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

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:

Image 1 of 7

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.

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)