This article is about the comic book tie-in. For the television series, see Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man.
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is a prequel comic to the animated television series of the same name on Disney+.
The comic is set after the opening scene from "Amazing Fantasy", but before the "months later", and answers questions that some viewers might have with the show and vice versa. The comic is written by Christos N. Gage who worked closely with showrunner Jeff Trammell to ensure that both forms of media meshed together.
Synopsis[]
Taking place shortly before the events of the series, Peter Parker attempts to develop his abilities as Spider-Man with the help of his new friend Nico Minoru, while also dealing with the likes of Silvermane and The Enforcers.
Plot[]
Issue #1[]
Issue one opens in medias res with Peter Parker, clad in his home made outfit, beaten up, and getting flung off the top of a building by Man Mountain Marko.
In flashback, Midtown High School has been partially destroyed by some unseen casualty. Peter Parker meets Nico Minoru and the two quickly become friends. At that moment, Peter gets bitten by a genetically enhanced spider and briefly passes out, only to quickly reawaken when another explosion occurs. He manages to walk it off before parting from Nico as friends.
Later, Peter begins to notice that his reflexes appear to be better than usual. At home, he and his Aunt May are greeted by Nico and her foster mother Susan O'Hara. Peter learns that Nico moved from Los Angeles and was hoping to start over at Midtown until the explosion changed all that. She now believes that they will be shipped off to a bad school instead. At the urging of Peter, the two decide to sneak into the destroyed Midtown after hours and check on the damage.
Peter and Nico deduce that the explosion was intentional, rather than accidental, and through the internet discover that the land was being pursued by conglomerate magnate Silvio Manfredi. A group of hired goons show up and Peter and Nico flee, with Peter realizing that he has enhanced strength and agility. Afterwards, Peter and Nico agree to look out for one another.
The goons return to Manfredi who inform him about the recent fight against Peter, though they admit that they did not get a good look at him. Believing that someone is out there intentionally trying to ruin his business, Manfredi orders the Enforcers.
Issue #2[]
Peter is in disguise in Westchester at a backyard wrestling ring, run by affluent teens Trip and Brent. Peter, now using the name Spider-Man, goes up against Crusher Hogan and easily defeats him. He refuses to sign with Trip and Brent and simply ask that they transfer his winnings into his account. Crusher tries to get revenge on Peter, but he quickly dumps him in a trash bin before deciding to hold on the Spider-Man persona for the time being.
Peter improves on his costume and webbing before going out to stop criminals. He and Nico later learn that they are to go to Rockford T. Bales High, a school that is known more for its athletes, but has an excellent academic program. Peter briefly runs into Trip and Brent, who don't recognize him, but when they threaten him, get a stern comeback from Nico by turning them on each other (Brent had apparently been secretly seeing Trip's sister).
Peter becomes more confident and starts to use the Spider-Man persona to stop crime. Convinced that this is the same man that defeated his goons, Manfredi sends the Enforcers (Montana, Ox, and Fancy Dan) after him and they fight in the street. Peter has a hard time fighting them, but while he manages to gain the upper hand, Montana destroys Peter's web tank (which he is wearing on his back), and Ox slams him to the ground. The Enforcers stand over a beaten Peter who panics.
Issue #3[]
Peter manages to knock back the Enforcers, but must flee the fight. Onlookers witnessing this, accuse Spider-Man of being a coward, causing the public to turn against him. At school the next day while rushing through the halls and making complex maneuvers, he is spotted by Coach Grayfield who suggests that he join the football team. Peter is impressed with the idea of joining, but while walking with Nico, discreetly asks that if he had an advantage, would it would be considered cheating. The two attend a townhall meeting about the state of Midtown High, but it is prematurely ended by the arrival of the Enforcers. Silvermane wants to buy the piece of land.
At home, Peter tells May about the possibility of joining the football team. She is flummoxed by this, but this causes Peter to feel guilty as if he isn't meant to try out. She assures him that if an opportunity like this comes along, he should not be afraid of pursuing it. The next day, Peter tries out for football. While he does well initially, he ultimately fails on purpose, telling Grayfield that he would rather stick with mathematics.
Peter tells May that he isn't joining the football team and takes notice about how despite all the hardships they face, May manages to power through. She tells him that whenever she is faced with a problem, she calms herself and continues on due to her determination. Peter takes this to heart and decides to resume his superhero activities. He upgrades his web fluid cannister, and decides to add a spider symbol to the jersey he wears. While he is still a long way off from a perfect suit, Peter opts to resume being Spider-Man.
Issue #4[]
Peter helps Nico with hacking into Silvermane's computers and extracting information about his illegal activities. As Spider-Man, he locates his hideout and takes on Man Mountain Marko and the Enforcers. A fight breaks out that ends with Peter's webbing tank getting destroyed, but it traps Montana and Ox. Peter is cornered by Marko and Fancy Dan who proceeds to beat him up using whatever is at their disposal. Silvermane plans to have Spider-Man seen as an intruder that they tried to fight off.
Due to Peter and Nico's hacking, all of Silvermane's information, which was sent to various news outlets, including to Robbie Robertson and Barney Bushkin, ruining Silvermane's reputation and outing his criminal activities. As he hastily tries to find a way to get out of this situation, he angrily orders Marko to kill Peter. Due to his web tank being destroyed, Peter cannot get out of this situation. Looping back to the beginning of the first issue, Peter is picked up by Marko and flung off the building to his doom.
Issue #5[]
As Peter falls from the roof, he has a vision of Nico, May, and Uncle Ben, urging him to continue fighting. He manages to grab the wall with Marko and Fancy Dan running down to check on him. Peter gains his wind and proceeds to take the two out easily. He brings them back up and drops them on top of Manfredi, threatening him to drop the lawsuit that he planned to use against the leaked information. Manfredi and his goons are put in jail as Peter, bruised, returns and tells Nico the good news. Shortly afterwards, he goes back home to May who tends to his wounds as they sit and watch TV together.
At school, Peter runs into Pearl Pangan, his former neighbor who is happy to see him attending and even thanks Nico for knocking down the rich kids a peg. Peter and Nico's teacher Mrs. Eberhardt reveals that donations from numerous outlets, including Tony Stark, have come in to repair Midtown High, but offers that the two remain at Bales instead. Nico urges Peter to stay at the school with her, pointing out that this means he can be with Pearl. Peter continues to balance his school life with his new life as Spider-Man.
Trivia[]
- This comic confirms that within this universe, Uncle Ben's death happened before Peter got bitten by the spider. Additionally, Ben's death in this is due to illness, rather than being shot by a burglar.
- Crusher Hogan appears in the second issue and has a brief mention on TV in "The Parker Luck".
- The third issue was released the day of the season one finale.
- The comic reveals that Midtown was rebuilt, but that Peter chose to stay at Nico's behest and to be close to Pearl.
Gallery[]
External links[]
v - e - d  | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|