Amalgam Comics Month: Spider-Boy #1 - Atop the Fourth Wall

NOTE: Viga got commissioned for a huge project throughout August and September, so during this time the title cards will be provided by J-Maner!
Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. We continue Amalgam Comics Month with the fusion of Spider-Man and Superboy!
Check out more AT4W shirts at Shark Robot: sharkrobot.com...
Title Card Art by J-Maner: / jmaneranimation
atopthefourthwa...
/ at4w
Originally released August 21st, 2023
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: You know, if we take a break from introducing characters, we might even be able to get some Spider-Boy in there!
#at4w #AmalgamComics

[@scottvanbuskirk9523]

The mini-Johnny Storm is a pretty impressive deep cut to the Jack Kirby Jimmy Olsen stuff that introduced Cadmus. In fact, almost all of the weird parts of this (including "evil DNA") are references to that. A shame that Amalgam Month won't include Iron Lantern...

[@Caernath]

...J. Jonah Jameson, Doctor Octopus and General Thunderbolt Ross are all nice guys and like our hero? Looks like this universe is far kinder to its champions than Marvel normally is.

[@wanderingstorytellerj7758]

Yeah, it's mixed with the more idealistic DC universe.

[@louisduarte8763]

Meanwhile, the main Marvel U can get very cynical, almost nihilistic, towards its heroes. Somebody there should check if Garth Ennis is skulking around in their office building's air ducts.

[@tjjordan4207]

But what does that mean for Gwen? Is she still alive?

[@reader7777]

I think if they did this now they would combine spider man with blue beetle. That way we can get the peter version with ted kord and the miles version for jaime.also they could combine the scarab with the symbiote. And you could make the original blue beetle his uncle Ben and that's why Peter became the next one.

[@michaelrhett4958]

BLUE SPIDER! The name was RIGHT there!

[@theruoc147]

Ben Riley could be the Scarlet Scarab.

[@myriadmediamusings]

Considering how Ted was done by Ditko, Spidey's co-creator, that would be quite the culmination. Never thought if of it that way and yeah I'm all for it. Ben/Dan, Peter/Ted and Miles/Jaime is a great idea.

[@chriscarlisle5676]

Spider Beetle, how about 70's supaida man/ blue beetle mix. Lol

[@ianr.navahuber2195]

@@myriadmediamusings the questions would be: 1) blue beetle / spider-man fusion would have powers or not? or only bare minimum while still having gadgetS? 2) who would they fuse booster gold with to be "blue spider"'s best friend?

[@chasemaddigan9810]

What happens when you mix Spider-Man with Superboy? ... You get Invincible.

[@gracekim25]

I get it😜

[@jadenbryant9283]

Specifically the Silver age Superboy

[@Rabbitlord108]

Now I have a question. What Spiderman character would make sense to merge with Superboy Prime?

[@donnae1899]

@@Rabbitlord108 Age Of Apocalypse Spidey?

[@Zenn_Chan]

@@Rabbitlord108 Superior Spider-Man I suppose?

[@GraveRobbinJake]

EXCUSE ME. LINKARA. "PISTOL-THWIPPING SPIDER BOY" WAS NOT SOMETHING I WAS PREPARED FOR WHILE I WAS DRINKING MY SODA

[@speedflashanimations221]

Fun fact:spider boy was considered to make a appearance in across the spider verse in concept art but was scrapped for unknown reasons

[@chriscarlisle5676]

Possibly due a very similar character... Cosmic spider.

[@leephillips4402]

Probably because no one at DC signed off.

[@J1P2K]

That would have been so darn cool!

[@cassianoneto1553]

Pretty sure DC and Marvel have equal rights to all Amalgam characters so they would need to cooperate for that to happen. In the comics Spiderverse though the artist managed to sneak Spider Boy in there in the middle of a shot with hundreds of spideys and with enough ambiguity to avoid a lawsuit.

[@mikegates8993]

@@cassianoneto1553 Sort of like how both DC and Marvel artists have made reference to JLA/Avengers over the years without actually saying them?

[@aaronbourque5494]

Hell, Bizarro's manner of speech is written inconsistently even when he's NOT fused with another character...

