Review by Ian Keogh

The Web-Less Wonder ended with Bailey Briggs at a crossroads, having been blamed by other superheroes for disturbances actually carried out by Boy-Spider. Seeing as they’re similarly costumed and created from the same genetic pool by Madame Monstrosity, it’s not a difficult mistake to make.

Readers with a wider knowledge of the Marvel universe may have noticed that Madame Monstrosity may look very different, but her methods of operation resemble those of the more serious High Evolutionary. It’s a matter Dan Slott addresses here, amusingly in the manner of a school inspection. That, though, is a sideline. Madame Monstrosity may have a name to laugh at, but she gets up to some nasty business, mitigated slightly by the light comedic tone Slott adopts. In effect she’s a Disney animation villain, and drawn that way by primary artist Paco Medina. Her main problem is memory loss. Spider-Boy is able to transform in to a human form, and none of her other animal creations can. She’s forgotten how she achieved this.

All the guest stars Slott used previously appear again, and the visual spectacle is the Avengers versus the assorted humanoid animals. They’re well characterised as very unfortunate specimens who’re living in hope that they might be returned to their human form.

Jason Loo draws the final chapter in which everything, or nearly everything, is put right, but there’s the additional menace of the Puzzle Man. Loo’s a good artist who doesn’t match Medina’s visual imagination, but the Puzzle Man’s appearance means he has a very different type of story to draw. It’s a smart exercise from Slott. Spider-Boy is aimed at younger readers, and so he incorporates assorted puzzles providing extra value.

The final two chapters are Bailey’s attempt to solve the core problem of no-one remembering him, but unfortunately the result is his changing places with other Spider-Men, often at the most inopportune moments. Nathan Stockman and Medina have fun with the styles of different worlds, and while it’s testing for Bailey, the enjoyment will be had by readers.

The Dragon’s Challenge is next.