It’s easy for me to say as a horror fan, but the horror genre really knows no bounds. This is proof with Phillip Kennedy Johnson and ScieTronc‘s Midnight Spider-Man, where they creative team blends horror and superhero comics into a gripping story that is just the right amount of gruesome and super-powered adventure.
A young Peter Parker is transformed into a hideous spider hybrid by the ruthless Oscorp Corporation in their pursuit for eternal life. When Oscorp begins to use the secrets unlocked by his mutation to create more human-animal hybrids, Peter embraces his grotesque new form to stop them.
Marvel is not new to the alternate universe side of things with many different takes on various characters over the years, especially when it comes to the iconic Spider-Man. Outside of universes such as Marvel Zombies, I don’t recall many that drift even close to the horror genre, but with Marvel’s new Midnight series of comics, Peter Parker is in for his darkest and most terrifying tale to date. The bonus is, there is also an X-Men and Fantastic Four series as well.
With my vast reading of horror stories, it is really a genre that has been able to blend itself with many other genres while still feeling like horror. Recently more horror-romance novels have been well crafted and there is always the combining of horror and science-fiction or the amazing horror-holiday mashup. But you don’t see horror and the world of superheroes come together that often, which is just another reason why this Midnight series is something that should at least catch your eye.
The simple idea of a radioactive spider biting a teenager to give said teenager superhuman powers is honestly terrifying on even the simplest levels. So, Johnson had a foundation to build off of that was not all that removed from the terrors that can take place in a horror comic. However, Johnson takes this frightening origin story and shifts it a bit to give us something that is even more horrifying and ultimately its own new origin that takes Spider-Man in a direction we have yet to see.
Johnson does a fantastic job setting the foundation for Peter Parker’s story, all while building tension and an underlying sense of dread you’d come to expect from a horror comic. This is not your bubbly friendly neighborhood Spider-Man style of story but one that deals with darker issues and will make you want to read with the lights on.
This new take on the classic Spider-Man origin wouldn’t be as impactful without the incredible illustrations by ScieTronc. The artist brings us into the world of the dark and dreary with gruesome and grotesque imagery that is not something you’d normally see in a web-slinging story. But it’s not just there for impact’s sake, it has a deeper meaning and reflects where this story is ultimately headed. The imagery is intense when needed, and just the right amount. The colors by Neeraj Menon are dark and brooding adding even more depth to the story at hand.
Even as a fan of the Ultimate Universe, both the original take and the most recent iteration, I feel this new adventure for Marvel comics is something truly special. Yes, it could be that two of my favorite genres are coming together and gets me giddy at just the thought, but truthfully its the idea of Marvel taking a big swing to hopefully capture our attention and tell some terrifying stories with their iconic roster of characters.
This debut issue of Midnight Spider-Man is just the beginning of what we can expect from Peter Parker and the horrifying side of Marvel Comics, but sets the tone and lays the foundation of what we are going to see moving forward. Things are darker in the world of Marvel and that is a good thing.
Midnight Spider-Man is an unsettling start to the darker side of the Marvel Universe in all the right ways. Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist ScieTronc deliver on a fantastically gruesome and grotesque, tension-filled story that gives us a new look at Peter Parker and the origins of Spider-Man in a new and horrifying Marvel Universe.
Midnight Spider-Man #1 hit local comic shops on October 7, 2026 from Marvel Comics.
Midnight Spider-Man #1 Preview