[@Ksawarrior]

I think King Lizard is meant to be Lizard and King Shark, since King Shark started as one of Superboy’s villains in the 90’s. Also, I think Bizarrnage was meant to have possessed Johnny Storm, and abandoned him (hence why he was more gooey) when going for Spider-Boy before his capture.

[@DasKame]

Would make more sense, because Fing Fang Foom is ALSO mixing with Brimstone in the JLX Comic

[@Tomy574]

Yup, also superboy's supporting cast was based in Hawaii at the time

[@Paxchi]

Just to point out a couple of things: 1) Johnny Storm was actually inside Bizzarnage from the start of the issue. He was threatening the director with death, but then Spider-Boy offers to let Bizzarnage merge with him. We actually see Bizzarnage flow off of Johnny Storm, which is why he suddenly loses his more humanoid shape, right before getting sucked into the containment grid. 2) King Lizard was likely a combo of The Lizard and Superboy villain King Shark.

[@nirast2561]

Since you mentioned him, I’d like to point out that Daredevil’s power set fits Batman better. Yes, bats aren’t actually blind, but they still use echolocation (afaik) and the popular myth at the time was that they were blind. Also, stunt racer that made a deal with the devil. Ghost Rider should’ve been named Daredevil. … Yes, I got all this from that one video made by (I think) Dorkly, why do you ask?

[@mikegates8993]

From what I've heard, Ghost Rider apparently is a little salty that Daredevil got the name before him.

[@Syurtpiutha]

@@mikegates8993I recall seeing a sketch that ended up with the point that Daredevil should be called Batman, Ghostrider should be called Daredevil, and Batman should be called ghostrider (thought the last one required a bit of a bit of a leap, the framing and reasoning sounded somewhat plausible based on Bruce Wayne's backstory. Something about riding the power of generational wealth to deal with crime, IIRC).

[@bjam89]

​@@Syurtpiuthawasn't bats new name her boyfriend

[@Mask0fFate]

9:50 Actually, Bizarnage’s wording was “then he not do what I not want now”. In broken English, he’s saying “if I’m in charge, then you won’t do what I don’t want you to anymore”. In other words, he’s saying Spider-Boy will do what he says.

[@DigiRangerScott]

Oh my god I just realized the Fantastic Four got merged with THE CHALLENGERS OF THE UNKNOWN!

[@Mobysimo]

Funny enough, theres an actual Spider-Boy in the comics now. And Im shocked it took them this long to use it again.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Honestly Spider-Boy sometimes acts more like a adult than Peter does

[@jonahfalcon1970]

My favorite is still Dr. Strangefate, featuring the Skulk.

[@WraithTDK]

Good call. I can't remember all of them off the top of my head, but I do remember he was pretty bad-ass!

[@BaronSengir1008]

He showed up later, and ended up getting a pocket dimension created...

[@MJTRadio]

THIS IS THE MONADO’S POWER!

[@Dynaman21]

It’s been forever since I read Marvel vs DC, but wasn’t Strangefate actually Charles Xavier?

[@Austin_Soares]

Mine is Speed Demon.

[@cassiedevereaux-smith3890]

Mary Jane/Lana Lang mashup.... I like it. Red headed love interest neighbors. (Okay, Lana was Clark's, but WHILE he was Superboy.) Also, I can't get enough Insect Queen in my life.

[@wdcain1]

I forgot that Lana Lang was the Insect Queen in the Silver Age. But coincidentally, Paul Jenkins did introduce an Insect Queen in his run. Both girls even have the same costume colors - gold and black.

[@Rabbitlord108]

Now I want someone to redraw that costume with the color scheme of Yugioh's Insect Queen.

[@cassiedevereaux-smith3890]

@@wdcain1 Obviously, a man with discerning taste! One of the post-CoiE things I enjoyed was how writers would reintroduce concepts like that with a new twist. It was just fun.

[@michaelrhett4958]

They could’ve used Ted Kord Blue Beetle and called the fusion “Blue Spider!” THE NAME WAS RIGHT THERE!

