Spider-Boy #17 Review

 

Writer: Dan Slott

Artist: Nathan Stockman

Colorist: Erick Arciniega

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Paco Medina & Edgar Delgado; Francesco Mobili & Moreno Dinisio

Designer: Adam Del Re

Editors: Tom Groneman, Nick Lowe & CB Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: March 5, 2025

 

Bailey Briggs didn't ask to compete in the Dragon's Challenge. His mother isn't happy that Daredevil took him to Madripoor without her permission. Her ten-year-old son missed school and battled A-List foes. Tabitha Briggs won't even let Bailey play Robux. Will she allow Bailey to keep donning the red-and-blue and battle the Deadly Foes Of Spider-Boy? Let's leap into Spider-Boy #17 and find out!

 

Story

Spider-Boy may respect Daredevil, but he's not happy. His mentor gave his mom another reason to ground him for life. After skipping school for years, Bailey can't afford to take weeks off while he tries to catch up with others his age. So when Daredevil seeks definitive answers on the Gaping Maw ninja clan's activities, Bailey keeps mum.

 

Bailey has finally secured his mother's love. He and Tabitha have made a home together at the FEAST center. In Spider-Boy #17, Bailey returns to find that Boy-Spider has taken over his life. Madame Monstrosity gave him a brother using his Human and Spider DNA, but Bailey and Boy-Spider have never been close. When Boy-Spider steals his room and friends, Bailey battles his brother to win them back. After all, Tabitha Briggs chose Boy-Spider and rejected Bailey before Spider-Man restored him to the Web Of Life And Destiny.

 

When Tabitha gets her boys to see reason, Boy-Spider can't help Spider-Boy recover his lost ground at school. After having his mother all to himself, Boy-Spider isn't comfortable sharing her in Dan Slott's story. But when danger threatens family and home, Bailey must decide between securing his place in school or rescuing the boy with his Human and Spider DNA.

 

 

 

Art

After turning his back on Daredevil, Bailey spots his double disembarking the school bus with Marco and Larissa. Seeing an imposter stealing his friends, Bailey launches a vicious kick at his lookalike. Spider-Boy and Boy-Spider shift into monster mode as they battle amid overturned trash cans. Nathan Stockman shows spiders scurrying from bins and dumpsters as the Human Spiders fight in Spider-Boy #17. Tabitha clutches her hissing cat as the displaced spiders scurry across the trash-strewn street or climb nearby walls.

 

The Orange and Black villains sport similar costume differences as Spider-Boy and Boy-Spider. Colorful produce fills brown boxes behind Mr Cricket’s green head as he speaks on the phone. While Bailey and Boy-Spider tussle behind Tabitha's back, they share the same auburn hair. But as an orange shape leaps before Bailey as he deflects Daredevil's question, Erick Arciniega hangs two yellow shapes over the brothers when their mother glances their way.

 

While characters speak uppercase black letters into dialogue balloons, Boy-Spider speaks with cloudy balloons, and a combative fantasy spider shouts words into white stars. Words grow bold for intonation, shrink for lowered voices, swell for volume, and turn red for emphasis. Joe Caramagna helps us hear the boys' arachnidian argument in Spider-Boy #17. Sound effects announce the orange and black duo's attack and overwhelm Spider-Boy's mind when his spider-sense awakens. Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

When Spider-Boy returns home, he discovers that Boy-Spider has stolen his life. As the genetically bonded brothers and their mother discover they must share their time with those they love, another would-be hero seeks a better future for her family. Spider-Boy #17 is about finding our place in the world and what we are willing to risk to attain it.

