Spider-Man & Friends (UK Magazine) #43

Background

This UK kids magazine is one of three 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. Finally, their Marvel Heroes (UK Magazine) hits the same mid-teen crowd but with a video game/movie angle.

But let's get back to Spider-Man & Friends. It 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, plus in 2009 they produced a hardback annual.

Published every four 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. It's similar to the formats used for the older kids' magazines, just pitched for a much younger target audience.

Story 'Scaredy Cat!'

How many Marvel Super-Heroes does it take to get a cat out of a tree?

Three, apparently. Some kitty-cat is stuck up a tree, and Thor, Doctor Octopus and even Spider-Man fail to get the cat down.

Yeah, seriously. One flying guy and two who can climb walls all fail to manage to grab the cat. The cat is too fast for Spider-Man.

So they have to co-operate! CO-OP-ER-ATE. Thor "holds the tree" for Chrissakes! I kid you not! Doc Ock "lifts Spider-Man into the highest branches". Oh you are shitting me here.

General Comments

Just give me a second here.

AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

And... we're back. Don't worry, it's just some superficial bruising. I'll be fine, as long as I close this magazine right now, drink another glass of Sauvignon Blanc and don't think about this story ever again.

Overall Rating

There is NOTHING here. There is no story. Rock-bottom half-a-web.

Can we talk about something else please?