Spider-Man/Power Pack #2 (Story 1)

Background

The Power Pack are now officially New York's newest superheroes, and their first time out they assisted Spider-Man in taking down the Sandman. Later on, Spidey takes on the Vulture in a make-up company's warehouse where they had developed a substance that can literally reverse a person's aging. Spidey gets an up-close demonstration of it's effectiveness when he's knocked in during the fight and reduced to the age of a child!

Story 'Sands of Time'

It's a sunny day at the beach, and everyone's just enjoying a little surf and sun. At least until a little boy tells his parents his sand castle was knocked down by a man in the sand!

At the apartment of the Powers, young Peter calls Mary Jane to give her some kind of excuse to explain his temporary absence. Now he needs to figure out what to do. Going to other heroes is out because of the fear of the riding he'd get from certain members, so Spidey opts to solve it his own way. Jack offers him a position on Power Pack in the meantime. Spidey is hesitant given his current condition, but Alex says something that makes him realize Spidey can't afford to take a few days off.

Due to lack of spare Power Pack costumes, Julie takes up the task of designing a new one for Spidey. There are a few flubs until Julie decides on an old-school style with a modern twist. And so, Spidey gets a new costume with the same basic styling as his classic one, but with smaller boots, no web "belt", and a small face mask.

The Pack and Spidey hit the streets as he gives them a tour of NY... Spidey style! They face off against the younger Vulture, Lizard, Electro, Shocker, Rhino and Mysterio, taking them all down with teamwork. Given the media's flub over them the previous issue; the fights renew Jack's love of New York...until the next morning when he sees a negative headline about them in the Daily Bugle. Spidey assures him that the Bugle should just be ignored and real New Yorkers will appreciate the good they do. Jack flips through the news where anchors condemn the young heroes and cite them as products of bad examples from other heroes. Spidey relents and says with all the super types around it won't be easy to make a positive name from themselves. Jack suggest they'd have to do something major in front of a lot of witnesses to get noticed. Spidey agrees and they point out to him a sand monster rampaging on the beach that just came up on the news.

The young heroes go to investigate only to be ambushed by the beach and swallowed by a face in the sand. But the Pack powers out, freeing the people already consumed within and getting them to safety. Finally, the villain is revealed to be an incomplete Sandman! (In case you didn't already guess). He attacks them, but with the trouble of reforming himself the Pack easily takes him out once again. Zero-G then uses his power to have the sea come crashing in and wash the rest of Sandy out to sea to prevent him from reforming anytime soon.

Unexpectedly, the exposure to sea water reverts Spidey back to his right age. He thanks the Pack and heads off before the media catches a glimpse of him in his now too-small costume, letting the Pack get their claim to fame. Elsewhere, one of the Vulture's goons watches the news report on the Vulture's yacht. But, the Vulture can't seem to be bothered with superheroes as he has more important matters: namely two gorgeous women swimming in the ocean by the yacht. Vulture dives in, not knowing he and the girls are in for a bit of a shock.

General Comments

A nice conclusion to the story. The only nitpicks I have here are that Sandy was beaten the same way twice (blown up by Katie and then washed out to sea) and there was a severe lack of Spidey-sense when Spidey and the Pack went to the beach. It should've went off long before they got swallowed symbolizing danger was round. Other than that, it was just as fun as the first part. I also loved the shot taken at the Iron Spidey suit during the design scene, and the references to prior Spidey events such as the 6-arms, the symbiote and being cloned.

Overall Rating

4 webs. This one lost points for the minor nitpicks.