Spider-Man Unlimited (Vol. 3) #11 (Story 2)

Background

Spider-Man Unlimited seems to focus on stories that aren't important to current continuity, but may (or may not) be worth telling anyway. Written and drawn by guest writers and artists.

Story 'This Looks Like a Job For...!'

Peter Parker rides a school bus through traffic, chaperoning a field trip to a museum. He gets chewed out by the head of the science department, who tells him he's lucky to be going on this field trip, as his attendance and performance are less than stellar (due to his double life).

As they arrive, two kids (obviously dating) plan to ditch the rest of the group once inside the museum. Peter tells the kids to stay together and not to touch anything. Inside, the two kids quickly stray away from the group that Peter leads to a Fantastic Four exhibit. As Peter splits the kids into groups and instructs them to take notes on the exhibits, his spider-sense goes off, and the Thing busts through one of the walls.

The Thing tells the kids to clear out just as the Absorbing Man's wrecking ball just misses him. Peter starts herding the kids out when he notices the two ditchers in another hall. Thing announces that it's clobberin' time and pummels Absorbing Man, and Peter tells his boss to get the kids out of there while he gets the rest of the students. He tells the other students to run out, and when they do, he prepares to change into Spider-Man to save the two kids that ditched the group. However, seeing the building's foundations crumbling, he realizes there's no time, and springs into action as Peter Parker, flipping past the Thing and the Absorbing Man to grab the two kids just before debris falls right where they were standing.

Outside, Peter is praised for his heroics, and the Thing makes his way over to him. Peter wonders if he realizes that he's Spider-Man, and if he's going to say anything. The Thing congratulates Peter on his heroism and shakes his hand, then jokes about Peter joining the Fantastic Four. Peter remarks that he's heard the pay isn't that great.

General Comments

There's nothing new, spectacular, or even very interesting about this story. Peter has saved people in his civilian identity before due to a lack of time to change, and the art seems very amateur-ish. What really miffs me about this story (aside from the fact that everybody seems to ignore the fact that Spidey recently revealed his identity to the Fantastic Four in the Spider-Man/Human Torch limited series, but I'll let that slide since NOBODY seems to acknowledge it) is Peter's paranoia regarding the Thing's realization of his secret identity. What does he think Ben Grimm is going to do, announce in front of everybody that Peter Parker is Spider-Man? The Thing has worked with Spidey enough and has enough respect for him to realize that he wants his identity kept a secret, so even if he DID just realize who Peter was, Peter's paranoia is extremely illogical. I did enjoy the last line's throwback to Peter trying to join the Fantastic Four in ASM #1, but the line seemed like a rather forced way to end the story.

Overall Rating

One web. Nothing interesting here.