Writers: Dan Slott
Artists: Paco Medina & Humberto Ramos
Colorist: Erick Arciniega & Edgar Delgado
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Cover Artists: Paco Medina & Edgar Delgado; Kaare
Andrews; Javier Garrón & Rachelle Rosenberg; Todd Nauck (Icon); Mike McKone
& David Curiel (Fantastic Four; Mirka Andolfo (Madame Web)
Designer: Adam Del Re
Editors: Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski
Publisher: Marvel
Price: $4.99
Release Date: January 29, 2024
Maka Akana wants to destroy Spider-Boy. Hulkette wants to
punch him to the moon. Daredevil wants his apprentice to concentrate on winning
The Dragon's Challenge. But Bailey Briggs wants to protect his neighborhood
with Spider-Man, make his mother proud by doing well in school, and hang with
his friends.
Daredevil hasn’t told Spider-Boy why they are in Madripoor,
but he insists the prize is worth fighting for. Can Spider-Boy honor his
mentor's wishes? Let's grab some popcorn and sodas for the final rounds, thwip
into Spider-Boy #15, and find out!
Story
Try as he might, Spider-Boy can’t adopt the Japanese
mindset. Fighting for honor is stupid! While Daredevil maintains the respect of
his colleagues, Spider-Boy keeps making enemies. Daredevil forced Bailey to
steal a Golden Fang from Hulkette and her mentor. He orders Bailey to Monster
Out to win his contests. In Dan Slott's story, as Daredevil pressures him to
compete, Bailey tries to make friends.
While Bailey fights half a world away in Spider-Boy #15, his
mom takes Christina Xu out for a treat. Madame Monstrosity turned both ladies into
Humanimals. Since Spider-Man pulled their DNA apart, Tabitha retains a bond
with her cat. Perhaps, like Penny’s superhero dog Bolt, Christina can also talk
to pigeons. But as Daredevil reminds Bailey of his priorities, Tabitha wants
Christina to focus on telling her about her son. After spending years at the
Humanimal farm, Tabitha wants to make it up to Bailey for missing so much of
his childhood.
While Bailey yearns to return home, engage in meaningful
battles alongside Spider-Man, and learn how to divide fractions with his new
friends Marco and Larissa, this is the moment Maka Akana has waited for. Her
mutant abilities let her temporarily inhabit the minds of others. But the
overwhelming input from Bailey's ten eyes and his conflict with his monstrous
side overwhelmed her.
Copying other people's fighting abilities and profiting off
their years of training was an improvement over winning chess tournaments, rock
music festivals, and cliff-diving tournaments. While she can still borrow
others' identities, Maka is Spider-Girl forever. And she doesn't like it at
all. So, no matter how much Bailey Briggs cares about her, Maka Akana is
determined to destroy him in Spider-Boy #15.
Art
Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado return us to the night Spider-Girl
met Bailey. Clad in a costume that evokes characters like Harlequin in the Italian
Commedia Dell’arte, Maka flees the museum after gazing into Bailey’s eyes. She may
rock a superhero landing. But when Maka removes her mask, her face reflects how
the raging turmoil in Bailey's mind affected her. Yet when she looks at her
mentor, she glimpses a side of Bullseye few others see.
While Mist gazes down on the fight wearing a white mask and
gold horns, Bailey fights an opponent wearing an animal mask. When Bailey
Monsters Out in Spider-Boy #15, the yellow lenses covering his eyes reflect
this orange-and-black mask, and triangular teeth fill his mouth.
After his
semifinal bout, Hulkette and Tigress show Bailey frowns, but Spider-Girl
reaches for the sky. Then she removes white bracelets while Bullseye places a
deck of cards in a wooden box. Paco Medina & Erick Arciniega show how
Bulleye observes the letter of the law while ignoring its spirit. As he faces
opponents alongside Spider-Girl, Bullseye adopts Jason Bourne’s philosophy and turns
seemingly innocuous items into weapons.
Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black lettering into white
dialogue balloons and narrative boxes. Words shrink for lowered voices,
embolden for intonation, swell for volume, and change color for emphasis. Sound
effects help us hear punches, kicks, falls, savage beatdowns, and Spider-Girl
wielding webs for the first time. Mahalo to Marvel Comics for providing a copy
for review.
Final Thoughts
Young people look to their mentors for guidance. As they
grow, their values may diverge from those of their mentors. In Spider-Boy #15,
Bailey warns Spider-Girl to look for someone more trustworthy. But while
Bullseye has always encouraged Spider-Girl's desires, Daredevil forces Bailey
Briggs to fight in a contest he disdains.
Rating 9.8/10
To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.
