Web Warriors #2 Review

“Web-Warriors Emergency!”

Prepare yourself for another adventure with our Spider-Heroes – Spider-Gwen, Spider-UK, Spider-Ham, Spider-Man India and Spider-Man Noir. What!? Anya’s in this?!

Writer: Mike Costa

Art: David Baldeon

Inker: Scott Hanna & Livesay

Colorist: Jason Keith

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Editor: Devin Lewis

Plot: Spider-Gwen has been kidnapped by the Electros and to ensure she doesn’t escape she is being watched by…the least stable, least dedicated Electro (good call!). Meanwhile Mayday unites the team to go save their wall-crawling teammate. Then the ‘radioactive’ Spider-Gwen manipulates Electro- 449 to take her to the Big Bad where she betrays him and uncovers the true nature of their electrifying (sorry) villain.

Spider-Thoughts: This issue was a bit of a letdown. Whereas the first issue made a good impression through interesting character moments and team interactions, this issue spends too much of its time focusing on Spider-Gwen and the Electros and not the things that made the first issue more memorable. 

That’s not to say this issue is a trainwreck. Once again, Baldeon’s art flows very well and gives a great kinetic feeling to the action scenes. This really compliments the bizarre situations that Costa’s story takes the characters to. The return to Earth-499 is a welcome – albeit brief – surprise which gives more of a feeling of shared multiverse. So far this series’ balance between new and old universes has been interesting and allows for some really cool visuals.

The action scene between the Warriors of the Web and the Electros is the highlight of this issue. The art is at its best here despite only being a short scene. The Warriors function as a well-oiled machine which gives an extra layer to the fighting – the actions seems more organised and is therefore more interesting to watch. Watching the team work together has given the series some of its most interesting moments so far. 

But there are still problems. They are not major ones; they are just problems that nag at me, making me think that this series will not be as enjoyable as I hoped it would be. Firstly, separating Spider-Gwen from the team feels like a mistake. I know in her own comics she is a layered, troubled character but in this we see none of that. So far her only traits have been to make quips and be feisty. Is she just in this book to be slapped on the cover to sell copies? I suppose we will have to wait and see.

A surprisingly large portion of this issue is dedicated to Electro-449 which in the end seems to only serve to set up Big Bad Electro. I do hope we get see more of this bad guy but from the end of this issue I feel like he was a means to an end of telling us how the Electros got together. If we do see more of him, I’ll drop this complaint but at the moment it feels like too much time was spent with a character that doesn’t matter. A move like this can be fatal in the early issues of a series.

As for Big Bad Electro, I’m a little disappointed. Bigger does not always equal better (Stop laughing, we’re better than that!). The flashbacks set up a smarter, cooperate Electro that could have been a very exciting villain for the Warriors to go toe-to-toe with. But then they went and Mandarin’d him and replaced him with some massive lightening creature that I feel was too obvious a route to go down. Come on Costa! I’ve known you for one issue and I know you’re better than that!

Overall, whilst not a bad comic, Web Warriors #2 left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth as to where this series is going. Hopefully it will pick up over the next few issues but for now I give it 5 WEBS OUT OF 10.

Best line: :”Pig-in-a-Blanket time! Wrap me!”

Spider-Points of Spider-Interest
• Anyone else love how all the Spiders have different Spider-Senses?
• I will never stop loving Spider-Ham’s interactions with other Super-Animals. Can you all sign my petition to get him to join the Pet Avengers?
• With mentions of multiple Doc Ocks, do we have a Sinister 600 situation brewing? Please tell me we don’t.