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

 

 

The Spectacular Spider-Men #4 Review

 

Writer: Greg Weisman

Penciler: Humberto Ramos

Inker: Victor Olazaba

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado; Francesco Mobili & Moreno Dinisio; Ethan Young & Edgar Delgado

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $3.99

Release Date: June 26, 2024

 

When Cedric never resurfaces, Miles Morales and Peter Parker return to the sewers where they lost him. Miles’ clone-brother Shift and Vermin’s rat pack help them find a new wall. After Shift hits the bricks, Peter and Miles enter a room filled with computers and monitors. But before they can do much investigating, Arcade and Mentallo knock them out and plug them into their latest game. Can Miles and Peter escape their beloved fantasies? Or will this Game Stop in Stadium Arcadium be a permanent vacation? Let’s grab our lattes, thwip into The Spectacular Spider-Men #4, and find out!

 

Story

New York City Police Detective Shari Sebbens still hunts for the identity of the corpse in Miles Warren's ESU laboratory. Miles Warren, aka The Jackal, has a penchant for cloning. Coroner Jane Foster claims the body wasn't a clone but suggests the body was replaced by one. Did I mention that Warren's partner and friend, Seymour Krepps, is acting weird?

 

If Seymour trading his usual cup of Joe for Jackal's favorite tea seems weird, consider Peter Parker and Miles Morales' situations. Peter and Gwen Stacy live happily with their children, while Gwen’s dad dates Aunt May. Miles’ courtship with Kamala Khan speeds along faster than Starling can fly. Turk, the unnamed actor, and the European lovers live for the thrills. Kenny and Cedric pursue things just beyond their reach. In The Spectacular Spider-Men #4, life is just a fantasy. But can you live a fantasy life? Perhaps the others can. But Peter and Miles are made of sterner stuff.

 

In Greg Weisman's story, the illusionists demonstrate how they create their fantasies and their contingency plans when Peter and Miles get too clever. Readers learn who funds their project and why. The Arcadium is a work in process, but Arcade and Mentallo can react to participants who claim, “It’s not real. It’s just a fantasy!”  

 

 

 

Art

Arcade and Mentallo energetically plug their scheme against an inked background while an interested observer looks on. Without Shelly and Kenny, the Coffee Bean has become decaffeinated, populated solely by regulars like Sha Shan and Professor Raymond Warren. After Seymour Krepps storms out, Detective Shari Sebbens leans close to Warren instead of keeping a professional distance. Peter’s world falls apart in a montage as he relives his worst memories. He hugs his family, then pushes away. Miles and Kamala resemble children. They hold hands as a monster rises before them. But after the scales fall from their eyes, Peter and Miles' lives fragment and swirl as they thwip into a multiverse of madness in The Spectacular Spider-Men #4.

 

Edgar Delgado lavishes a loaded palette of bright colors on Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba’s art. While the exterior glows like a beacon, a greenish-brown haze fills The Coffee Bean. Professor Warren's realization that his former student Peter Parker is missing brings clarity. Miles' purple jacket and the distant rooftop structures recall the purple in Mentallo’s helmet and costume. Peter's brown suit, Gwen's golden hair, and her mauve top form an appealing link with Arcade's hair and tie. Pastels fill a wall of monitors, while a control board resembles a metropolis at night. When a violent act turns Miles' illusion into a burning ruin, white streaks pierce a blue, yellow, and orange haze. Brooklyn's Spider-Man rips away his clothes to reveal his black and red costume, and his masked face fills the bank of monitors.

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase letters into white balloons and colored narrative boxes. The appealing font never shrinks. Dialogue often grows bold, changes color, or enlarges. Sound effects help us hear Miles slam into a falling barrier, Peter reel before a brain blast, Miles wields his venom saber, and Peter crashes into a street in The Spectacular Spider-Men #4.

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

When Peter and Miles try to check out of Hotel Arcadium, Mentallo and Arcade refuse to let them leave, and there's a ghost in the machine in The Spectacular Spider-Men #4.

 

Rating 9/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

Amazing Spider-Man #48 Review

 

Writer: Zeb Wells

Artist: Todd Nauck

Colorist: Sonia Oback

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: John Romita Jr, Scott Hanna & Marcio Menyz; David Marquez & Jesus Aburtov; Francesco Mobili; Peach Momoko; Annie Wu

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $4.99

Release Date: April 24, 2024

 

Betty Brant wants her husband back. Janine Godbe wants her boyfriend back. And Doctor Ashley Kafka wants to help people again. At least, so she claims. Can Spider-Man make these (mostly) lovely ladies happy? Let’s thwip into Amazing Spider-Man #48 and find out!

