Miles Morales Writer Saladin Ahmed Is Ending His Run on Spider-Man Series

Writer Saladin Ahmed has announced that Miles Morales: Spider-Man #42 will be his final issue. Ahmed and artist Javier Garron launched Miles Morales: Spider-Man in 2018, continuing Miles’ adventures after his co-creator, Brian Michael Bendis, exited the previous volume. Since then, Ahmed has added to Miles’ mythos with the addition of his Marvel 616 variant, Ultimatum, and a new love interest in Starling, and his very own Clone Saga that introduced his evil clone Selim and heroic clone Shift. Saladin Ahmed made the announcement in a special edition of his Copper Bottle newsletter.

“To be clear, this is an intended ending, not a cancellation,” Saladin Ahmed said. “Readers have been supporting the book wonderfully, and I’ve been given all the space I need to tell the stories I wanted to tell. This is a long-planned exit, with the symbolically significant issue #42 having been a target departure for some time now. That oversized special issue is out in September with an all-star roster of Miles artists and this PHENOMENAL cover by the great Taurin Clarke.”

The writer then discussed the mix of feelings and emotions he’s felt when trying to summarize his time on the Miles Morales series:

“I’ve been trying to find a way to sum up how I feel right now, but words fail me depsite being a writer. When Marvel asked me to take over writing Miles’ main series in 2018 I was thrilled but also intimidated. There’s a particular pressure that comes from tackling a much-beloved but newly minted hero. But I really believe iconic superheroes become icons by having their stories told from many angles by different sorts of people. So I took my shot. In the many many months since I’ve put more of my time and energy into MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN than any other project I’ve ever been a part of. I tried to make it a book about family and community. About coming back from trauma and helping others to do the same. About what responsibility means in our world today. And, uh, about beef patties and gloopy clones. For nearly four years this book was the center of my creative and professional life.”

Saladin Ahmed ended by thanking all of Miles Morales’ many fans, as well as the creators and editors who came before him and helped along the way.

“Obviously there are a lot of powerful emotions involved in wrapping a work like this, even when it’s done under the best of circumstances. Some of those emotions are personal and private. Something that’s not, though, is the sense of gratitude I feel in having been a part of telling a character like Miles’ story. Gratitude toward Miles’ creators Brian Michael Bendis and Sara Pichelli. Gratitude toward my amazing collaborators, in particular Nick Lowe, Javier Garron, Carmen Carnero, Christopher Allen, David Curiel, Cory Petit, Marco D’Alfonso, Patrick O’Keefe and Taurin Clarke,” he said.

Ahmed continued: “But most of all, I feel gratitude toward the incredible community of Miles fans and readers I’ve met — both virtually and in person — along the way. At local signings, at big conventions, at online Q&A’s, in random conversation — when you talk about Miles Morales, people’s faces light up. And I love them all — the old-school Marvel heads, the kids who only picked up the comic because of the SPIDER-VERSE movie, the cosplayers (shout out to Khalid Brooks!), the playlist-makers, the fan artists, the theorists (OK, the theorists are a little scary but I still love you). Working on a character as beloved as Miles, a hero that rallies all of these folks together, makes you keenly aware that the character’s story is bigger than you.”

Miles Morales: Spider-Man #42 by Saladin Ahmed, Paco Medina, Carmen Carnero, Alitha E. Martinez, and Ig Guara goes on sale September 28th.