SPOILERS AHEAD MY FRIENDS! DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN”T READ THIS ISSUE!

For almost two years now we have been following Miles Morales journey as he takes on the mantel of Spider-Man of the Ultimate Universe after Peter Parker’s death – and with this issue shit just got real.

Oh, it’s been real before this and Miles has already dealt with evil uncles and pissed off Avengers, but there has still been this aura of innocence surrounding his world. It’s been a blast watching Miles adapt to his new powers and the amazing things he can do now. It’s like “Super Hero Puberty”, something that Bendis excels at. To me, the character of Miles Morales is Bendis’ best work at the moment – Better then his X-Men stuff – better then his cosmic stuff – Ultimate Spider-Man is far superior then anything else he is currently writing.

But like I said, with this issue Miles world just got darker.

I feel for this kid – I don’t think I would want the “Great Responsibly” that comes with being Spider-Man at 13 years old. Sure crawling on the ceiling would be pretty fucking cool, but having a super villain like Venom gunning for you and your family? Hell no. Miles had a pretty normal life before he got bit by that spider – albeit there were secrets his family carried that he knew nothing about, but still, he was your average pre-teen with a dorky best friend that never aspired to be anything like the super-hero he is becoming.

And how are most Super-Hero’s born? Though adversity and loss.

You look at most Super-Hero origin stories, what was the turning point for the character to finally accept what they were and put aside their old life? It was the loss of a loved one. Uncle Ben, Pa Kent, Thomas and Martha Wayne, the list goes on and on. Add to that list Miles’ mother Rio.

She is killed by a stray bullet in this issue. Bullets meant to take out Venom. She got caught in the cross-fire of Spider-Man’s battles and paid the ultimate price. In the end she is held in her sons arms and she finally finds out his secret – that he is Spider-Man.

Miles didn’t ask for this. The events in his life have changed everything he knew or thought he knew. Nothing will ever be the same now. There is no going back and he knows this but that will not stop him from trying. It will not stop Miles from wanting to be Spider-Man no more, and in the last page of this issue gone is the Super-Hero. There is just a little kid that misses his Mom.

The age of innocence is over.