There’s a kid who is convinced that he’s Peter Parker’s sidekick. Parker works alone, though. Always has, right? Except for those times when he’s been on a team like the Avengers of the Fantastic Four or...then there was that whole series of team-ups in the 1980s that were so frequent that they had their own title, and well...okay: he’s never had a SIDEKICK, though. And so he’s going to have his hands full convincing this kid that he’s wrong in  Spider-Man #11. Writer Dan Slott marches Spider-Man through a strange little adventure with artist Luciano Vecchio and colorist Edgar Delgado. 

The kid’s from a parallel dimension. And honestly...Parker’s been through enough of THAT over the years that it really should have occurred to him more or less instantly. Honestly, there should be some kind of a direct line to a certain physician on Bleecker Street for displaced people throughout the multiverse, but he’s got his hands full. So, the kid tells Parker his life story. He was clearly Spidey’s sidekick in another world, but what does that make him when he’s displaced? Things are a bit complicated for everyone involved. It’s a problem that isn’t going to be easy to solve. 

It’s a set-up for a Spider-Boy series. The origin of a ten-year-old Spider-kid makes its way across the page as the displaced unfortunate kid gets a chance to talk with a version of the man who made him who he is. It’s kind of a long walk through what amounts to a series of mini-issues going through a few key points in the character’s past. There’s an origin story and...what could have been like...the first three issues of a series if Slott had a bit more patience for it, but he IS trying to pitch the idea of this character to the readers as Spider-Boy pitches the idea of a sidekick to Peter. 

Vecchio launches Spider-Man through stories of an alternate universe featuring well-rendered iterations of Daredevil and Arcade. The action feels like a sharp twist on traditional Spider-Man imagery with clean lines and dramatic angles that are leant quite a bit of depth by the color of Delgado. There’s wit in the expressive poise and postures that are drawn into both of the main characters. Vecchio gives Paco Medina a pretty sharp initial study for the series that he will be drawing for Slott this fall. 

Yeah. It’s okay. Go ahead and do a Spider-Boy series. Really. It’ll be...cool or whatever. It’s not like he’s THAT much younger than the original Peter Parker was when he started up back in the 1960s. What was he...like...a sophomore in high school or something like that? Yeah...so it’s not like this is going to be all that different, right? Really. Another Spider-title. It’ll be...fine. Honestly, it’s not like...it’s not like there are any other ideas for a new Marvel series, right?

Grade: C-