Web Warriors #3 Review

“Dear me, is there another war going on?!”

After a shaky second issue, can Costa and Baldeon bring back that spark that made the first issue so good? Get it, spark? … I’ll leave.

Writer: Mike Costa

Art: David Baldeon

Inker: Walden Wong, Victor Olazaba & Livesay

Colorist: Jason Keith & Andrew Crossley

Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna

Editor: Devin Lewis

Plot: Anya and Karn are talking about the future when the Electros invade Earth-001. Spider-UK’s Warriors are stranded in Earth-9105 but through the power of technobabble they manage to make it back to Loomworld to save their teammates. Spider-Gwen learns more about the Big Bad but when she attacks him she is forced to flee with Electro-449. The Warriors and Karn escape to Lady-Spider’s world whilst Gwen reunites with Spider-Ben. 

Spider-Thoughts: I’m going to honest with you here.  Web Warriors does not have the scope or importance of the Avengers or X-Men. It doesn’t have the emotional analysis of Doctor Strange or Secret Wars. But I can hold my hand up and say that this issue is a hell of a lot of fun. 

For starters, this issue opens with a humorous , and intriguing, exchange between Karn and Anya, These two characters have been neglected since the series started so it was good to give them their time to shine. The issue of having an Inheritor on a team full of Spiders was addressed and it could provide a good future threat for the Warriors (also, if Karn goes evil, it will allow me to use my killer arsenal of Star Trek 2 jokes). I won’t pretend that I know a lot about Anya but it was still good to see her given her time in the spotlight. Her initial fight with the Electros is both funny and badass and it almost makes me want to go and check out her previous stories. 

I’m glad that, out the gates, this issue spends a lot more time focusing on the core team rather than the Spider-Gwen side quest. The interactions between the Warriors are fun to watch and each character feels like they bring something unique to the team dynamic, which is impressive considering they are all essentially the same character. Whilst Spider-Gwen is fun to tag along with, the cynic inside me feels like she was separated from the team just to give Marvel’s newest star some extra screen time. I have always been a Spider-Gwen fan but I don’t think she is any more important to have around than any other member of the team. I suppose what I’m trying to say is don’t turn this into ‘Spider-Gwen and the Web Warriors’ please – give everyone their moment. 

Now that my mini-rant is over, onto the ever-impressive art. Whether its a small conversation or a large-scale action sequence, Baldeon excels. His style feels like a hybrid of Ramos’ and Bagley’s which works better than you think it would. Each locations feels fresh and vibrant enough for it to be obvious that its a different universe. His vision of the steampunk universe is very faithful to the original we’ve saw from Denis Medri in his short stories. My only concern is that this series will follow the trend of many newer comic books and dilute the comic with filler artist after filler artist when the first arc is done. Keep Baldeon on as long as he consistently gives out this level of art. 

I will commend the book for adding a little more depth to Big Bad Electro (I have yet to come up with a wittier name). Whilst still not as entertaining as a more corporate Electro could have been, I like the idea that the Big Bad was created using technology from the Kree’s Supreme Intelligence as well as the fact that he is made of many different Electros. Don’t misunderstand me though, this is still a really by-the-numbers villain but I will commend that Costa tried, even if it was only a little bit, to make this villain even remotely interesting. 

I will take back my complaint about last issue casting Electro-449 to the side. It was only a minor complaint but I felt like he was being sidelined after a large portion of the second issue being dedicated to him. Despite this, Electro-499 did get a little bit annoying. Within this issue he ‘turns’ on Spider-Gwen twice, making him a little bit predictable. I suppose you should be careful what you wish for! 

Let’s be honest with this book though. As I said earlier, Web Warriors is the not sort of book that delves deep into the psyche of our heroes nor is it a book that is panel after panel of events that ‘will shock the Marvel universe to it’s core!’. But that does not mean I wouldn’t recommend this book. It has its faults but we’re on the third issue now and I am really enjoying the ride. There are fun characters, outlandish back-drops and a mad concept that is truely embraced. That’s why I’m going to give this book 8 WEBS OUT OF 10.

Best line: 

Spider-Girl: “They’re threatening Karn.”

Spider-Man Noir: “How? He’s an immortal invincible vampire from beyond time.”

Spider-Points of Spider-Interest

• Is that a Lizard Electro? Awesome – why doesn’t he get more screen time?
• Just letting you know, not all us British people speak like Spider-UK!
• Now that more Spiders have entered the fray, will this series become too overcrowded? It’s issue 3 and already the team has gone from 6 Spiders to 9. I suppose only time will tell. 
• Why does Spider-Gwen look confused when she sees Uncle Ben use his powers? Surely she remembers him from the huge inter-dimensional war they fought a year ago.
• Is it bad that I like that the Electros are now called the Battery? The cheesiness of the name makes it more awesome. 
• Finally, I cant express enough how much I love Tom Whalen’s variant cover for this issue. Just look at it. Brilliant.