[@chriscarlisle5676]

They'd probably go with Spider Beetle. Lol

[@justanotheranimeprofilepic]

both are even Ditko created characters, not to mention much of adult Spidey's personality and moves were used for Ted Kord. but maybe I'm a bit biased because seeing my favorite marvel character with my favorite of the blue beetles would've been cool

[@cassiedevereaux-smith3890]

I'm down, but only if there's an amalgamated Booster Gold with him. But who to combine with Booster from the Marvel side?

[@jamestolbert6534]

@@cassiedevereaux-smith3890 Iron man, maybe? Have him get shot while doing superheroics for fame, and his weapons fall into the wrong hands, so he has to take things seriously and become a real hero?

[@DrMintster]

Damn, that's good. Honestly, if Pete was still Spider-Man and we had Ben as the Scarlet Spider, I could easily see Ted + Pete in conjunction with Ben + Conor. Of course, that's easy to say in hindsight. lmao

[@aidanboyle7374]

I love the "jacket over spandex" fad from the 90s, and I honestly think Spider-Boy has one of the best out there. I even met Linkara (very briefly) while cosplaying him at ConBravo once!

[@joshuajackson4473]

It also helps you can use it to kinda cover part of the costume and probably claim it's a track suit

[@aros0018]

Which is apparently being brought back with Power Girl's new design. It's not bad, though I do admit that I miss the cape.

[@Cdr2002]

Superboy and 90s Firestar have fantastic designs, I definitely agree with you

[@JohnPannozzi]

Freefall (from Gen 13) looked pretty cool in a jacket, if you ask me.

[@Cdr2002]

@@aros0018 I feel the same way, especially with those new super family jackets. Jon and Kara need capes

[@Timeseye]

Realised what the confusion was about the Johnny Storm/Harper switch with one of the panels you showed again near the end when Johnny is lying hurt on the floor; text mentions that his condition could be due to symbiosis. Johnny wasn't the one grabbed by the neck, he was the symbiote's unwilling host.

[@joshuaingobo1559]

2:57 It makes sense for Ted Kord to be a DC equivalent for Peter Parker Spider-Man because they’re both characters who were co-created by Steve Dirk in the 1960s, have a few quirks and funny moments, witness the death of their mentors (i.e. Uncle Ben for Spider-Man and Dan Garrett for Ted Kord), becoming best friends with other heroes (i.e. Human Torch and Daredevil for Spider-Man and Question and Booster Gold for Ted Kord), joining the greatest superhero teams (i.e. Avengers for Spider-Man and JLI for Ted Kord), being dead and resurrected a few times, creating a legacy (i.e. Miles Morales and Jaime Reyes), having multiple love interests (i.e. MJ Watson for Spider-Man and Tracey for Ted Kord), and having a lot of similarities to Batman. If Peter Parker merged with Ted Kord, then they’ll become Peter Kord, the Amazing Spider Beetle. Peter Kord’s origins would start with him being bitten by a radioactive spider and beetle, causing him to gain powers of a spider and beetle, building webshooters and the Bug, witnessing the death of his uncle Ben Garrett (the Spectacular Spider Beetle), learning that great power comes great responsibility, forming a romantic relationship with and marrying Tracey Jane “TJ” Watson (a combination of Tracey and MJ Watson), and mentoring Jaime Morales (a combination of Jaime Reyes and Miles Morales) to become the Ultimate Spider Beetle.

[@jadenbryant9283]

I'm surprised no one's brought up Wally west

[@thanoskell1335]

Bizarrenage looks like a proto anti-venom. neat

[@DasKame]

and sounds like a medicine

[@user-Phoenix125]

4:41 I bloody love this AtopTheFourthWall theme, the guitar really gives power to the music. Also, kudos on the Bizarnage voice and may your future be brighter than the sun.

[@cartoonman81]

I like how your cat looks at Lobo The Duck like "What the Hell is this!"

[@fbrume]

"The biggest flaw is they try to introduce too many new characters...." Brilliant foreshadowing for the Spiderboy book in the second batch of issues, which combined the Legion of Superheroes and as many Marvel superheroes as they could scrape together.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

Yeah, the whole homage/parody of the various LOS reboots just made the comic confusing and annoying to me.

