Spidey and the Mini Marvels #1

Background

After the success of the Giant Size Mini Marvels #1 Featuring Spidey, new material just had to be published. Will it be just as funny as its predecessor? Read on!

Story Details

The first story of the book is titled "Paperboy Showdown". Parker gets his stack of newspapers from JJJ, but it's only half of what he used to get. When he makes a comment about it, JJJ tells him he is to report to the office later on.

Cut to the Osborn residence where Norman and Harry are hiding in the bushes, wearing their Green Goblin costumes. The paper boy arrives and they strike. Turns out it's Eddie Brock, AKA Venom. The fight is over instantly and Norman wants his paper. Eddie gives him a few ashes, for that's all that's left of today's newspaper.

Over at the Daily Bugle, JJJ is having a meeting with both Parker and Brock. They'll be getting a new route, but because the number of customers is odd, they'll have to compete for Norman Osborn. They then go to the Daily Bugle training facilities. All the other paperboys are very excited, for it'll be a race between the fiercest of competitors. But neither of them moves. They then start a fight over it. JJJ breaks them up and he'll decide who's going to deliver the paper to Osborn.

The next day, Norman and Harry are ready to attack the newspaper boy again. They expect Venom, but Spidey is there. Harry gets webbed up instantly, and as Norman turns to attack Spidey, he gets kicked by Venom from behind. Crying foul, the Osborns get the newspaper delivered by their new paperboys.

The second story in the book is titled "Cereal Quest". It's a story about Wolverine wanting some cereal but not getting any because someone ate all of it. Going to the store, buying and getting home takes him 14 pages of this 16 page story. On the last page of the story, just as Wolverine wants to eat his cereal, the table collapses...

General Comments

The Mini Marvels were bullpen strips at first, with only 3 panels per story. Transferring them into a full story can potentially damage the concept. But not this time--the Spidey story was well written and very funny! I really liked the part where the Venom costume had its own head next to Eddie Brock's. Saying "I wanna eat your brains" all the time...hilarious.

The second story was fun. Not as much fun as the first, but a great read, too. Since this is a Spider-Man site, I will not go into depths about it. Just read it yourself.

Overall Rating

Not one, but two rather fun stories. The Spidey one being the best, worth 4.5 webs. But because of the Wolverine story, I'll deduct half a web.