Peter Parker: Spider-Man (Vol. 2) #42

Background

Spring Break - the time of the year that party-happy students migrate to warmer climates in an effort to drink themselves silly and indulge in massive beach parties thrown by cable TV channels. But why would Spider-Man ever be caught dead at Spring Break?

Story Details

At Jones Beach, New York, thousands have gathered to take part in the Sonic TV Beach Party, featuring musical guests like pop sensations Tiffany Gibson and Johnny Waterlog of N'Step. But later on, as Gibson and Waterlog are out frolicking together on the beach, the sand mysteriously swallows Waterlog. Back in New York City, an under the weather Peter Parker is trying to pass time by watching some TV. He stumbles across Sonic TV News, where he learns of Johnny Waterlog's disappearance. Peter keeps watching, and he sees the performance of R&B superstar Crisqó interrupted, as Crisqó is enveloped by a giant sand hand. Peter decides that this is a job for Spider-Man.

So Spider-Man takes a cab to Jones Beach, but before he can begin his investigation, he's intercepted by Sonic TV's production manager, Teale Hunter. Teale doesn't want to alarm all of the party-goers, so she makes a deal with Spidey, whereby Spidey will pretend to just be a regular celebrity guest on Sonic TV while he conducts his investigation. Spidey reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, we find that the sand is capable of sentient thought, and that it's experiencing some sort of multiple personality disorder.

Teale puts Spidey to work, first by making an appearance at Sonic TV's bikini contest hosted by T. Diddly, and then by putting him on several other Sonic TV shows. Later on, a frustrated Spidey is just about to pack up and leave, when Maria Kelly's performance is interrupted by a giant sand tidal wave that swallows her whole. Spidey decides to stay after all.

General Comments

Ohh, man. This is funny, funny stuff. The guest creative team of Zeb Wells and Jim Mahfood has teamed up to create two of the funniest comics I've ever read. Every aspect of Wells' script, from the plot to the dialogue is downright hilarious, and Mahfood's art, while cartoony, fits the style of the story and certainly gets the job done.

My one complaint is that this isn't really a Spider-Man story. It's more along the lines of a "Make fun of MTV" story that has Spider-Man in it. I think practically any super-hero would have fit in just fine here, and just think how funny this would've been if it had been Captain America instead.

But really, that's irrelevant, because this story is just hilarious for anybody who watches (and loves to make fun of) MTV.

Overall Rating

This story ranks up there with "The Commuter Cometh" as one of the funniest Spidey stories ever. Four webs.