Symbiote Spider-Man #2 Review

“Do you really want to expose your real name when you’re out there committing assault and battery?”

The symbiote-suited Spider-Man faces off again with Mysterio! Little does the Web-Slinger suspect that the Master of Illusions brought backup! Meet Hardrock!

WRITER: Peter David

PENCILER: Greg Land

INKER: Jay Leisten

COLORIST: Frank D’Armata

LETTERER: VC’s Joe Sabino

COVER ARTISTS: Greg Land & Frank D’Armata

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Ron Lim & Israel Silva; Alex Saviuk & Chris Sotomayor

BATTLE LINES VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jong-Ju Kim

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Lauren Amaro & Danny Khazem

EDITOR: Devin Lewis

SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: Stuntman Alan Jennings gets fired on the set of a movie after breaking the star’s nose. Knowing of his mutant abilities, Mysterio approaches and recruits Alan to take down Spider-Man. Going by the name Hardrock and aided by Mysterio’s illusions, he gets the best of Spider-Man, beating him into unconsciousness. Hardrock goes to shoot Spidey in the head, but the symbiote jumps off Peter and goes inside Hardrock until he suffocates. Watching from the Kingpin’s camera room, Mysterio flees in horror from what he’s witnessed. Trying to regroup, he bumps into Johnny Ohnn, his friend who also works for Kingpin, and starts to hatch a new plan to take down Spidey and his new suit.

THOUGHTS: Land gives this issue’s cover a horror vibe, with a monstrous Spidey stalking Mysterio. I appreciate the idea behind it, but I just didn’t care for it, I think mainly for the elongated fingers, and grabbed the Battle Lines variant instead.

For only the second issue, it felt like filler. Not that Peter David’s dialogue isn’t witty and entertaining, but this issue goes by at such a fast clip that I felt like I only read half a comic.

As the narrator, Mysterio takes the spotlight over Spider-Man this time out. His insights are particularly amusing as he often gets things so wrong! He doesn’t know any better, but I had to chuckle to myself over the fact that Mysterio thinks Peter is probably a bully under that mask. There’s a lot of misconceptions this issue, from hero and villain alike. In one of his patented lost-in-thought-as-he-web-swings moments, Spidey is wondering how he can clear things up with Mysterio after last issue so he can apologize without blowing his secret ID. David really captures the Stan Lee vibe as Peter ponders all the troubles he’s having. It’s the reference points he gives that grounds this story in the time in which it takes place and makes it feel authentic.

There’s a problem though with the general concept of telling these missing tales-what happens when a new character is introduced? As was the case with Untold Tales of Spider-Man, Scorcher was introduced in that series and brought to the present day, with the explanation that he’s been in jail all this time. Here David goes with a different tact, having new villain Hardrock killed by the symbiote in self defense of Spidey. All that build up and the character gets disposed of at the end. He doesn’t even make it to the end of the miniseries! So much for the “mysterious new foe”! It led to a feeling of disappointment for me.

Art-wise, Land did a decent job. His Spider-Man looks great and was in all the appropriate funky, spidery poses.  I loved the inkiness the symbiote suit possessed as it transferred from Peter to Hardrock. His faces though were a little off for me, particularly the director and woman trying to console the actor, Tom. Before he becomes Hardrock, Alan Jennings gives off a serious Mac Gargan vibe. Once he dons his costume, he looks like an uninspired choice to join the movie version of X-Force. I guess Mysterio was pressed for time.

I don’t think this is a bad comic by any stretch. I just felt very underwhelmed coming off the excitement from last issue. Peter’s life, the thing we come to his comic for, was lacking in this installment. I would imagine this part is probably the hardest to do, given how well this was covered in the pages of Amazing and Spectacular back in the day. It just feels like we were given a chapter that doesn’t “count” given that Mysterio is going to get Kingpin involved anyways through his friend. I’m looking forward though to more of Kingpin and Black Cat next time and it looks like we’re getting Electro, too! Here’s hoping they avoid the pitfalls of this issue!

MY GRADE: C+

JAVI’S HUH?: Shouldn’t Peter’s Spider-Sense warned him of Hardrock’s nigh impenetrable skin before he punched him?

Is Peter going to wake up next to Hardrock’s dead body since Mysterio just left him there? Awkward! maybe the symbiote will just take over and safely return Pete back to the apartment…