The story opens on the image of Miles Morales setting the table for Sunday dinner. It is a special day for Miles as it marks the end of his suspension from school for leaving school without permission after his history teacher twice rejected his request to visit the restroom. Leaving school grounds without permission is a major rule violation, of course, but at least Miles had a good excuse, though he couldn’t actually admit it. His presence was required elsewhere because someone was in dire need of being rescued.
Despite the logic of this decision to violate school rules in the service of a greater need, Miles finds himself conflicted. His secret other life as Spider Man is rewarding, of course, but has started to feel more like a burden than a gift. After all, the job of superhero work has a great tendency to make incursions into the normality of teenage existence like school and romance with attractive female classmates. In addition to his own personal problems, the whole dual identity thing isn’t helped by the financial problems facing the family or the relationship with Uncle Aaron whose criminal career he never discusses with his nephew. That includes not discussing one ill-advised targeting of OSBORN Industries as a potential victim. That one single worst decision of Uncle Aaron’s life proves to have consequences that will impact the entire family by unleashing the vengeance of a victim of Aaron’s with not just the desire to make life miserable for anyone he wants but the capacity to do so.
Further adding to the anxiety Miles is feeling about continuing to live two separate lives stuck inside one body are the sudden onset of terrifying nightmares at night and the nightmarish experiences of dealing with the teacher who got him suspended. Mr. Chamberlain is proving to be as strange a character in the world of Miles as any of the villains he encounters in the world of Spider-Man. This is a history teacher who actually speaks fondly of the Confederacy and slavery. Spider-Man could easily take care of Mr. Chamberlain, of course, but entertaining horrific neo-fascist thoughts is not a crime. And so, Miles finds himself trapped between two worlds in which one offers the satisfaction of bringing about social justice while the other seems to offer nothing but disappointment after disappointment.
Clearly, this is not a typical Spider-Man story. The focus is far less on superhero action sequences than on the portrait of Miles as a conflicted kid who never asked for the job but willingly accepted the responsibility that comes with the powers. It is also a story in which Miles realizes that he is far from the only person hiding important secrets. For instance, it turns out that holding an abiding love for the institution of slavery is not the worst aspect of Mr. Chamberlain’s creepiness. His history teacher is actually aware of his secret life of Miles and has been in charge of keeping a watchful eye over him for some time. Even worse is that his teacher is just one of several Chamberlains posing trouble for not just Miles but everyone in the neighborhood.
What this Spider-Man story lacks for most of the narrative is Spider-Man. It is predominantly interested in Miles as the person behind the persona of the mask. As a result, the bulk of the narrative is comprised not of Spider-Man swinging across the city with his webs and actively fighting bad guys, but of Miles living an average life of a teenager dealing with normal teenage things like schoolwork, hanging out with friends, spending time with family, and longing for the pretty girl sitting a few desks over. While Miles’ spidey-sense is a constant warning of potential dangers, it is not until fairly late in the story that the full dimension of Mr. Chamberlain’s actual villainy finally gets exposed. When it does, that aspect of the story is treated in a way that speaks more to the underlying thematic current of racism than to the mechanics of super-villainy involving mind control.
The Miles that is secretly Spider-Man finally jumps into the spotlight once Chamberlain’s secret identity is discovered, but the resolution of that showdown is also structured to reveal secrets about identity. In his role as Spider-Man, Miles will learn the real truth—the really real truth this time—about Chamberlain who turns out to be more victim than villain. As the story draws to a close, however, Miles realizes that just because someone is a victim, that doesn’t necessarily mean they are a good person. In the same instant, he also comes to the realization that Spider-Man isn’t the only part of him who has great power when faced with the responsibility of using it.
