appears to be pregnant (and weirdly distended). I feel the same way about pregnancy stories as I do about wedding stories; they're wonderful for real life, but constricting in superhero comics. Marvel doesn't have a lot of female solo heroes, and motherhood doesn't feel like much of an escapist superhero fantasy, so I'm hoping this is a Brood or something. Marvel has several superhero moms. One of them is a Spider-Woman. Tell that story with one of them!

A new book, technically, but I feel like there's always a Carnage book. I have never read a Carnage book.

Spider-Verse is the event that doesn't end. It rolled on into Secret Wars, and it'll roll straight on out of it again, but with a title that syncs up with the subtitle and concept of the current season of the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon (though next season the subtitle is 'The Sinister 6'). This is the "second Spider-Gwen title" that had been rumored; a team book pairing Gwen with alt.Spideys including Spider-Ham, Noir, the Spider-Man of India, Spider-Girl, and Spider-UK. It's sort of good to know that Gwen is this popular.

Rumors circulated earlier this week that a new Spaceknight book was coming, and my immediate thought was, "How can they launch Spaceknights without a recognizable hero in the lead?" Marvel doesn't own the rights to ROM.

Well, here's your answer, and it's a canny one given the recent evolution of Venom and the symbiotes as galactic protectors. This still feels like a risky idea, but that's something I wanted to see more of in this launch.