Dark Web Alpha preview kicks off a horrible holiday season for Spider-Man and the X-Men

Dark Web Alpha #1 art
Dark Web Alpha #1 art (Image credit: Marvel Comics)

Spider-Man and the X-Men are heading into 2023 tangled up in a crossover event titled Dark Web, which spins across Amazing Spider-Man, Venom, and several tie-ins for characters such as the newly christened Norman Osborn/Gold Goblin, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel and more. 

November 23's Amazing Spider-Man #14 set the stage for the story, which centers on clone villains Ben Reilly/Chasm and Madelyne Pryor/Goblin Queen trying to steal the souls of their respective progenitors Peter Parker and Jean Grey.

Now, on December 7, Dark Web Alpha #1 kicks off the crossover in earnest, bringing in the X-Men, and launching Chasm and Goblyn Queen's invasion of Manhattan - and we've got a fresh, hot preview of interior pages of the one-shot from writer Zeb Wells, artists Adam Kubert and Frank Martin, and letterer Joe Caramagna.

In the pages, Magik and Jean Grey are Christmas shopping - seemingly to Magik's chagrin - while elsewhere, Goblyn Queen and Chasm prepare to launch their attack.

Here's the gallery of interior pages from Dark Web Alpha #1:

There's a lot of backstory between Ben Reilly, the so-called Spider-Clone, and Peter Parker, whose DNA lent itself to creating Ben. Though they've usually been allies, with Ben Reilly even filling in as Spider-Man on occasion, the recent loss of his memories and personality have left him with a "chasm" in his being, as he calls it, lending the phrase to his supervillain name.

Meanwhile, Madelyne Pryor is a clone of Jean Grey - and the ex-wife of Cyclops (who kinda straight up ditched her and his own son to reunite with Jean). She was created and manipulated by Mister Sinister,

If that sounds like a lot, we've got a handy guide to everything you need to know about Spider-Man/X-Men: Dark Web right here.

Stay up to date on all the new Spider-Man comics and new X-Men comics Marvel has planned for release in 2022 and beyond.

George Marston

I've been Newsarama's resident Marvel Comics expert and general comic book historian since 2011. I've also been the on-site reporter at most major comic conventions such as Comic-Con International: San Diego, New York Comic Con, and C2E2. Outside of comic journalism, I am the artist of many weird pictures, and the guitarist of many heavy riffs. (They/Them)

Read more
Juggernaut stomps.
Juggernaut meets his maker as the X-Men arrive to fight Cyttorak in Amazing Spider-Man #67
Web of Spider-Verse: New Blood #1
Spider-Hulk, Spider-Prowler, Count Parker, and more are the latest Spider-Man variants as the Spider-Verse and Venomverse prepare to go to war
Professor X with his eyes glowing.
A jailbreak launches an X-Manhunt for Charles Xavier in the first major crossover of the current X-Men era
Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Meet the Venomouse, an all new Eddie Brock, and more in Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Spider-Man and his many foes.
All the new Spider-Man comics and collections from Marvel arriving in 2025
Spider-Man & Wolverine #1 cover by Mark Bagley, showing Spider-Man and Wolverine leaping into action avoiding gunfire.
Spider-Man and Wolverine are teaming up in their own ongoing series that ties into their secret shared history
Latest in Marvel Comics
The New Thunderbolts leaping into action
Marvel's New Thunderbolts* comic steals the MCU's asterisk, and the reason why is just as big of a mystery
Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Meet the Venomouse, an all new Eddie Brock, and more in Web of Venomverse: Fresh Brains #1
Ms. Marvel alongside the mutants of Age of Apocalypse
30 years after the original Age of Apocalypse, Ms. Marvel Kamala Khan will travel to the alt-reality to save X-Men history
The Punisher holding two machine guns in the rain
Daredevil: Born Again - Learn the bullet-riddled comic book history of the Punisher before he officially joins the MCU
Close up on Emma Frost's face as she sits on a throne on the cover of Emma Frost: White Queen #1
"Bow down to the White Queen" as Emma Frost gets her own X-Men solo comic that flashes back to her time as a villain
Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #12
Gwen Stacy and Loki team-up for a cosmic adventure in Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider #12
Latest in News
Assassin's Creed Shadows cinematic screenshot
I've found my Assassin's Creed Shadows playstyle, thanks to this clip of Yasuke smashing dudes with a huge club instead of sneaking around
World of Warcraft housing
World of Warcraft's new housing system lets you decorate without the floating hacks I've been using in Final Fantasy 14 for 11 years, and I weep
Gemma Chan in Eternals
Eternals star Gemma Chan is hopeful she'll return to the MCU someday: "There's unfinished business there"
two aliens firing miniguns
4 years after shutting down, this dead sci-fi MMO is being brought back to life, but there's no word on its canceled TV show tie-in
Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Netflix wants Daniel Craig to join the cast of Greta Gerwig's Narnia movie – but it's not certain if he'll take it
The Last of Us
The Last of Us season 2 trailer breaks HBO viewing records, becoming the network's most-watched trailer