Introducing...Spider-Boy (Spider-Man's Brand New Long Lost Sidekick)

[ZariusTwo]

Here's info on 'new' character Spider-Boy, his name is Bailey, and he's always been part of 616 and Peter's history, you just have never seen him 'till now. Basically a web-swinging Sentry in concept.

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comi...nkId=207927766

[ZariusTwo]

[AquaParade]

I don’t see the big deal. Just another random spider-character that will get buried after his solo-title runs six issues.

Basically I’m numb to the spider-verse stuff. I don’t so much have a problem with this one as I do the trend. Way too many “spider-people” running around in Marvel comics and Peter is a shell of himself, which doesn’t help.

/end rant.

[oldmanwinters]

Just what perpetually-written teenaged/college-ish Peter Parker needed, a kid sidekick!

[Andrew NDB]

I'm just curious, but did they ever end up undoing the Mephisto pact? Where Peter forgot his marriage to MJ and all?

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

I'm just curious, but did they ever end up undoing the Mephisto pact? Where Peter forgot his marriage to MJ and all?

No, they've never undone it.

There was a point where it looked like they would (Nick Spencer's run) but from what I hear, editorial didn't like that direction and meddled with it, so instead we got the 'Sins Past' story undone instead.

Sins Past, if you don't remember, was the story which revealed Gwen Stacy and Norman Osborn had an affair and Gwen ended up pregnant.

The retcon at the climax of Nick Spencer's run revealed that was all a master deception by Mysterio and a super computer which had Harry Osborn's I.Q (the computer was also controlled by Mephisto), and together they tricked Norman and Mary Jane into believing Gwen had an affair all to make Peter miserable.

Peter and MJ did get back together in Spencer's run of comics, but Marvel have broke them up again, Peter even says his love for Mary Jane is one he has for a sister nowadays and he's rebounding with the Black Cat, who knows Peter still loves MJ and is just settling for second place.

The current writer of Amazing Spider-Man is Zeb Wells and he's even said in interviews he sees Peter and MJ struggling as a cycle with ups and downs and that nothing he's doing to them is permanent, that they will get back together etc, he just wants to experiment for now.

[Andrew NDB]

What a mess. I almost dipped my toe in during the clone saga but I'm glad I didn't.

[ZariusTwo]

Here's what happens in Spider-Boy's debut issue

The release of Morlun's totem energy sends him and the Spiders to the very end of the spider-verse...manhattan 616. Morlun, badly weakened, goes into hiding. He will return in the Web of Carnage event

Shathra's hold over her minions is shattered and they revert to normal. The Mary Jane of the "Renew Your Vows" series universe asks Mayday if she can spot her daughter Annie or 'her' Peter, Mayday says she can't, and then asks if they've seen her dad, revealing he is The Other and resembles a giant spider, Spider-Ham replies that description doesn't help any

Shathra grows giant and Silk orders the billions of Spider-Men to battle, after an exhausting back and forth, 616 Peter arrives armed with giant hi-tech trans dimensional combat web shooter, which he uses to send Shathra to another plane of existence. Shathra's sister Neith, the first Spider-Totem, arrives and hands the Spiders the talisman that can restore all those cut from the web of life and destiny.

Arana uses the talisman to restore Jessica, Kaine, and one other...young Bailey, aka Spider-Boy. Kaine tells Jessica he was present in the battle with Morlun in issue one but got stabbed, we as readers didn't notice, and neither did the others, Jessica then remembers, Cindy says they're lucky they didn't forget, but it seems those who are cut from the web have a limited window of relevancy with the world before they are completely neglected. With Bailey, they waited too late and now nobody remembers him, despite him having been around for a while and having had millions of adventures with Peter and Miles.

Bailey, annoyed that everyone's forgotten about him, swings away. The remaining Spiders all bombard Cindy with questions, MC 2 Peter asks Mayday to talk to Cindy and ask for her help in restoring him to normal (presumably Cindy succeeds, as we saw Peter back with his Mary Jane and the family in the Spider-Girl Marvel Infinity comic published last year)

616 Peter is also back to 'normal', realizing Uncle Ben is lost to him again, he calls Aunt May, who's experiences with Ben in the altered timeline have been reduced to a pleasant dream. Peter asks if they're still on for dinner. Cindy and Peter talk on the roof, Cindy doesn't think it's fair that Peter is no longer the chosen one, but Peter says there's no better person qualified to replace him than her, his duty is to his own world as the one and only Amazing Spider-Man and swings away, finally freed from the obligations of the Spider-Verse

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

What a mess. I almost dipped my toe in during the clone saga but I'm glad I didn't.