[@Rabbitlord108]

Now I want fanart of Braintron (My name for an amalgam of Braniac & Ultron)

[@JohnnyElRed]

With a name like King Lizard, I imagined he was an amalgam with King Shark. But that doesn't seem to be the case either.

[@MadisonCarter]

It actually is - King Shark was a Superboy villain at the time.

[@Carnagevenomtoxin]

Yeah they just threw some Fin Fang Foom in there too just cause. There are a couple of em like that.

[@MrSkerpentine]

@@Carnagevenomtoxinshould’ve called him Splish Splash Sploosh lol

[@MadisonCarter]

@@Carnagevenomtoxin Oh for sure - even some of the bigger characters in the event got that. Speed Demon being Flash, Ghost Rider and Etrigan, for instance.

[@twarzyee806]

@@MadisonCarter Don't forget the multiple Charles Xavier amalgams as well

[@maxxjapan619]

I like the idea that Spider-Boy uses a web gun. Not sure if it was intentional, but it brings to mind when Marvel was figuring out the character and (supposedly) Jack Kirby wanted to give him a web gun before Steve Ditko switched it to a wrist based web shooter.

[@thomasrdiehl]

I think we did get Captain Marvel vs Captain Marvel in the trading card series. The Marvel vs DC trading cards were amazing. The 90's were just the height of non-game trading cards.

[@jefffarler]

I wonder if you could include DC's Golden Age Tarantula in the mash-up, since he also used a web gun.

[@mesektet5776]

Fun Fact; Ravenheart set up Spider-Boy and Insect Queen, to make up for her dad blinking their marriage out of existence.

[@tjjordan4207]

I am so interested in hearing the details to that.

[@GambeTama]

...go on...

[@tjjordan4207]

@@GambeTama Agreed! Please continue.

[@infinityalbi9840]

Ravenheart?

[@mesektet5776]

@@infinityalbi9840 We are talking about combos, so a combo of the two kids of the Devil in each universe Raven + Blackheart.

[@BaronSengir1008]

To be fair, Earth-616 was pretty much the only version of Reed Richards who wasn't completely evil...

[@Rabbitlord108]

Yeah. There Sue Storm went evil instead.

[@richborn6700]

Not completely evil, just about 50,000 various shades of grey

[@tyrant-den884]

Operative word "completely"

[@muigokublack6487]

@@tyrant-den884 Well it seems every other version of Reed goes off the deep end. One doing the original ending of ROTJ where they killed Doom only to become the NEW Doom, 2149 Reed who thought being a zombie was the "next evolutionary step", 1610 Reed who snapped and became "The Maker", etc.

[@oliviawilliams6204]

There’s Spider Gwen version who isn’t evil either

[@AussieDragoon]

If we go timeline-wise, I guess it'd be Countdown to Secret Invasion? Or possibly Final Invasion to really Amalgamate it. That or Annihilation: Conquest was around the same time so it could be "Countdown to Annihilation: CRISIS!"

[@skorn8112]

It feels so weird having AT4W back on a weekly schedule but im so glad it is thanks Lewis.

[@calebmarmon1310]

I know! I feel bad making a big deal of it, but it’s really nice to have him back regularly.

[@wanderingstorytellerj7758]

Don't worry, Halloween should fix that up! (I kid, it really is great to have a consistent schedule again.)

[@richborn6700]

I unabashedly and unironically stan the Sensational Spider-Ben variant of the Spider-Man suit. It worked on May Parker, and while somewhat dated it withstood the test of time and is still in style today

[@AlriikRidesAgain]

Ben has drip. Ben-Jackal, Scarlet Spider, Sensational, Chasm, all awesome looks.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Someone let Peter Parker watch Weird Science again when they know they shouldn't have

[@Spatu10]

Spider-Boy’s power being gravity control that lets him emulate the whole “wall crawling” thing is kinda ingenious, considering that Superboy’s tactile telekinesis was originally something he had to use to emulate Superman’s powers before he developed proper Kryptonian powers now I’m just wondering if Spider-Boy got Super Soldier powers after learning he was really a clone of Norman Luthor

[@CoolDude12468]

While I’m sure they would combine Spider-Man with Blue Beetle if they did this again, I feel like Nightwing would be more interesting. Both are acrobatic, younger superheroes with a redhead love interest who are both some of the biggest heroes of each company

[@ianr.navahuber2195]

it would give him a connection to the dardevil batman amalgam

[@jakobthedragonboy]

That actually works on 2 really cool levels since with that combo you take marvels powered guy and ordinary girl with DCs Ordinary guy and powered girl.

