Miles Morales Spider Man Appreciation

[Dragonick]

Word from Zub himself that Champions issue #24 will be focused on Miles.
https://twitter.com/JimZub/status/1009822722661249025

[Hypestyle]

is there a headquarters for the group?

[Dragonick]

Yeah, but it's a mobile bunker.

[Digifiend]

Yeah, we get a good look at that thing in issue 19, which is where that panel is from. There's six bedrooms. Amadeus designed it with seven but the girls insisted a bathroom be added - as such Nova and Miles have to share a room, and presumably Amka will share Viv's, considering she's also moved in with the Visions when the team isn't assembled.

[SpiderX]

So I was thinking about the new solo series that is hopefully on the way for Miles and it got me thinking about original villains for him.

This is one that had popped into my head.

Nephila (p.s. if you have arachnophobia don't google that)

The origins of the character date back to ancient Japan where originally she was a Japanese yokai known as a Jorougumo. If I were to go by an English name I would go with a translation like "Paramour Spider", instead of the harsher original translation and meaning of the Japanese.

Nephila was originally defeated by a samurai whom she had attempted to trap and devour. In the battle, many spiderlings were unleashed and with the help of his retainers he defeats them all. However, unbeknownst to the samurai one of his retainers is so bewitched by the beauty of the yokai that he removes her face and later fashions a mask out of it.

Fast forward to today where a familiar looking mask, amongst a load of other things, are being stolen from a store in Harlem. The store in question happens to belong to Senior Magico who was assaulted and defeated by Alex Wilder in issue #13 of Power Man & Iron Fist (2016). The mask somehow ends up in the props department of Brooklyn Visions Academy's drama club. The mask seems very Noh theatre inspired and the students are attempted to put on an original play that mixes themes of various cultures. The girl chosen to play the character with the mask acts out a couple of her scenes and upon finishing finds the mask is harder to remove that it should be. Eventually, this leads into her being momentarily possessed by the spirit of Nephila, who attacks a few people and drains them of their life energy. The female student is eventually coerced into helping Nephila, because she claims to only be hurting those who are causing harm to the others. The student is also benefiting from this partnership because Nephila uses some of the energy to give her greater beauty. Not knowing the whole time Nephila is gaining and storing the energy in an effort to regain her full form.

Their spree of attacks is eventually stumbled upon by Miles and after an encounter with her notices, something about her appears to be a bit mystical so he contacts Luke Cage in the hopes of enlisting the help of Dr. Strange. Unfortunately, as in the current comics Dr. Strange is off planet so Luke refers him to Senior Magico.


Appearance:
I wanted the mask to look like a Noh mask. Similar in style to the one WWE wrestler Asuka wears. Except that it just looks really beautiful.


I also wanted her outfit to be bright and colorful like Asuka's ring and entrance attire except less revealing. Similar to a real life Nephila which is brightly colored or even a male peacock jumping spider.


Abilities:

She has the usual spider-powered individuals baseline powers.

Enhanced strength, speed, durability, reflexes
Stick to and climb walls and various other surfaces.
Leap high and long distances

Specific Powers

She can spin webs that are laced with her venom and it causes those who touch it to be caught in an illusion.
She uses these to subdue her prey and then she leeches off their life energy.

She is also able to spew forth spiders from her mouth that are made of dark purple flames and have glowing yellow eyes.
(This is a variation on the original yokais ability to control fire-breathing spiders.)

These spiders can range in size from tarantula to the size of a panther. However, the bigger the spider she produces the fewer the number that can be created.

[Dragonick]

This is a super cool and interesting idea, and I love your design ideas too.

I have also been doing some thinking about that whole name change rumor. I was thinking what if Miles had two secret identities? The name of the book would still be Spider-Man and that would be his name when he operates as a public hero and when he's with the Champions. The other ID ties into that whole espionage thing that was being setup, he uses that name and a different costume when he's on missions. That sets up a very unique situation in which three different aspects of his life aren't allowed to ever meet, and offers the possibility of a Red X type situation where someone is running around with his spy ID that he has to fight as Spider-Man.

[CrimsonEchidna]

I still want to pitch the idea of Alpha becoming a villain, especially now that Otto is sticking around as a sort-of anti-hero.

[Huntsman Spider]

So I was thinking about the new solo series that is hopefully on the way for Miles and it got me thinking about original villains for him.

This is one that had popped into my head.

Nephila (p.s. if you have arachnophobia don't google that)

The origins of the character date back to ancient Japan where originally she was a Japanese yokai known as a Jorougumo. If I were to go by an English name I would go with a translation like "Paramour Spider", instead of the harsher original translation and meaning of the Japanese.

Nephila was originally defeated by a samurai whom she had attempted to trap and devour. In the battle, many spiderlings were unleashed and with the help of his retainers he defeats them all. However, unbeknownst to the samurai one of his retainers is so bewitched by the beauty of the yokai that he removes her face and later fashions a mask out of it.

