Writer: Tom Taylor  Artists: Ken Lashley Editors: Nick Lowe  E.I.C: C.B. Cebulski   Crawlspace Staff: Chi-Town Spidey  Crawlspace E.I.C:  Brad Douglas

Story:  So Aunt May’s Homeless Shelter F.E.A.S.T was attacked and Detective Sebbens is investigating. A smoldering boomerang is found and might have something to do with Boomerang. Boomerang was here, but for different reasons. Spidey is given till tomorrow morning to reveal if The Prowler is innocent or guilty since he was there at the scene of the crime. Spidey tracks him down via his Ex-Wife who isn’t a fan of the Hobie. Imagine that, an Ex-Wife who isn’t a fan. Turns out, Hobie’s apartment is a functional villain lair that wants to exterminate Spider-Man when he busts in.

Hobie switches the off button and explains he wasn’t there to steal anything from F.E.A.S.T. Prowler stole cash from Wilson Fisk to help a friend who needed an operation done and funneled the money through a crowdfunding group called Fairgray Pay. Never reached his friend and the friend himself disappeared. He went to the shelter to look up records because they too, go through Fairgray Pay. Spidey and Prowler suspect the the crowd funding company are evil so they team up.

Peter calls his friend, Marnie (aka: The Rumor) to infiltrate the headquarters. She’s actually good at being a spy. They find out who is the behind Fairgray Pay is something else far too sinister. The Rumor comes face to face with Mister Minth, the head boss who see recognizes as Helminth. Spider-Man and Prowler crash on in to help out only to discover that Rumor instructs Spidey to not touch Helminth as he seems to be sucking Rumor’s life out of her body.

Thoughts: Out of the entire Taylor run, this felt off beat.  Don’t get me wrong, Taylor is doing a great job with Spider-Man and his supporting cast, this issue however seemed like a setup that should have gone a different way.  The Rumor and her history is starting to unfold, to which I rather see what Aunt May and Mary Jane are feeling after the attack.  Once Spider-Man understood Prowler’s motives, he could have sent Marine to investigate with Prowler on stand by, then checked on his Aunt and Mary Jane.  He could have called his buddy Detective Sebbens on an update on this case after checking on his family while swinging to meet up with Prowler.  Then a distress call from Prowler is made, Spidey is almost there with the police force are on their way to help.   I wanted to read Peter taking his responsibility as an adult.  Access the situation, take action, check on family, inform the police, meet up with Prowler on the scene with Rumor. Instead with get pages of Marine acting out the sarcastic senior citizen banter and Peter bringing snacks on a stakeout because he saw it in the movies.  

I believe this set up is to involve the “Under Yorkers” we read about in the first issues.  For this title, I rather see more on Peter’s neighborhood then new development to new characters.  Helminth, in case you don’t know, is a name that corresponds to a nasty tapeworm.  This new villain, or old (how ever you look at it) will have some kind related properties or powers that resemble the traits of his real life counterpart.  Interesting, but again, I rather see Aunt May, Mary Jane, and the rest of the people reaction to this attack, not a setup to Rumor’s history and people around it.

The humor in Spidey’s characterization is still there.  It really shines through when he’s with allies.  It also nice to see Hobie being Prowler again and having personal issues giving up being Prowler.  I would have LOVED to see Boomerang reaction to all of this as well!  Taylor does a great job capturing the hysterical manner of that character, but sadly we didn’t see it here. 

Lashley’s art is still very easy to follow through which is what you want in the comic book.  His facial expressions on his drawing he seems to put a heavy amount of detail into, which you can respect.  When reading you also have to see how these characters are feeling.  He even pulls this off when the supers are wearing the masks.  All in all, it’s an okay issue, but I wasn’t expecting a little be more given the last issue.  Instead of going forward, it feels that this a step to the sidelines. 

Final Grade: C