Spider-Man & Friends (UK Magazine) #15

Background

This UK kids magazine is one of two regular Spidey magazine offerings from Panini. Spider-Man & Friends targets the 4-10 year old market, while sister publication Spectacular Spider-Man (UK Magazine) aims at the pre-teen and teen crowd.

Spider-Man & Friends features a distinctively drawn semi-Manga style kiddie Spider-Man, his cousin Spider-Girl, plus early school versions of Hulk, Wolverine, Beast, Storm and Captain America along with guest appearances from many other big name Marvel heroes and villains. Toy tie-ins are also available.

Published every four or five weeks, this UK magazine features a toy taped to the front of each issue. Inside you'll find a four page Spidey & Friends story with three panels per page, captions of 8-20 words per panel. Then there's some nice simple kids puzzles, some coloring, a couple of competitions, and a page or two of Spidey merchandise. Essentially, it's the same format as the older kids magazine, just reworked for a much younger target audience.

Story 'Too many things to do!'

This issue: "Too many things to do!"

It's a sunny day. Spidey and Rhino are taking their scooters, bikes, etc. to the park. They invite Ock too, but he wants to read his book (and good on him). He agrees to come too, as long as he can carry on reading as well.

Ock packs his toys as well. Book, toys, scooter... Ock is having a great time! He gets his kite out too, and flies that. Then he plays with his ball at the same time. Cat in the Hat eat your heart out! Ock starts sketching on his drawing pad... and... CRASH! Ooops.

"Hey, where's Doc?" asks Spidey. They find him, in a tangled pile of toys and stuff. Seems you can't do everything at once, even if you have six arms. The Super Heroes all pick one thing to do, and have a great time in the park.

General Comments

This is a long-overdue return to form for this comic. This is the kind of silly story with a light-hearted moral that Spider-Man & Friends do best. The big format would be great for reading to a pre-school class. Nicely done, guys.

Overall Rating

Four splendid webs for a five page story that does well what it does.