Miles Morales Review

I'm a little embarrassed because I had never heard of the Miles Morales version of Spider Man until I saw some buzz for this book. I had only ever seen the white Peter Parker versions. My fault for not doing more research in the comics, but also Marvel's fault for not spreading Miles as much as they do Peter. They could be doing so much more with their marketing for this because I believe it contains much better representation and diversity than what is largely in pop culture currently.

Summary: Miles Morales is just a teenager trying to keep his scholarship, please his parents, hang out with his best friend, and figure out his crush. While dealing with all of the normal teenager events, he also has to balance his secret superhero life as Spider Man. It doesn't help that his spidey sense is freaking out at odd times and even ends up causing his suspension. When he thinks about his dad and uncle's past criminal lives, he questions whether he's meant to be a superhero. He must figure out what's best for him and being Spider Man might not be it. 

I thought Miles Morales was fantastic. It was approachable, but still dealt with some heavy and important topics. I went to a primarily white high school and I go to a primarily white university (many people call it Vanillanova tbh). Since I'm white and come from a privileged background, I usually don't recognize or see what the POC students have gone through or are still going through.

As usual, I want to ask people to correct me when my privilege blinds me or if I'm incorrect about something. I want to learn but please just do it in a nice way :).

One thing that I read somewhere that really affected the way I look at things now is (I'm paraphrasing because I can't remember it entirely) how POC and women constantly have to prove themselves worthy of their education or position. If they are average or don't do as well on something, people take it as proof that they don't deserve it or shouldn't be there. However, white men never have to prove themselves. If they fail, they receive second chances much more easily. POC and women (white women less so) have to do everything correctly on their first chance. I hope I explained that in a way that makes sense because once you realize this, it becomes so much more apparent.

Miles must deal with racism, keeping his grades up to not lose his scholarship, friendships, family relationships, and being a superhero. It's a lot for a teenager to handle, but I think Reynolds managed this very well. The stress levels felt by Miles were realistic and relatable. All the secondary story lines wove together beautifully to come together in the overarching plot. Everything remained relevant to Miles' development and thought process.

I loved how the issue of the balance between a superhero life and a real life was portrayed. Miles really struggled between what was best for him and what was best for Spider Man. When you think about what a superhero has to sacrifice because they are saving the day and miss something important in their personal life, it's sad. The split between the two lives seem to be really challenging. When I was younger I used to wish to be magical and to save the world, but it honestly really intimidates me now about how much of a responsibility that would be. I found Miles' own struggle to be relatable and also admirable. 

There wasn't a lot of Spider Man in costume action. However, I loved how the "monsters" that Spider Man had to face were also real world issues. Just because the big bad is defeated doesn't mean there aren't still issues with society. I felt like this was a great approach that superhero books and movies often overlook. Often times the underlying issue remains and I think Reynolds did an amazing job with capturing this.

5 out of 5 stars!