Fast forward to today where a familiar looking mask, amongst a load of other things, are being stolen from a store in Harlem. The store in question happens to belong to Senior Magico who was assaulted and defeated by Alex Wilder in issue #13 of Power Man & Iron Fist (2016). The mask somehow ends up in the props department of Brooklyn Visions Academy's drama club. The mask seems very Noh theatre inspired and the students are attempted to put on an original play that mixes themes of various cultures. The girl chosen to play the character with the mask acts out a couple of her scenes and upon finishing finds the mask is harder to remove that it should be. Eventually, this leads into her being momentarily possessed by the spirit of Nephila, who attacks a few people and drains them of their life energy. The female student is eventually coerced into helping Nephila, because she claims to only be hurting those who are causing harm to the others. The student is also benefiting from this partnership because Nephila uses some of the energy to give her greater beauty. Not knowing the whole time Nephila is gaining and storing the energy in an effort to regain her full form.

Their spree of attacks is eventually stumbled upon by Miles and after an encounter with her notices, something about her appears to be a bit mystical so he contacts Luke Cage in the hopes of enlisting the help of Dr. Strange. Unfortunately, as in the current comics Dr. Strange is off planet so Luke refers him to Senior Magico.


Appearance:
I wanted the mask to look like a Noh mask. Similar in style to the one WWE wrestler Asuka wears. Except that it just looks really beautiful.


I also wanted her outfit to be bright and colorful like Asuka's ring and entrance attire except less revealing. Similar to a real life Nephila which is brightly colored or even a male peacock jumping spider.


Abilities:

She has the usual spider-powered individuals baseline powers.

Enhanced strength, speed, durability, reflexes
Stick to and climb walls and various other surfaces.
Leap high and long distances

Specific Powers

She can spin webs that are laced with her venom and it causes those who touch it to be caught in an illusion.
She uses these to subdue her prey and then she leeches off their life energy.

She is also able to spew forth spiders from her mouth that are made of dark purple flames and have glowing yellow eyes.
(This is a variation on the original yokais ability to control fire-breathing spiders.)

These spiders can range in size from common house spider to the size of a panther. However, the bigger the spider she produces the fewer the number that can be created.

I'm with Dragonick. This is a supremely cool and interesting idea, and after finding out about the Japanese Spider-Men (1970s tokusatsu, 1970s manga, 2000s manga), I've long wanted to see a Spider-character adapted from either the tsuchigumo or the jorogumo, like you've done right here. Great stuff.

[Project37]

Echoing the praise - that is a *PHENOMENAL* idea. I would love to see it in the series and you get the proper credit/compensation for it!

[Obsidian Spider]

SpiderX, that story idea is DOPE!

I love that you took the time to organically incorporate the villain into Miles' life as opposed to her just wreaking havoc downtown and he happens to be nearby.

I also think it's smart to go with the possession angle as it always adds that extra complication of not being able to hurt the villain for fear of hurting its host.

And, finally, the fact that the possessed girl gains beauty makes for a good character arc for her, as she would be very reluctant to fight the possession (even if she learned that her life force was being sapped) because she doesn't want to go back to her old self. Not to mention the social commentary on inner vs outer beauty.

Well done. Maybe some fan fiction is in your future? I'd read it.

[skyvolt2000]

I was in the dollar store today and they had tot bags from Marvel & Solo movie (hush).

LOL who I found had a bag-Miles Morales.

[Dragonick]

Check out this variant cover for Venom #4

[SpiderX]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.

I'm also going to edit her special ability from house spider size to tarantula size on the small end of the spectrum.

I had been mulling over this idea for a little while and finally just decided to type it up here.
I really do think that Miles needs to build his own rogues gallery to help set him apart.

I also liked the idea of bringing in Senior Magico from the Luke Cage run because I think he's a fun character who might not see much use since that series is over.

I think giving Miles a few supernatural villains would be cool without having to dip into the whole Spider Totem thing.

We haven't seen Blackhart since the beginning of the series. While I think that character might be a quite a bit out of Miles league, introducing some magical beings a little lower in the pecking order would be interesting.

[SpiderX]

Check out this variant cover for Venom #4

This should be the official cover!

[Dragonick]

Thanks for the positive feedback everyone.

I'm also going to edit her special ability from house spider size to tarantula size on the small end of the spectrum.

I had been mulling over this idea for a little while and finally just decided to type it up here.
I really do think that Miles needs to build his own rogues gallery to help set him apart.

I also liked the idea of bringing in Senior Magico from the Luke Cage run because I think he's a fun character who might not see much use since that series is over.

I think giving Miles a few supernatural villains would be cool without having to dip into the whole Spider Totem thing.

We haven't seen Blackhart since the beginning of the series. While I think that character might be a quite a bit out of Miles league, introducing some magical beings a little lower in the pecking order would be interesting.

I'm with you on the more supernatural enemies thing for Miles, it would be really cool and it's not something the other spiders deal with often. And I think Blackhart could still factor into it, like for whatever reason he can't cross over to this plane of existence so he sends some weaker supernatural beings to take Miles out. And it could culminate in Blackhart actually making it through (probably in a weakened state) and Miles taking him down with a mix of his own powers whatever helpful tricks he's picked up from Senior Magico along the way.

This should be the official cover!

I'm with you on this it's a lot cooler than the official one and I'm not just saying that because this has Miles.