Miles Morales: Shock Waves by Justin A. Reynolds & Pablo Leon (Illustrator)

Information

Goodreads: Miles Morales: Shock Waves
Series: None
Source: Library
Published: 2021

Summary

Miles Morales is still trying to figure out his new life juggling school and protecting the neighborhood as Spider-Man. Then, a new classmate’s friend goes missing. Can Miles help his friend while still finding time to be there for his family?

Review

Miles: Morales Shock Waves is a graphic novel for the middle-age crowd that introduces Miles Morales as Spider-Man. While the story starts with an extremely brief overview of how Miles got his powers, Miles is still new to the superhero business and, like many other of his stories, this one focuses on the challenges of balancing school and family with his new vigilantism. Bold, bright colors along with a short narrative that packs a lot action into a short space make this an ideal comic for its tween target audience.

Readers may likely already by familiar with Miles Morales from Jason Reynolds’ 2017 novel, Miles’ previous comics, or the Into the Spider-Verse movie. This new interpretation of the character remains true to its predecessors by focusing more on Miles’ personal life than on his superhero adventures. Even as he tries to keep his neighborhood safe, Miles finds himself pulled in too many directions as he attempts to work on his school art project, assist with fund raising for the earthquake in Puerto Rick, make family dinners a priority, and be a friend to the new kid Kyle–whose father just so happens to be missing, apparently as the result of supervillain activity. Miles wants to be able to do it all, but he is not sure he can.

The narrative is pretty straightforward, and most readers will likely not be surprised by any twists or turns. It is Miles’ character that makes the story, rather than the plot. Justin A. Reynolds is noted for writing banter, and it works particularly well for Spider-Man. Readers will find themselves rooting for Miles to balance his workload while still managing to save the day.

Miles: Morales Shock Waves is a solid Spider-Man graphic novel, sure to appeal to tween readers. The focus on Miles’ life as a teenager makes it accessible even to readers who might not typically pick up a superhero comic.