Spider-Man Unlimited (Vol. 2) #2

Background

Where we left off, Spider-Man is still trapped on Counter-Earth, where the Beastials are in charge and humans are second class citizens under the reign of the High Evolutionary.

Story 'Where Evil Nests'

Based on a teleplay by Will Meugniot & Michael Reeves.

Spidey goes to help some Beastials who are getting dragged into the sewer by a creature with tentacles, and encounters one of Counter-Earth's good guys, the Green Goblin. While working together to take on some machine men, the two fall underground into the sewers. Spidey is temporarily blinded by a pumpkin bomb. Ignoring warnings from Spidey's spider-sense, the Goblin is grabbed by the tentacle monster. Meanwhile, back at Spidey's new home, Dr. Naoko Yamada-Jones is grabbed as well. Armed with a baseball bat, her son Shayne runs after his mom. Turns out Venom and Carnage are behind the disappearances. They're looking for host bodies for their symbiotes to make an army so that symbiotes will overthrow both Beastials and humans on Counter-Earth. Spidey teams up with Shayne in the sewers. The Goblin frees himself and together with Spidey, free Naoko and stop Venom and Carnage.

Later, Peter finds Counter-Earth has their own cheap-skate editor, Mr. Mineo, as he tries to sell photos he took to the Daily Byte.

General Comments

Considering this is geared for a younger audience, the comic has some merit. However, I don't believe in "dumbing-down" a story just because the target audience is younger. The 1990's Spider-Man series didn't have to do it. Actually, I find this comic series more palatable than the animated counterpart. The comic offers a chance to beef up the dialogue and give some simple character insights (e.g. Peter's diary). However, in the grand scheme of things (and compared to some other greater cartoon-to-comic translations like Batman Adventures), it's still rather disposable.

Overall Rating

One web. I miss Semper's Spidey cartoon.