When I started reading Spider-Boy (which has always been one of the better series in the legion of Spider-Man family books), I never imagined that Spider-Boy would not only end up Daredevil’s partner, but he’d also be competing in an “Enter the Dragon” style tournament in Wolverine’s stomping grounds of Madripoor.
The tournament officially begins in Spider-Boy #14, written by Dan Slott with art and colors by Paco Medina, Humberto Ramos and Erick Arciniega. A wide variety of fighters show up to represent various cultures around the globe. The diversity of the combatants makes the issue super fun and there could easily be separate miniseries for each of them, even those fighters that don’t fare so well. Also competing in the tournament are Bullseye and his sidekick Spider-Girl, and it’s all for a prize that will impact the world no matter who wins it.
Daredevil desperately wants to win the tournament and keep the “prize” out of Bullseye’s hands. He’s all business where Spider-Boy’s just having fun with it all. What boy wouldn’t want to be in Madripoor eating tons of ramen, hanging out with ninjas and not having to go to school? The kid’s in total bliss even though death could come at any time from one of the opponents in the tournament.
This book is a blast! It’s filled with exotic locations and characters, from the Gaping Maw (the sect of world-class assassins who run the tournament), to Hulkette (a young girl who looks like a more diminutive version of She-Hulk) and her Blob-like mentor Enormo. There’s a dizzying menagerie of personalities, power sets and character styles such that it’s impossible not to find someone you like.
Marvel
I find Spider-Girl to be the most fascinating character, a mutant girl who can copy the powers or skills of someone just by looking in their eyes for a couple seconds. Obviously, this makes her pretty powerful because anyone who fights her is pretty much battling themselves. She has a great flashback halfway through the issue where she’s battling Spider-Boy and Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), with old stegosaurus-face Stegron in the mix as well. Spider-Girl (going by a different name at that point) duplicates Ms. Marvel’s stretch powers as well as Stegron’s abilities to become extremely formidable. The battle proves a LOT tougher for Spider-Boy and Ms. Marvel than they first thought.
In this flashback, there’s a maliciousness to Spider-Girl, a delight in inflicting pain and playing with other people’s powers. And now that she’s with Bullseye, who’s nurtured that dark side of her, she seems even more vicious. I hope Dan Slott and Marvel keep her like this for a while and don’t succumb to watering her down and transforming her into a hero at some point, like how DC ultimately changed Harley Quinn.
The art by Paco Medina, Humberto Ramos and Erick Arciniega is hyperkinetic and feels like watching a really great episode of an animated show. This issue’s loaded with action and fight scenes and every one of them are thrilling. They also masterfully convey some very creepy moments. Spider-Boy using his fangs to inject sleep venom into an opponent has rarely been creepier looking than how it’s portrayed here and there are a few other great monstrously unnerving moments throughout the issue also.
I’m loving the dynamic between Daredevil and Spider-Boy. It feels very much like the relationship Daredevil and Peter Parker had, with Daredevil being the quiet zen-like fighter while Peter was more boisterous and colorful. Spider-Boy’s the same, having a youthful enthusiasm for everything that’s lost on the battle-hardened Daredevil.
The first page of the book has a nice summary of everything that’s gone before and it’s a great way to catch up on what’s happened in previous issues. So you have no excuses, pick up this issue and dive into this series! There’s an incredible amount of story packed into this issue and it’s all fantastic, with Spider-Girl and Hulkette given time to shine amidst the book’s wall-to-wall action.
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