[@ianr.navahuber2195]

@@jakobthedragonboy who do you mean by marvel's "ordinary girl" and "powered girl" ? mary jane and starfire?

[@jakobthedragonboy]

@@ianr.navahuber2195 yeah

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Are we sure Spider-Boy wasn't the Jackal masterplan and we just never thought of it

[@benwasserman8223]

No. But Jackal’s probably salivating at Spider-Gwen and the existence of a Gwen multiverse right now.

[@leroypreston2973]

Though, who would Jackal be fused with in the amalgam universe? Double X, blockbuster, who?

[@plantainsame2049]

​@@leroypreston2973I would say Luther Due to him cloning super boy, but. Red skull already Is claim to him

[@shinyagumon7015]

Too bad Miles Morales wasn't around yet or we might've gotten him mixed with Steel. Steel Spider aka Miles Henry Iron.

[@stephenquinn3447]

14:05 The reviled story One More Countdown, which was a spin-off of the event Final War

[@Rabbitlord108]

More like One More Crisis.

[@ellnats]

"with great power comes great possibilities" so true, i can think of some imaginative uses of some heroes super powers

[@DasKame]

it's a good one

[@hulk6785]

Bizarnage looks like the inspiration for Anti-Venom, the white symbiote.

[@dreadpiraterobin8379]

I feel like a more organic combination might've been lizard and Helgramite, a bug themed Superman villain. Could've been neat. Big bug lizard guy.

[@troikas3353]

Rom's amalgam is Brother Rom, but instead of super-computer-villainy or anti-heroing he's just a fictional version of Clippy that pops up on peoples devices at random to quote the rules of acquisition at them.

[@spikejr3113jr]

Been waiting for this video since Superboy Conner Kent is my all time favourite superhero and Ben Riley is my favourite Spider-Man. Also to learn more about comics thank you for the videos Linkara.

[@jaredziemer775]

I like Conner Kent also, the young justice tv vershon to be more specific.

[@gryphonofmight]

I really like the idea of Doc Ock as a good guy who is a mentor to spiderman. I would love to see a take like that by marvel sometime

[@CharlesXavier]

For those unaware, the other Spider-Boy comic introduces a villain named Kang the Time Conqueror, which you could guess, is an amalgamation of DC's Time Trapper and Marvel's Kang the Conqueror... and a certain someone else. I won't say who it is, but it's quite hilarious. 😁

[@martincann5052]

Okay, the 'feeding him evil DNA to make him evil' plot reminds me of the Judge Dredd story 'Blood of Satanus', where a disgruntled lab intern turns his downstairs neighbour into a dinosaur-human hybrid by feeding him the blood of a T-Rex. Named Satanus.

[@jakarnilson]

And of course, the Satanus of Judge Dredd's time is actually a clone of the original Satanus, who appeared in the time-travel story "Flesh!", which commenced in the very first prog of 2000 AD!

[@martincann5052]

@@jakarnilson Oh mah Gaaaaaawd! It's like poetry!

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

I just want to thank Lewis for all the entertainment and information he gives to every single comic review and how he isn't afraid to speak his opinion on what worked and what didn't

[@darkhelmet87]

The real question- which would be the worst combination of EVENTS from both universes? Countdown+ultimatum Identity crisis+avengers 200 Cry for justice+one more day I think the real kicker would be Act of god+marville All the superheroes lose their powers, but instead of batman, they all have to worship al, mickey and lucy, and listen to their insane ideas about god and evolution

[@Riptomus364]

"My fedora. My most valuable possession eaten by worms? I knew this day would come."

[@GeneralKenobi75]

I think the "King" in King Lizard's name might also be a reference to King Shark as well. Who's fought Superboy as well in his own comics.

