Miles is watching the sun set from a rooftop when he gets a call from his friend Ganke, they joke about their dancing ability. Miles’s spider-sense starts to buzz and two villains, Trinity and Vex, bust onto the roof. Miles tries to stop them but is still learning to use his webs and the two escape with hang gliders. It’s worthwhile to note that Snow isn’t the sole villain — he’s also assisted by his two evil female interns who acquired superpowers through exposure to the terrigen mist. While there are powerful females presented such as Rio Morales and Kyle Granderson, in a narrative on finding identity, it’s detrimental to female readers to see female “supers” only written as the villains. Even with these caveats, I recommend this pop culturally relevant graphic novel for middle-grade readers because they may also be struggling to find themselves in this chaotic world much like Miles. Related Resources

Grunenwald: Were there any particular stories or influences, Spider-Man or otherwise, that you drew from while working on the book? My favourite character is Miles’s friend Ganke because he is very funny. I like his friendship with Kyle even though they often argue too. It teaches you the importance of how you can still be friends with someone even if you disagree.

A teenage Spider-Man has to balance his life as a superhero with being a student at a prestigious private school. I also went through the 2017 animated series – while it wasn’t my favorite depiction of Miles, it was very influential in the way they streamlined their designs and I tried to incorporate some of that wherever possible. Looking at it now, there are so many things I would have done differently, but I’m still happy with how it came out!

The art and the colors from Pablo Leon are sleek and engaging. It’s a great-looking comic, drawing inspiration from Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse without relying on its style. Leon has a great eye for color and line, and he imbues his action scenes with plenty of energy and charm. Ariana Maher’s letters are clearly laid out and quite beautiful alongside Leon’s art. Miles meets with his Dad at the police station where his Dad works. He asks for help to find Mr. Granderson. While at the station he notices Trinity and Vex being released by Mr. Snow, the boss of Mr. Granderson and head of Serval Industries. After Lunch with his Mom, Miles is a bit uncertain about his responsibilities and priorities. He Meets up with Peter Parker, the other Spider-man, and asks him for help. Peter gives him some much needed advice. The story begins with Miles swinging from rooftop to rooftop, and through the streets of Brooklyn. All while he explains what it is like to adapt to his new life and powers as Spider-Man. He helps an old lady cross the street, takes selfies with fans, stops a robbery, and details that he got his newfound powers because he was bitten by a genetically engineered spider. Additionally Miles explains his relationship with Peter Parker’s Spider-Man, who is a friend and mentor. Though they stay in their own neighborhoods, Queens for Peter Parker and Brooklyn for Miles. Reynolds: The folks at Marvel were really great about giving me room to explore Miles in ways both known and unknown. Miles already has this very rich history and we just wanted to add to his legacy—to honor where he’s been and explore where he’s going.The art warmly depicts an urban setting, using white gutters between panels in lots of different shapes, giving it a modern, fun, young feel. The Afro-Latin@ Reader: History and Culture in the United States edited by Miriam Jimenéz Román and Juan Flores, Duke University Press. Recommended reading on the presence of Afro-Latin@s throughout the Americas. An original middle-grade full-colour graphic novel starring Brooklyn’s Spider-Man, Miles Morales, by bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds and Eisner nominee Pablo Leon! The illustrations’ style is not very detailed but can really explain what is going on. It is very colourful but using dark colours a bit like anime style. It’s quite appealing to look at and I liked the style. It makes it hard to put the book down because you always want to see what’s going to happen next. I read it in one go!

Kamala Khan was an average middle school kid. That is, until a cloud called a Terrigen Mist swept through the New Jersey waterfront and activated her super powers! After taking on the persona of Ms. Marvel, she's been fighting crime in Jersey City, and has caught the eye of some pretty well-established super heroes. But that's not always a good thing... Harrison Snow, wealthy CEO of Serval Industries, who has been exposing people to Terrigen to turn them into super-powered servants, including Kyle’s dad, and his two “interns” Vex and Trinity After launching our prose novels with Scholastic earlier this year, we’ve seen a huge demand for more Marvel stories and entry points into the Marvel Universe,” said Sven Larsen, Vice President, Licensed Publishing, Marvel. “These middle grade OGNs are the perfect next step to bring more readers in with the visual storytelling Marvel fans know and love. We’re thrilled to build our collaboration with Scholastic and tell brand-new stories that represent the world around us, both through our characters and the creative teams behind them. We can’t wait to introduce you to this next chapter for Marvel’s heroes.”Araña is a Spider-Girl lost in time. Miguel O’Hara is a Spider-Man who’s lost his way. Together, they’re our only hope. An original middle-grade graphic novel from Graphix starring Brooklyn's Spider-Man, Miles Morales, by bestselling author Justin A. Reynolds and Eisner nominee Pablo Leon! Joe Grunenwald: How familiar were both of you with Miles and his history before taking on this graphic novel?