Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Prequel Comic #2: What We Know

We're back with Issue #2 of the Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man prequel comic! (Click Here if you missed the write-up for Issue #1!) Now we didn't get as many reveals about this universe's lore as we did in the first issue, but we got to see Spider-Man in action for more or less the first time. Without anymore delay, let's get into it Brigadier!

We begin with the well known wrestling match between the new masked figure Spider-Man (in his OG wrestling outfit from Amazing Fantasy #15) and Crusher Hogan. But as we established last time, Uncle Ben is already dead and gone. So the placement of this historic match is definitely off course from the usual canon.

It's being run by a rich kid named Trip in his parents' backyard, who so aptly named it Trip's Tournament of Titans. Peter reveals that he specifically wanted to be called Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man because people are scared of spiders, and he's trying to be 'approachable' and 'local'. Good to know they're actually working the title into the plot as opposed to the fact that every other Spider-Man TV show and movie have taken all of the usual adjectives!

Peter mentions he's fighting for back rent, remember last ish we established he's dirt poor in this universe. After getting walloped by Crusher, Peter, determined to win the cash, decides to go all out and chucks the poor guy into the stratosphere.

Peter does catch Crusher, thankfully, and informs Trip to wire the winnings to an account he gave them, which is smart because that's a problem Peter faced in the original books. Spider-Man once got a check he couldn't cash because it was made out to Spider-Man, and the bank can't do anything with that. After Crusher accuses the match of being rigged, Spider-Man deposits him into a trash can, and declares that until he figures out exactly how strong he is, it's "Spider-Man no more", leading to a clever little callback from the famous scene.

So after tossing around a couple of water heaters to test his strength and stick 'em powers, Peter brainstorms he needs a way to snag things out of reach, like Crusher was, and take down bad guys without hurting them. This of course leads him to developing the Web Shooters, with his chemistry nerd knowledge and a little left over cash from the match. First try is an explosive bust, which then gives him the idea for the self-dissolving agent...

... which he quickly discovers needs to dissolve faster than two hours because he hilariously ends up stuck to a criminal he takes down. I know it varies from iteration to iteration, but typically Spider-Man's webs dissolve in one hour.

The next day Peter catches up with Nico at their new school. It's called Rockford T. Bales High. Now I'm not sure if this is where he's going to be in the show, but Midtown was destroyed in that mysterious battle, so if it isn't repaired, this is where Pete and Nico are going to school. Peter already ends up on Trip's bad side for no reason, he goes to the same school apparently. But Nico gets him to back off and the two agree that they'll be unstoppable if they stick together. That was a sweet little moment solidifying their friendship, I think.

That night, Peter perfects the Web Shooters and hits the town, preventing a car accident and declaring himself officially Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Which doesn't make Silvermane very happy at all. So he makes good on the threat from last issue and calls in the infamous classic Spidey villains: The Enforcers! They more or less resemble their comic counterparts, and they fit very well with the 60's-inspired aesthetic they say the show is going for.

Peter switches up his outfit a bit to the hockey jersey we see in the show, no emblem yet but he'll figure out something that 'says Spider-Man' later. He finds that the web tank's a bit big, having trouble fitting through the window, so that's probably why he eventually goes for the horizontal design on his lower back we've seen in the trailers.

While on patrol he happens upon The Enforcers shaking down a shopkeep, noting he's got an instinct, maybe a sense (get it?), to find people in danger. He gets into it with Ox and Fancy Dan, and I really like this fight. He starts strong, but Fancy Dan easily registers Spider-Man's Thwipping gesture as a 'tell', and gets the drop on him, while Ox joins the walloping.

But Spider-Man adapts mid-fight. As he says, they're pros, but he can do things they can't. He relies on his Spider-Sense. He adjusts the kind of web he uses to catch Fancy Dan. He packs a bit more of a punch to pummel Ox. It's really great stuff that makes watching Spider-Man fight so amazing!

Unfortunately, Montana gets involved, severing Spider-Man's web tubes and letting The Enforcers get the upper hand once again.

The issue ends with poor Spider-Man, defeated, in the middle of the street, surrounded by The Enforcers. An honest-to-goodness "To Be Continued!" if I've ever seen one!

And that's all we've got for this one. Big takeaways are notably designing the webs, the wrestling match, and his new, maybe permanent school. I didn't mention earlier, but Aunt May shows up a few times, who Peter is becoming uncomfortable with lying to, the ease of it bothering him more than anything. But that fight between a novice Spider-Man and The Enforcers was the highlight of the issue for me. It was such a good comic book battle that took me back to the old days of reading Spider-Man! More of that, please, in the comic and the show!

Next issue the fight obviously continues, as he's featured on the cover taking on the three troublemakers. Solicits have it dropping February 19, which is well after the show's January 29th premiere date.

I don't know if this was planned and coordinated with the show's release schedule to add context or if it's still supposed to be filling in that time gap they mentioned this story takes place in. But either way, I'll probably still do a write-up. For the show itself I plan on doing a Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Aftershow on Thursdays, so stay tuned to Face Front's YouTube channel for more info on that. I hope you guys are enjoying these, I can't wait for the next issue, and of course the show! Until next time, Face Front True Believers, and I'll see you in the Multiverse!