Symbiote Spider-Man #1 Review

“I should go on tour. Or do a one-man Broadway show. Nah. Who’d wanna see Spider-Man on Broadway?”

Spider-Man is back in black! Web back in time to a lost adventure of the Symbiote Spider-Man in the 80’s as he takes on his latest movie menace, Mysterio!

WRITER: Peter David

PENCILER: Greg Land

INKER: Jay Leisten

COLORIST: Frank D’Armata

LETTERER: VC’s Joe Sabino

FLASHBACK SEQUENCE: Iban Coello & Frank D’Armata

COVER ARTISTS: Greg Land & Frank D’Armata

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Artgerm; Ron Lim & Israel Silva; Nick Bradshaw & John Rauch; Skottie Young; Todd McFarlane & Jesus Aburtov; Alex Saviuk & Chris Sotomayor

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Lauren Amaro & Danny Khazem

EDITOR: Devin Lewis

SPIDER-MAN created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: Recently returned from Secret Wars, Peter Parker is adjusting to his new black costume. Mysterio is plotting his next big score. Unfortunately, when he goes to pull it off, a bystander gets killed accidentally by one of the bank’s guards. Some time later, Spidey saves the painting The Scream from The Fly atop the World Trade Center. The next morning, Felicia Hardy, not in costume as The Black Cat, visits Peter and winds up accompanying him to Uncle Ben’s tombstone. At the cemetery, Peter spots Quentin Beck across the way and goes to follow him, leaving Felicia alone to encounter Aunt May who has just arrived. May and Felicia seem to get along as Spidey and Mysterio suit up. Mysterio is telling himself that he’s quitting as Spider-Man attacks.  Spidey has figured out that Mysterio was visiting the grave of the woman killed in Mysterio’s bank robbery, but Mysterio lies, stating he didn’t rob that bank and was visiting his sister’s gravestone. This stops Spidey in his tracks, allowing Mysterio to blow up the building, escape, and swear revenge as he sees Spidey’s living costume change before his eyes.

THOUGHTS: What’s this? Another week and another mini-series set in Spidey’s past? You read that right, True Believers! Being a kid who grew up in the ’80s, anytime I see the black costume my attention gets grabbed and Greg Land puts it front and center on this issue’s cover. It’s no surprise that Mysterio, the villain Spidey is about to face off against in this coming summer’s Far from Home movie is there, too, ominously looming in the background. It’s not something I typically mention, but I kind of enjoy the font style they chose for the word symbiote in the header. I found it fitting for a series about a costume that makes its own webbing.

Seeing that Peter David was attached to this project made this an instant buy for me. The man has written Spidey in various iterations and titles across FOUR decades and has a great, wry sense of humor that fits the Wall-Crawler perfectly. Who better to turn back the clock than a man that wrote some of my favorite issues where Spidey wore a black (non-symbiote version) costume? (I’m looking at you Amazing 289 and Death of Jean DeWolff.)

David does an excellent job of making this issue feel like it belongs in the time period in which it’s set. Surprisingly, there isn’t an editor’s note that this story takes place between issue so and so, but there are enough context clues that establish it early on in the time Peter wore the symbiote. It was cool to see Peter drape the suit over the chair when he went to bed, how it would change into some form of black clothing, and to have Felicia Hardy play a supporting role as a love interest to Peter.

It was nice to see the genesis of Felicia trying to get to know and accept Peter instead of only loving Spider-Man and Peter David deftly wove it in having character building intersect with moving the plot along. Not only does this put Spidey on the trail of Mysterio when he spots him across the way in the cemetery, but allows for Felicia and May to meet. It made me wonder if they had ever met before and I’ve been racking my brain trying to think of an instance. David perfectly demonstrates Felicia’s sweet side as she kisses May good-bye and likewise paints Aunt May as not a frail, old, innocent woman, but one who is well aware of how the world works and has lived a life.

I also appreciated Mysterio’s plight. He sees himself as more than a joke, but that’s not the view others have of him, be it long time friend or bank teller. I appreciated how Mysterio’s fall back plan was to go straight and start his own effects company to “show them how to do practical effects right”. It not only implies era, but a bit of his personality and tastes.

Art chores get divided between Greg Land and Iban Coello, with Coello handing “chapter one”, equating to seven pages of story. Their styles mesh fairly well, despite Coello having a slightly more manga inspired feel. Coello really sells Mysterio’s pain as he sits in the dark alley with his helmet shattered after the failed robbery and the delivery of the gas mask was reminiscent of a scene in Batman (1989).

I know Greg Land can be pretty divisive amongst fans, but I think he does a fine job here. He’s got some great layouts and Spidey, Mysterio, and Fly maintain their looks from the era, but have the touch of a modern style. I was particularly swept away by his depiction of Spidey leaping between the Twin Towers. He completely sells the scale of the moment in an exciting way. The text piece in the back of the issue was a nice touch to assuage any feelings some might have about seeing those iconic buildings again. It’s definitely a topic people have a myriad of thoughts and emotions about and I can understand both their trepidation and use.

It may not look like a mid-’80s comic (can you imagine if they hired Ron Frenz instead of Land?), but David makes it feel like it’s a missing satellite title from that era. He even threw in a joke about Power Pack! Characterizations ring true and it’s a great comic to look at. There’s a lot of new Spidey comics out there to read, but if you’re a longtime fan looking for some nostalgia, this is a great book to pick up!

MY GRADE: A-

JAVI’S HUH?: Why was Felicia blonde and not silver haired? If not for the captions calling her by name, I would’ve thought Peter was having an affair with Susan Richards!