Spider-Man Family (Vol. 2) #8 (Story 2)
Story 'With Friends Like These...'
Spider-Man Family (Vol. 2) #8 (Story 2)
| Editor: | Jordan D. White, Mark Paniccia |
| Writer: | Blambot's Nate Piekos |
| Pencils: | Zach Howard |
| Inker: | Carl Potts |
It's Gwen's birthday, and Peter wants to take her to a special place for dinner. Unfortunately, it's first come first served and only one table remains. Peter takes off at full speed only to run into Bobby Drake, aka Iceman of the X-Men. They exchange pleasantries, and reveal they both have plans to take their girlfriends to the same place; the sushi restaurant Sakura. When Peter reveals there's only one table left, he inadvertently throws the gauntlet down and the race is on.
Drake ices up and takes to the skies as Iceman on his ice sled. Peter, annoyed, climbs to the rooftops to change into his Spidey gear and give chase as he calls Gwen to let her know she's in for a treat. Over in Central Park, Iceman swoops down and picks up his date as Spidey catches up to them. Spidey tries to reason with him, but Iceman is more interested in the friendly competition (and winning, of course) and freezes Spidey's web-shooters on him. Stranded, Spidey does the only thing he can: change into Peter and catch the subway.
Peter finally meets up with Gwen and drags her along behind him. Both he and Bobby get to the restaurant at the same time, only to find out that the table has already been taken. By Ben Grimm.
General Comments
A classic comedy chase story. This one takes us a bit farther back in time than the last, to the Silver Age. Thais easily could have been a backup in an issue of Marvel Team-Up. The artwork is a little rough, but not horrible. The story itself is played up solely for laughs, so little things can be ignored like how Spidey was going for Gwen but chasing Bobby, or how even stuck on the subway they managed to get to the restaurant at the same time. One thing that makes it out of continuity is that Iceman didn't know Spidey's ID around the time he was with Gwen. It's hard to say for certain, but it almost seems like this story was originally designed for the Human Torch.
Overall Rating 
3.5 Webs. A fun story; a superhero twist on a classic routine.