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.

 

 

Superior Spider-Man #1 Review

 

Writer: Dan Slott

Artists: Mark Bagley, John Dell & Nathan Stockman

Colorist: Edgar Delgado

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Mark Bagley & Edgar Delgado; Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado; Skottie Young; Doaly

Publisher: Marvel

Price: $5.99

Release Date: November 15, 2023

 

While Doctor Octopus wants to remember his past, Spider-Man wants to forget it, and Spider-Boy wishes everyone could remember him. How might the three help each other achieve their desires? Let’s thwip into Superior Spider-Man #1 and find out!

 

Story: Mistaken Identity Crisis

It’s team-up time, with the webslinger mentoring his junior wallcrawler. Mirage suffers from Multiple Body Disorder and a thirst for villainy. Spider-Man realizes Spider-Boy can tackle the jewelry thief, so he lets Bailey take the hits and sort out which Mirage is real.

 

Freed from her containment, Supernova breaks up a spidey-bonding-break over ice cream. She blames Spider-Man for imprisoning her and means to get even. Little does she realize that Doc Ock, who recently released her, once occupied Spider-Man’s body. 

 

 

 

As the villain who imprisoned her follows her trail of fire, his Ocktoids disperse and record the battle from multiple vantage points. Observing Peter's solution to Supernova's Spider-Hunt awakens a dormant memory. The resultant flood of remembrances delivers his fondest desire: how he mastered sustainable nuclear fusion when he was the Superior Spider-Man!

 

In his first story for Super Spider-Man #1, Dan Slott reminds us of Peter and Bailey’s pain. While Peter lost his Spider-Man abilities, he regained his Uncle Ben. With the Web Of Life And Destiny restored his uncle's death hits him afresh. As for Bailey, he finally convinced Peter to let him be his sidekick. Now Spider-Boy must prove himself all over again. Peter’s solution to Supernova’s Spider-Hunt seems odd, considering how he recently tried to enhance his spider sense. Still, perhaps it will give him time to heal.

 

 

 

Story: Negative Reinforcement

Dan Slott’s second story belongs to earlier days when Otto Octavious' consciousness inhabited Peter Parker's body. Spider-Boy rejoices in the increased trust his mentor has placed in him. Eager to prove his worth, Spider-Boy patrols the streets even though Spider-Man orders him to take the evening off. But when he finds a strange mask, it warns him that Spider-Man threatens its owner.

 

In this second tale in Superior Spider-Man #1, Dan Slott explores how our tactile senses shape our perception. Touch can reveal things sight alone cannot perceive. Touch can alter willpower and induce others to do one's bidding. Sadly, touch can also hurt others and scar them physically, emotionally, and mentally. As in Mistaken Identity Crisis, Negative Reinforcement also speaks to what Spider-Boy has lost. Spider-Man trusted Spider-Boy with web shooters and let him tackle more than D-list villains before the Web Of Life And Destiny played its cruel trick upon him.

 

 

Art

Penciler Mark Bagley and inker John Dell impart an Old School appearance to characters. Yet Doc Ock and his Ocktoids look as if they've stepped out of the pages of recent Amazing Spider-Man issues. Their art in Mistaken Identity Crisis also showcases Spidey battling the elements, as he did when Peter recently tried to enhance his spider-sense. Backgrounds never suffer, and the artists populate crowd scenes with expressive faces. They even add a touch of humor by altering the name of a Broadway show displayed in Times Square.

 

Nathan Stockman’s characters elicit modern appeal, and his backgrounds are highly detailed in Negative Reinforcement. Spider-Boy looks less in control, while Spider-Man demonstrates perfect poise and defined musculature. Spider-Boy's attacks look zany, while Otto’s childhood memory proves more haunting than a demonic mask.

 

 

 

Edgar Delgado lavishes bold, vibrant colors upon both stories in Superior Spider-Man #1. While he gives memories limited coloring, a jubilant Doc Ock looks indomitable amid a double-page flood of remembrances. Perhaps Spider-Boy’s psychic revelations look bleached, and gray infuses the ground and night sky more in the second story. But the colors of our heroes’ costumes stand out, and the substitute members of the Fantastic Four are equally eye-catching.

 

Joe Caramagna places uppercase dialogue in white and colored balloons in Superior Spider-Man #1. Character thoughts inhabit colored narrative boxes. Dialogue rarely shrinks for lowered voices, and raised voices are large and colorful. A flurry of energetic and expressive sound effects helps us hear web shooters, explosions, and Ocktoids Assemble. Yet Spider-Boy’s embattled dialogue balloon, struggling to choose between black and white, speaks volumes.

 

Thanks to Marvel for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

While loss and memory haunt Doc Ock, Spider-Man, and Spider-Boy, the pint-size wallcrawler demonstrates surprising resilience in Superior Spider-Man #1.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

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