Round one, Uncle Rog is blessed,

Round two, not Defalco’s best,

Round three, put the new guy to the test.

Web of Spider-Man: Someone is killing the Brooklyn Avengers

Writer: Stuart Moore

Penciler: Damion Scott

Inker: Rob Campanella

Colorist: Andres Mossa

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Editors: Tom Brennan, Stephen Wacker

Story: Our Beloved Hero Spider-Man is fighting the King Bee villain group when a super named Psi decides to jump in and help Spider-Man for old times sake and messes him up. Spider-Man manages to wrap things up and Psi tells Spider-Man that someone is killing off the Brooklyn Avengers… wait, what?

Origin Time- Back when Spider-Man was just starting up, he joined up with a group of residents who after a freak accident gained super powers. The group, dubbed ‘The Brooklyn Avengers’, consisted of: Psi and Fi- two brothers who had shared telepathy and telekinesis, Rotary- can spin any object, The Hypst’r- Hypnotic powers, Mints- charges candy into weapons, Boilermaker- Intuitive Machine Repair, and Paintball- can generate and fire paintballs. They gained their powers when their landlord heard about a pandemic and decided to fumigate their building without telling them.

Teenage Spider-Man was not impressed by the group, but developed a crush on Paintball and stuck around for a bit, until he realized how incompetent they were at battling criminals like Red Hook. After they nearly all got shot, Spider-Man flipped and told them to stop before leaving the group behind.

Back in the present- The elderly members Mints and Rotary both kicked the bucket and while Spider-Man can see no reason why it was a villain killing them off- they were old- he decides to meet up with the old team. Their neighborhood is falling to pieces and all but their building has been torn down to make way for a new mall and Spider-Man realizes they have fallen apart; Fi is fat, Boilermake constantly needs Paintball’s (mother/daughter combo) aid, and Hypst’r is a stoner. Psi tells Spider-Man that he knows their is no villain, but his brother hasn’t done anything in awhile and he needs the Brooklyn Avengers to motivate- Spider-Man reluctantly decides to go out on patrol. One of their old villains is now running for mayor and the Brooklyn Avengers figure he wants to kill them off to get the building torn down. When they confront him, it’s a total disaster and tries to get them to endorse him. Spider-Man gets fed up and tells them their is no killer… just in time for Psi to be killed off by Red Hook.

Leaving behind Boilermaker and Paintball, they go after Red Hook, but it turns out this is a false lead and it was someone posing as Red Hook. Back at the building, Paintball and Boilermaker are attacked by the Red Hook imposter, but Spidey manages to come back with the others in time to save the day. Except, the team is dysfunctional and starts making mistakes, until Fi takes charge and organizes the team against the villain: Their Landlord. Turns out he wanted to sell the building and killed Mints/Rotary because they were old. When that didn’t destroy the group, he realized he’d have to kill the others. Fi, now going as Psi Fi, decides to kill him, but fails in doing so, Brooklyn Avengers style.

With the landlord gone, the building gets torn down to make room for the mall and the Brooklyn Avengers ask if they can stay with Spider-Man. He improvises an inspiring speech about moving on and then leaves The Brooklyn Avengers- who then turn to Howard the Duck as their new big shot member.

Thoughts: Wow, that was literally insane… trying to type that up was hard. Insane is the best way to describe this- it’s full of crazy characters, weird art, bright colors, and an insane plot. On the surface it’s a very simple story, but it’s so full of crazy that it becomes insane somewhere along the lines. However, another way to describe this story would be hilarious- Stuart Moore knew what he was doing here. Spider-Man’s dialogue made me chuckle several times, the ridiculous origin story (getting fumigated with radioactive gases) and powers of the Brooklyn Avengers made for some fun storytelling, and these issues had a surprising amount of heart; not what you’d expect from the guy who wrote the Civil War prose novel.

On the art side of things, Damion Scott’s ridiculous figures and Andres Mossa’s vibrant colors definitely go hand-in-hand with the script. Anybody whose not a fan of Ramos or Campbell won’t find much to love here, but I enjoy the ridiculous drawings of stuff like an inflated Spider-Man head, crazy girls, and over-exaggerated costumes.

It’s an interesting choice to reveal a ‘hidden’ side of Spider-Man’s past for his 50th anniversary rather than pay tribute to something important, but it makes this one standout from DeFalco and Stern’s issues. Still, Spider-Man is front and center here and is written really well, and that makes this a great tribute to a character that has been loved for over fifty years.

Verdict: I didn’t have a whole lot to say on this one, it was a fun comic book that I’ll probably forget by this time next year. It’s not bad, but it’s nothing to write home about either. I don’t think there is enough merit to bring back the Brooklyn Avengers again, but who knows what someone could find in that cooky cast that could make another fun or compelling story in the future.

3/5