Espiderman #4

Background

Enrique V. Vegas is an alt-comics star in Spain. Starting in the early 2000's, he released various runs of parody comics, featuring a drawing style he calls "Cabezona" (Big-Head). The early books predominantly spoofed Marvel characters, but he has recently stretched further afield into DC and other pop-culture icons.

This five-part Spider-Man parody "Es-Piderman" (later "Espiderman") was released every couple of years over the course of nearly a decade from 2002 to 2011. It is available in the original Spanish, and also as a 2011 Italian translation – Speederman.

We're now up to issue #4 from 2009. It's been two years since issue #3. Time for another dose.

Story Details

The tone of the series is well-established by now. Espiderman is a bit of an idiot, with very few friends or allies.

With or without the costume, this version of Peter/Spidey tends to do as much harm as good in his endeavours. It doesn't seem like this episode will change that. Each issue is a series of vignettes in which Espiderman screws up in various ways.

For example, our opening scene is Peter playing on his school basketball team. Well, sitting on the bench. The commentator says a few words about how useless Peter is, but then for some inexplicable reason he is brought into play in the final seconds with the score tied at 50-50.

Peter shoots webbing in the face of his opponent, takes the ball, shoots, scores... in the wrong basket! Loser!

Now back in costume, on a rooftop, Spider-Man complains that nobody takes him seriously, that he is always on the losing side. So he makes a major decision. Spider-Man goes to ask Kingpin for a job. He does so. Kingpin gives Spider-Man a USB drive to insert into a computer and infect it with a virus. Will the web-slinger turn to the dark side?

Back to Peter Parker again. Peter performs a dangerous experiment in his school chemistry lab. It blows up in his face. More losing. So much losing. I'm getting a little tired of the losing, honestly.

So it's back into the costume! Or should I say, Black Into The Costume... as Espiderman is now wearing the black costume. No sign of a symbiote though, it's just the cloth version. Maybe it's a representation that Peter has turned to the dark side! Or maybe it's just because black is so slimming, and looks so very cool.

Whatever the reason, Spidey breaks into the laboratory complex as indicated by the Kingpin, and stands in front of the computer, ready to inside the virus-transmitting USB key. But as he searches for the "Enter Key", the resident scientists enter and confront him. But not just any scientists. This is the shared laboratory of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner. Or as Spider-Man is about to painfully discover... Iron Man and HULK SMASH!

Follow with several pages worth of Espiderman receiving a beating. Iron Man in particular still holds Espiderman responsible for the deaths of Hawkeye and Wasp (see Espiderman #3). But then Captain America turns up and says that Espiderman should be forgiven. Captain America and Iron Man cannot agree how to proceed, and the Avengers are split by a Civil War. Thanks, Espiderman... now that's your fault as well, Loser!

What now for Espiderman? As he mulls his fate, a gang of Kingpin's goons (including Rhino) turn up to punish him for not having completed his assigned task. Espiderman beats them up easily, and feels much better for it. He decides to return to the side of goodness.

This town needs a hero. And until one turns up, I'll have to do the job instead.

Inspiring words indeed!

General Comments

Espiderman needs to be seen for what it is. It's a bit of light-hearted fun.

The book is full of little throwaway gags. "I'm ready for anything, except the cancellation of The Simpsons." (Espiderman) or "We must find the good in everyone, except those who call you to get you to change telephone company, those guys are just evil." (Captain America).

Then there's the visual gags. Joke references on posters on the walls, in newspaper headlines, and so on. Half the fun in reading these things is to try and spot all of the details.

Overall Rating

Yep, the details are the fun bit. And in the end the details overwhelm the whole. I can't see the forest for the trees.

But then again, there's not much of a forest. And the trees are quite entertaining. So maybe that's OK.

Three-and-a-half webs.

Footnote

The covers are in color, but all interior pages are black and white artwork.