 

Story

Ben Reilly is half a man. That's how he sees it. His hunger for what he lost drove him to hurt others. But after escaping Limbo, his anger fades. Ben wants to feel whole. When he met Spider-Man amid the squalor of a broken-down tenement in Alphabet City, he blamed Peter for his incompleteness. But in Amazing Spider-Man #48, Ben's not violent or angry. Instead, he slides past Peter, hops onto the Winker Device's upholstered seat, and says, "Aaayyy. Let’s do this!”

 

Janine Godbe is half a woman. Like her beau, Janine got locked up for her crimes. She found love with Ben, only to lose him when Beyond tampered with his memories. Now Ben goes by Chasm, and Janine hides behind masks. But living half an existence has cost her. Her latest go-to alter ego is a monster that denies the existence of a soul. While striking a dangerous bargain with Queen Goblin to reclaim Ben’s identity, Hallow's Eve becomes a monster who denies others' uniqueness.

 

 

 

Ashley Kafka is a woman of two minds. She holds grudges yet wants to help others. Ashley promises to restore identities but will readily conduct a lobotomy. Like Ben and Janine, Ashley yearns to reclaim what she lost. Once, she was a therapist. We're unsure of Ashley's intentions in Zeb Wells' story. After infecting him with Norman Osborn’s sins, Spider-Man judges her guilty. He also refuses to believe that any good can come from the Winkler Device.

 

Yet Amazing Spider-Man #48 leaves us wondering. Unlike the Living Brain, the Winkler Device is a machine. Can it be programmed and repurposed? Does Ashley Kafka want to return to Ravencroft? Does she yearn to work alongside Shay Marken (and perhaps Mary Jane’s aunt Anna) and help people again?

 

 

 

Art

Betty Brant shines like a beacon of sanity in Amazing Spider-Man #48. Amid costumed heroes and villains, her attire, hair, and expressions reveal a woman who knows what she wants but won’t compromise her principles. When he removes his mask, Ben looks open to suggestions and hopeful. Spider-Man resembles a taut spring, ready to leap to another's assistance but hoping not to get physical. Todd Nauck shows Janine transform from a lovestruck innocent into Mr. Hyde as Jason Voorhees. Unlike Madelyne Pryor, Ashley Kafka may not tempt Ben with fruit from a tree. Yet her pointed teeth, scaly face, and glowing eyes make one wonder. Is the knowledge she offers Ben good, evil, or a bit of both?

 

 

 

Sonia Oback casts readers into an abandoned building. Amid dimly lit gray walls and brown wood, heroes and villains bring their light. Blue smoke wisps off Chasm, and flames arise when Hallows Eve dons her mask. Yet Queen Goblin turns Amazing Spider-Man #48 into Bonfire Night. Fire erupts from her pumpkin scepter, leaving trails of orange and yellow as she wields a spiked metal ball in each hand. While the fire adds a sheen to her red skin and golden armor, her glowing eyes prove most haunting. 

 

 

 

Joe Caramagna thwips uppercase black lettering into white dialogue balloons in Amazing Spider-Man #48. The font grows bold for inflection and occasionally shrinks but more readily swells to an enormous size. These immense words turn yellow, orange, or red to emphasize pain and loss. Yet Spider-Man's not opposed to uttering them, as a whip-like thwip leads to a yellow crash. This issue resounds with crashing, smashing, and the crack of a fist. Yet a thud near the end feels most poignant.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Once, Mary Jane and Paul sought a therapist to deal with losing their children. In Amazing Spider-Man #48, Ben Reilly and Janine Godbe sit on a couch and share their concerns. But who is most capable of helping them overcome their pain?

 

Rating 9.6/10

 

To preview interior art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.