Warning: Minor SPOILERS for Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #3
Thanks to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movies fans everywhere know Miles Morales--but those paying attention to the details know his shoes are just as iconic. The red and white Nikes have not only been released in the real world, allowing fans to sport the instantly iconic shoe, but now Marvel Comics has brought them to Marvel's 616 Universe.
It's a blink-and-miss-it moment in Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #3, in which Miles proves he's the strongest Spider-Man by casting off the Carnage symbiote through sheer force of will (something Peter Parker has never done despite his dislike for the symbiotes). With the Carnage sludge cast off its host, the symbiote makes its move to puppet the closest nearby person: J. Jonah Jameson, its former target.
The fight quickly makes it way from the rooftops to the streets of New York below. But while keeping the symbiote from killing a child on the street, Miles tackles J. Jonah Jameson into a store front. Since he's now basically an expert in breaking symbiotes spawned from Carnage, Miles makes quick work of this latest puppet using his signature Venom Blast. With the threat subdued, the shoe store owner comes out from hiding to thank Miles for saving the kid and himself. And to show his appreciation to this masked man, the owner offers to give Miles his very own pair of "Red Athena Sky 6" (which are too damaged to actually sell to his top-shelf clientele). A pair of shoes instantly recognizable to any Spider-Verse
While not explicitly referred to as Nikes (with a cleverly concealed parody of the swoosh), Miles admits that the Red Athenas are fire, but unlike his cinematic counterpart Miles simply can't accept. Before Miles can get into the details of his moral objections to accepting a gift from those he saves, the Carnage sludge slurps itself off of J. Jonah and makes for an escape, and the pursuit is on again. Miles quickly catches up to the symbiote and forces it to bend to his will. So, while Miles didn't get to take the shop owner up on his offer for new kicks, Miles was able to get some new threads in the form of a cooperative Carnage symbiote. All in a day's work for Spider-Man.
- Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #3
- Written by: Saladin Ahmed
- Art by: Federico Vicentini
- Colors by: Erick Arciniega
- Cover Art by: Clayton Crain
- THREATS WITHIN AND WITHOUT! A serial killer released from Ravencroft, the commands of Carnage, J. Jonah Jameson, and SILVER SABLE! Miles must wrestle all of these while his mind is not his own! Will a connection to the Cult of Carnage's collective subconscious give him an edge that pays off in the greater war? Or will that two-way connection compromise Spider-Man--fatally?
Absolute Carnage: Miles Morales #3 is available now from your local comic book shop, or direct from Marvel Comics.