If there’s one thing the comics industry needs to keep working on, it’s getting new readers into the hobby. That especially goes for younger readers, who gobble up the shows, movies, and video games based on superheroes but very rarely seek out the source material. Luckily for fans of a certain wall-crawler, Marvel has a brand new collection of all ages Spider-Man stories with Spider-Man: Brand New School Day. With work from writers like Steve Foxe, Luca Blengino, Marco Rizzo, and Josh Cornillon and a metric ton of artists including (deep breath) Mario Del Pennino, Arianna Florian, Lelio Bonaccorso, Fabio Franchi, Claudio Scarrone, Emilio Urbano, Silvia De Ventura, Massimo Asaro, Marco Forcelloni, Teresa Cherubini, and Jean Claudio Vinci, Brand New School Day is easily one of the best introductory Spidey collections for the cover price, and great update of classic Spider-Man mythos as well.
Featuring stories from the recently completed Spider-Man: Homeroom Heroes series from 2024, Brand New School Day is a series of short, 5-7 page stories of Spidey teaming up with other heroes to take on some well known and not as well known bad guys. Many of the stories are modern day updates of classic Stan Lee and Steve Ditko stories, but for the most part these are all original, age-appropriate adventures that feature just enough superhero action to be entertaining, but not so much that it’ll be something parents will need to keep an eye on. Naturally a lot of the team ups involve current or popular MCU characters like Scarlet Witch, Hulk, and Sam Wilson’s Captain America, but I was surprised to see other characters like The Eternals‘ Sersi and Thor: Ragnarok‘s take on Valkyrie here. I suppose that’s due to the MCU synergy being in full force for this, as Doctor Doom and his Doombots also make an appearance, as well as Red Hulk, albeit in a more heroic light.
The stories are all light and entertaining, but was most surprising to me was how the writing team worked to update Spidey’s supporting cast in interesting ways. The Peter Parker in this series appears to be younger than even the original take on him from the Lee/Ditko era, but that brings an interesting freshness to the tried and true “power and responsibility” that I wasn’t expecting. Steve Foxe, Luca Blengino, Marco Rizzo, and Josh Cornillon recognize that one of the best aspects of Spider-Man is his vast supporting cast, and the way they mixed classic side characters like Flash Thompson and Randy Robertson with newer cast members like Cindy Moon and Carlie Cooper was very surprising, but it’s done in a very natural way. The writing team’s take on Mary Jane Watson is honestly one of the best I’ve seen in a long time as well. Instead of an aspiring actress, in this continuity MJ is a burgeoning film buff who is obsessed with creating her own films and building a social media presence. It’s a refreshing update that modernizes the character while still staying true to her core.
Marvel
As I referenced above, there’s a LOT of artists in this collection, and they all follow roughly the same style. Some, like Claudio Sciarrone and Teresa Cherubini, add their own sketchier style to the stories, but for the most part everyone is in line with a similar cartoony aesthetic that fits really well with the stories being told in this collection. These are easy to follow panel layouts that have clear direction to them, and while that may be a turn off for more experienced comic book readers, it’s a necessary decision to make with a book that’s clearly designed to be an introductory comic for young readers.
That’s really the charm of Brand New School Day, to be honest. Is it something I would read another collection of? No, but then again, I’ve been reading Spider-Man comics (and comics in general) for over thirty years at this point. But after reading this collection I now have the best recommendation for friends of mine looking for an easy comic book to introduce their kids to, and Uncle Jon has an easy present to give to his nephews the next time a birthday rolls around.
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