This 2022 comic contains Spider-Punk issues #1-5, starring Hobie Brown as the English, guitar-wielding Spider-Man with a British underground, punk-rock style attitude and quips.
The story follows the events of issue #2 of the Spider-Verse comic from 2015 where Spider-Punk, in an attempt to end the fascist agenda of President Norman Osborn (who was partnered with the Venom Symbiote), decapitated him using his guitar. However, at the end, it is revealed that Osborn survived by having his head put on a robotic body and healing himself with the symbiote (typical superhero comic book happenings, of course).
The story picks up after some time has passed and everything has returned somewhat back to normal. Spider-Punk and his crew go about their business fighting crime in Brooklyn and “reminding nazi-punks who’s boss.” But when Kraven & The Hunters show up (Earth 138’s version of Kraven The Hunter and his army), they realize that Osborn’s works may not be over. Riot-Heart (Earth 138’s Ironheart) discovers that Kraven’s army is using Osborn’s weapons, showing that even if Norman Osborn was dead, his criminal activities were still having an effect. From there, Spider-Punk, Riot-Heart, and the rest of the gang set out to find out what is going on, ultimately leading them back to Osborn, in his venomized and mechanical form.
Throughout the journey from Brooklyn to D.C., Spider-punk and the crew meet new heroes and villains, all different versions of the heroes and villains that we know from other universes. That’s what makes stories like Spider-Punk (Earth 138) and Miles Morales (Earth 1610) so interesting: getting to see familiar faces in different roles and looks. It is something that the Spider-verse does like no other, with the concept that there are infinite versions of Spider-Man of all different backgrounds, all with their own universe of heroes and villains that have their own flare. In this comic, I particularly enjoyed the take on Daredevil. Mattea Murdock is the “Daredevil Drummer of Philly,” with all the same skills and abilities as the Matthew Murdock we’re used to, but with her own punk-rock style. She has drumsticks instead of batons and uses them to create echolocation in her environment. Just an all-around neat take on a sound-based character in a music-oriented world.
Spider-Punk’s story will no doubt continue with his newly-formed team after the events of this story, and I’m definitely excited to see how that happens. The character interactions and world building in this comic are particularly enjoyable, and it’s always neat to see what different adaptations of familiar characters look like. So whether Spider-Punk is battling larger-than-life villains or street-level foes, you can be sure that the writers and artists will do him and his team justice just like they did here, in Spider-Punk: Battle of the Banned!
