Spider-Man’s sophomore issue sees the local hero taking his new powers out for a spin in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #2. Written by Christos Gage, and with art by Eric Gapstur, the eponymous hero immediately bumps into an unhappy mob boss, his goons and a new high school bully.

Gaining superpowers is a surefire way to throw out your old routine. Instead of studying, instead of hobbies, Peter Parker now spends his days figuring out how to do this hero thing. Thankfully, he’s always been a smart kid, even before the spider-bite (inciting) incident. Which means, there’s a lot more to fighting crime than just swinging punches. Pete needs to work out a way to stop bad guys without killing them, create a mask that doesn’t stick to his web fluids, and get better at lying to Aunt May. If there’s anything the second issue of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has to say, it’s that even though Pete’s a smart kid, he still has a lot to learn.

A Strong Start Sets the Tone

References are Welcomed

Once again, this run understands the value and the fun to be had by starting off in the middle of some action. Spider-Man is in the ring with a huge wrestler, and it’s clear that his speed isn’t going to be enough to take this guy down. Readers don’t know how Pete got himself into this cage match, they don’t know why, but they don’t need to! At least not right away. On top of all of this fun, readers get a lot of great references to iconic Spider-Man moments from the pantheon of Spidey media. The wrestling ring scene, which includes a bit of a wrestling-name-snafu, is very reminiscent of Spider-Man (2002) and this version of Peter declaring that he’s “Spider-Man no more!” is an obvious reference to the iconic comic book moment. These references let readers know that they’re in good hands, hands that know the history and know fans know it too.

Spidey Takes One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

We’ve Seen This Before

Which honestly makes the rest of this issue that much more underwhelming. It’s another strong start, but this time it leads to a pretty formulaic Spider-Man story. There’s a lot of time spent on Peter figuring out his powers with a trial and error approach. It’s always fun, but it’s also very familiar. Also, familiar and frankly, pretty dated at this point, is the introduction of a stereotypical high school bully who aims to physically harm Peter Parker.

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A great approach to the high school bully in the recent Spider-Man films is having the bullies do their thing with their words and a general sense of undermining and disrespecting. It felt much more modern and, perhaps more importantly, it felt fresh. In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, this feels a little like moving backwards. The saving grace, however, is how this particular bully ties back to the wrestling match from either in the issue and how Nico, Pete’s new friend, puts an end to the harassment in a very clever way that also feels more contemporary.

If It Ain’t Broke, Don’t Fix It

A Missed Step Sets Everything Back

“A hero is only as good as his villain.” Readers are well aware of this idea. It has permeated pop culture and for good reason. Establishing a worthy foe is the best way to raise the stakes, make readers feel worried about their hero, and to give them a sense of real accomplishment if and when the bad guy is defeated. This issue unfortunately misses the mark. The introduction of The Enforcers, the same ones teased at the end of the first issue, has the trio stand in their mob boss’s office and talk a big game about how tough they are. It’s not exactly intimidating. It would have been great to see them doing something. On top of that, readers have already seen Spider-Man take down a huge wrestler earlier in this same issue. So, seeing another huge guy isn’t enough to really establish a threat.

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What could have worked to save this is a fun fight nevertheless. However, what readers got is a perplexing gang-up on Spider-Man. Instead of creating interesting ways to demonstrate how these Enforcers are more experienced, stronger, and/or smarter than Spider-Man, they just outnumber him. If their plot to find Spidey in the first place was in fact orchestrated and not just very convenient, then it wasn’t set up very clearly. Another point of confusion in the fight is how Montana, the whip-wielding Enforcer, hangs back in a convenience store for the first portion of the fight until he’s “seen enough.” The set piece lacks some flare and makes choices like these feel random as opposed to well-thought out beats.

Hopefully, this issue is just laying down the necessary groundwork for some more interesting takes on early Spider-Man to come. These pages felt expected and pretty formulaic. But there’s still plenty of hope for readers considering how much fun the first issue was and how this issue, while underwhelming, still had a lot of charming moments throughout. There’s still a lot left to undercover, a lot left to explore, and most importantly, still a lot of goodwill.

In his latest adventure, the iconic web-slinger faces new challenges when a sinister villain emerges, threatening the safety of his city. Balancing high school, friendships, and his secret identity, he must harness all his abilities to protect his neighborhood and the people he cares about from impending doom.