How would you react to sudden incarceration, with no information about what you’ve done, why you’re in your situation, or what you need to do to advocate for yourself? No, this isn’t about the situation at the border, this is a review of Miles Morales: Spider-Man #8.

This issue finds Miles incarcerated by a mysterious new figure performing a series of tests and refusing to explain their intentions to their captive. Miles must participate in the trials to survive, but for the moment escape seems impossible, especially after one particularly sadistic test at the end.

Saladin Ahmed’s confidence with Miles as a character is on display, as this Kafkaesque scenario doesn’t give Miles anyone to talk to aside from himself. Ahmed hammers the point home a little too much, and the issue suffers from it, as there is no information about this new villain and no forward movement in the plot.

Javier Garrón’s layouts add to the claustrophobia of the story, constraining the action to smaller panels that don’t reach the borders of the page. One textless double-page spread of tiny panels is particularly useful in conveying Miles’ panic and monotony. Colorist David Curiel ratchets the distress even further, filling the gutters with black. Lettering by VC’s Travis Lanham is effective as well.

Ahmed and Garrón do great work building the tension and creating an atmosphere in this issue, and the excellent work they’ve done on the first seven issues of this series buys them some goodwill here. Hopefully, in the next issue, they provide some answers and some forward movement in the plot.

Grade: A-