Because I don't understand the following for Spider-Man Noir, Japanese Spider-Man only holds appeal because of the giant mecha cat, and turning Spider-Man into a Gundam is confusing to me.
However, Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman I was interested in. While that ended up being a few bucks for what I basically could have read later on a Wikipedia page (which did have some admittedly good art), I found that the fourth issue of the five issue saga turned out to be...much more enjoyable of a read. Spoilers follow from here, so those that haven't read it, you have been warned as of now.
We are introduced to Patton Parnel, a somewhat sadistic little scientist who delights in "testing" his ants by burning them with a magnifying glass and doing "observance stakeouts" on his next door neighbor, the beautiful redheaded Sara Jane. Introverted and of the scientific mind as he is, Patton is surprised when it is Sara Jane who speaks to him for the first time while on a class trip to the AlCorps laboratories. Breaking into the animal testing labs, Sara Jane wishes to save as many animals as she can from the corporate monsters, never knowing of the terror that will unfold. His eyes catching the body of an irradiated arachnid, Patton is entranced by its beauty...and is bitten by it...
But we learn that Patton Parnel does not have the same wonderful family life as his counterpart in the main Marvel universe. His Uncle Ted is an abusive caregiver, beating the recently changed Patton in the middle of the day. After this, however, Patton's fortunes seem to change as does his body. Feeling the change, he seeks food, first gorily devouring a rat and discovering some of the abilities attributed to him by the spider's bite, and coming to the decision that he must feed more...
This is really a very chilling tale of a man who, instead of accepting that with power comes great responsibility, is consumed by that very power. Without the influences of an Uncle Ben and an Aunt May in his life, the abused and mocked Patton Parnel would not have become the hero known as Spider-Man regardless. What's worse, the Rob Zombie-esque situation that life has thrown him into means that he really, alas, could not have gone anything but terribly bad. With such power to fight back, Patton Parnel ceased to be the timid teenager and became a monster.
Really, when it was said in pre-release information that this guy was a sociopathic Peter who goes dark side...they really hit the nail on the head.
To say this is a scary story isn't giving it enough credit. It's truly horrific is only for just the journey of seeing a man turn into a monster. But it's more than that, complimented by artwork that gives the perfect tone for such a story, including a cover that is very reminiscent of the covers of such older comics like Tales from the Crypt.
Even the addition of Morlun (a character related to the Spider Verse at large) at the very end doesn't really break the flow as we are put into Sara Jane's already terrified position after learning of Patton's "experiments" and of what he has become and she manages to flee in the ensuing chaos, seemingly safe...until the next day, when she learns the hard way to be careful who she sticks her neck out for...
Besides the tie-in with the ongoing Spider-Verse, this story serves very well as a self-contained horror thread worthy to be stacked up with the likes of many a B-List horror flick, as well as being a cautionary tale. Weep for Patton Parnel, my friends...for what is more frightening than the monsters within, when they finally rend their fangs against the world that sired them? One cannot ask for a better tale to tell on the cold nights of October...
"Edge of the Spider-Verse #4" is now available from Marvel comics wherever comic books are sold.
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