The Clone Saga to me is good, but only in the context of reading the Spider-Girl series, because it's the better pay-off.

[Coola Yagami]

Originally Posted by ZariusTwo

Cindy and Peter talk on the roof, Cindy doesn't think it's fair that Peter is no longer the chosen one, but Peter says there's no better person qualified to replace him than her, his duty is to his own world as the one and only Amazing Spider-Man and swings away, finally freed from the obligations of the Spider-Verse

Other than Miles that is, lmao. Dude should have either renamed himself or vanished along with the Ultimate Universe.

As for the SpiderKid, they're pulling a Dawn from Buffy with him?

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

they're pulling a Dawn from Buffy with him?

And a Sentry from 2000s Marvel (which pre-dated Dawn)

[Galactus]

Originally Posted by Coola Yagami

Other than Miles that is, lmao. Dude should have either renamed himself or vanished along with the Ultimate Universe.

Miles' book currently sells better than every single DC title that isn't Batman. I doubt Marvel thinks he should have vanished with the Ultimate Universe.

[ZariusTwo]

To be fair, anything outsells DC these days. The industry as a whole is sinking, you might as well be impressed by a professional diver in shallow water.

Originally Posted by Galactus

Miles' book currently sells better than every single DC title that isn't Batman. I doubt Marvel thinks he should have vanished with the Ultimate Universe.

Are you looking forward to Ultimate Invasion this year? Any expectations?

[ZariusTwo]

Spider-Boy's face and full name revealed:A redhead called Bailey Briggs, who May also apparently knew too before she forgot. He was established as a hero three years ago according to him. At the end a young woman takes him in


https://bleedingcool.com/comics/the-...aled-spoilers/

[Wednesday's Serial]

Yup, it's stupid. Slott has been repeating all his failures since he came back and it's selling like MAD. I don't get it.

As a previous host of the Untold Talks of Spider-man where we championed B books, I'm properly embarrassed.

[IMJ]

geeze, I just realized that I haven't actively bought or read Spider-man basically since the Michelinie era of the book. Basically issues 300 - 400.

There are still days where I wouldn't mind building a great Bronze Age run of ASM though - somewhere around 120 spanning through 250. But in truth - if you had to be stuck with one era of Spider-man forever then it should be The Amazing Spider-Man 298 through 375 I think.

[ZariusTwo]

Yeah, ideally I think the cut-off point is the end of the Micheline run (roughly around the "Lifetheft" saga) and from there read the follow-up to that, "Pursuit" afterwards and then pick up the "Real Clone Saga" mini-series from 2009 as that has a pretty decent ending to 90s era Spider-Man and all involved with him.

Alternatively, you can try Spider-Girl, but it means having to read the original Clone Saga and that can be...a choice. The Clone Saga story from 2009 I suggested is much shorter, but it's not a faithful adaptation and does it's own thing.

[IMJ]

Yeah - even as a kid foaming at the mouth to read that week's books I barely got into "Maximum Carnage". I don't thin I could read the Clone Saga if someone paid me.

That was an era where every Marvel character was decimated on page to a strange and off-beat story. I barely survived "The Crossing" and I'm a die-hard Iron Man fan....

But ASM is a rock solid read through the 375 Anniversary issue at least. And the early Mark Bagley stuff where he picks up after Erik Larsen is terrific.

[Zulithe]

I like the new character. I think part of it is, for me anyway, I see a trend of both Marvel and DC aging up their kid characters and they rarely introduce new ones. So getting a new one every once in a while makes sense. Also there are very few characters under like 15yo in the Spider sphere of characters, so I find it refreshing.

I look at the DC side of things, they had super sons, with a kid superboy and kid robin, and it was very popular, then they turned around and made superboy 17 overnight and aged up robin slightly too since then. This was a team and a book that was doing well and was popular and they just walked away from it.

The compalints over the 'sidekick' thing are way overblown too, I feel.

And let's be real... how often do you see new redhead male characters introduced these days? People really are complaining about this character over nothing and failing to appreciate what's unique about him.

[ZariusTwo]

Originally Posted by IMJ

I barely survived "The Crossing" and I'm a die-hard Iron Man fan....

Iron Man, boy is that a character that may have had success in movies, but has been damaged goods in the comics for well over sixteen years now.