It's Halloween night, Spider-Man’s least favorite time of the year. Costumes make it hard to determine whose a villain and who just dressed up like the Red Skull for kicks. So when Spidey tangles with a C-list villain named Fumes, whose suit malfunctions, the wall crawler gets accidentally knocked unconscious.
It's Halloween night, Ronnie's favorite night of the year. Dressed as Spider-Man and drunk as a skunk, Ronnie has already been kicked out of 3 bars and if it wasn't for his best buds, some dudes dressed up as the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus would've killed him for barfing on them.
In the ultimate case of mistaken identity, Ronnie ends up getting kidnapped by Fumes’ gang while Spider-Man is taken to Ronnie's apartment to ‘sleep it off’ while the creeps dressed as his archenemies lurk outside.
This comedy of errors was perfectly crafted by Saturday Night Live cast mates Bill Hader and Seth Meyers. The story was laugh out loud funny and I thought it was one of the most original Spider-Man stories in a very long time.
The rest of this book was a collection of tales from the anthology series Spider-Man Family. In these yarns, Aunt May dons her nephew Peter's costume to become Spider-May and protect her neighborhood. Then the Spectacular Spider-Ham’s daughter May-Day Porker becomes a super hero in her own right. Lastly are a couple of adventures starring female characters that I have never heard of: the mysterious Jackpot and the parkour web series star Screwball.
I enjoyed all of these segments but they just don't hold a candle to the Short Halloween. Lately the best Marvel stories have been told by non-Marvel writers. Could it be that the House Of Ideas has run out of them and so they have to outsource? This collection of Spider-Man tales seems to say yes.
Worth Consuming
The Short Halloween: 10 out of 10 stars.
Rest of the book: 7 out of 10 stars.
