Web of Spider-Man 3: Dangling from a plot thread

Credits: Written by Evan Skolnick, pencilled by Paris Karounos, inked by Randy Emberlin and edited by Eric Fein.

Plot: Federal agents, including Agent Briggs are investigating the debris that was the Staten Island lair of Doctor Octopus II. They’re not expecting to find anything, certainly not the very alive and chatty Scarlet Spider II (the fake one from the last couple of issues) who proceeds to jump around. The agents pull their guns, but get them webbed up for their trouble. Briggs talks to him and asks him about Joe Wade, her missing partner. Scarlet refers to her as Steph and refers to an old weight problem she had before swinging off.

Later on at the FBI office in New York, Briggs is reporting to her boss who asks that she play down the Scarlet Spider elements of her report and focus on the dangerous technology. Briggs thinks that Scarlet may have spoken to Joe at some point, but her supervisor thinks it’s simpler than that.

Scarlet Spider II is continuing to play havoc, leaving people stranded on skyscrapers and hanging cars off a bridge and making a nuisance of himself, for about 14 hours more. Then he falls into an alley and out steps a near naked and very tired and confused Joe Wade.

The next morning we check in with the New Warriors who are dealing with the negative press that Scarlet Spider II is getting, unaware that it isn’t the same guy who they worked with for months. Vance ‘Justice’ Astrovik directs Angelica ‘Firestar’ Jones, Alex ‘Powerhouse’ Power and Mickey ‘Turbo’ Mushashi to split up and find him, primarily to work out what the hell is going on. Joe wakes up, sees his forearm glowing red and decides to call Steph Briggs, as he doesn’t know who else can help him. He’s aware of his activities as Scarlet Spider II and is justifiably frightened.

He meets with Briggs under a bridge in the park and breaks down what has happened. He feels the hologram reasserting itself and begs Briggs to get clear. Scarlet Spider II manifests and follows his programming as before, havoc and mischief in the name of Scarlet Spider. Half hour later at the George Washington Bridge, Firestar sees Scarlet and asks what’s going on. Scarlet Spider II starts running his mouth, confusing Firestar, which he uses as a way of getting close enough to kiss her. She knocks him back, violently and realises that this isn’t the man she knew. She calls for back up and asks why he is posing as the Scarlet Spider. When Scarlet Spider II keeps babbling, Firestar, once again, hits him with her microwave based powers. This has the effect of burning layers off him revealing a silver skin underneath with a red spider symbol on his back. Somehow he zaps Firestar who falls to the bridge, leaving her at the mercy of a new Scarlet Spider that is ready to up his game.

Notes: More than the last couple of appearances, this issue showcases what Scarlet Spider II is, he’s the media, Master Programmer and his people’s interpretation of who Ben Reilly is. He can do what he’s been seen doing, he moves how they’ve seen him move and he does not shut up. The snappy patter element of Spider-Man has been part of the strip since Lee and Ditko started it. It was part covering his fear and the freedom to say whatever he wanted because of a mask. We see all of that from Peter (and now Ben’s) point of view. This shows you how the rest of the world might see it. Rather than be glib and funny as a coping mechanism, it’s the irritating guy at work, or that one of your friend group who thinks he’s hilarious and someone made the mistake of telling them. With the good nature and charm removed, Scarlet Spider II is what most people would think of Spider-Man as. I liked that, it felt relatable. Add to that the protagonist being dragged from place to place by his alter-ego had a very 70’s Hulk vibe, which I liked. We also get the programming of ruining Scarlet Spider’s reputation, ironic now that there is no original Scarlet Spider, Ben having embraced being Spider-Man again. So with his reason for being pointless and battling his host, it looks like Scarlet Spider II is planning to go down in a blaze of, well glory might not be the best word.

Verdict: Writing 3 out of 5 – Solid writing with some cute dialogue, bringing everyone to the bridge for the issue’s 3rd act. It’s not doing anything special here, but it’s doing the job well enough.

Art: 2 out of 5 – Not feeling this art team, I’m sorry. Emberlin is a good inker, but he’s not paired with the right artist and the colours are too heavy for this to be glossed over.

Overall: 5 out of 10 – Realising that we need to get rid of the Scarlet Spider identity, this issue brings us closer to the inevitable end pretty well and hopefully better is coming.

Next Time: Scarlet Spider vs the New Warriors.