[@DasKame]

Indeed, Fing Fang Foom was mixed with Brimstone to FING FANG FLAME (JLX Comic)

[@dvass7253]

You can tell this comic was made during the Clone Saga era because Donovan is obviously a clone of Groucho Marx.

[@dkfrito]

Pretty sure King Croc was supposed to be a mix of the Lizard and King Shark, who was primarily a Super Boy villian at the time

[@colinvandenberg3446]

1:04 I love how Starfire is looking straight at the "Lobo the Duck" comic. Even she's like, "huh?"

[@DasKame]

Dont F$%& with the Duck...

[@Rabbitlord108]

Considering that there was a crossover between DC & Looney Tunes. I think if this was redone today we would get "Daffy The Duck"

[@baconlordthereal]

hm i never knew the cat was named starfire

[@ShinyGaara65]

I honestly think ROM would have fused with AMAZO, or even Red Tornado. Imagine a robot from a parallel universe where flesh is sillicon and a 1950s scientist pulled a Martian Manhunter and summoned him to our flesh dimension where he learns to be like the human.

[@joshuajackson4473]

7:20 D.N. Alien?! Oh my god, the Amalgam Universe is fusing with Ben 10 Alien Force!

[@Rabbitlord108]

Funny how Omniverse dealt with the idea of alternate realities.

[@New3DSLuigi364]

I Love Amalgam Comics Month; I Hope we see more of them in the future. . .

[@DasKame]

what comes next week? No idea whats consideresd the worst

[@DavidJoh]

King Lizard's DC half was Connor Kent's foe "KIng Shark".

[@squeethemog213]

This story sounds like a lot of fun. I'd buy an omnibus of Spider-Boy's adventures 😁

[@kradeiz]

One of the weird things about Amalgam (creatively I mean, it’s inherently weird) is which characters it chose to be amalgams and which it didn’t. Civilian and supporting characters staying the same makes sense since there’s so many of them but then you have hero characters like the Fantastic 4, Bruce Wayne, and Diana who are still themselves, just in different roles.

[@blainecrowley1134]

“DNAliens” didn’t know Ben 10 was in the Amalgam Universe. Wonder if he combined with Generator Rex

[@wolftitanreading5308]

Probably dial a hero

[@Rabbitlord108]

Especially funny since Man Of Action later worked on the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon.

[@donnae1899]

Dark Horse+Image=Dark Image Nintendo+Sega=Tenga Super Mario Bros+Sonic The Hedgehog=Super Hedgehog Plumbers Mortal Kombat+Street Fighter=Kombat Fighter Looney Tunes+Mickey And Friends=Looney Friends

[@cameronpearce5943]

Man I would love for them to do this again. I freaking love the amalgam comics XD

[@shadowldrago]

I'm pleasantly surprised at how GOOD this comic is.

[@lancerutt9936]

It feels like classic Silver Age despite being 90s

[@shadowldrago]

@@lancerutt9936 Kinda, yeah. There's an inherent goofiness to the whole thing that weirdly works. It also lacks a lot of the over the top edge or mean spiritedness present in a lot of 90s comics.

[@ellnats]

am i the only one who wants to see spider-boy in a spiderman game or movie?

[@jeremyborder6794]

I would love a Spider-Boy alternate costume for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

[@TheOnlyTherazan]

Marvel versus DC actually *was* my entry point into comic books! Its last issue was the first comic I owned! And this issue had a page for each pair of character merged together. It's where I first learned about Shazam, Quicksilver, The Flash and many characters who weren't in the cartoons at the time!

[@CMWaters]

Just by the "King" in his name and IIRC he was a villain in the Superboy comics of the time, perhaps King Lizard's DC piece in the mixture was King Shark?

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

Man Amalgam Comics Month has been so good to watch really you have been doing great work on this

[@sebastianevangelista4921]

Speaking of evil Reed Richards, storylines featuring The Maker could be cool. His usage in the 2018 Venom run is notable seeing as Reed is often a mentor figure to Peter, so having an evil Reed interact with a darker Spider-Man figure kind of works.

[@wererat2000]

Not sure if this'll be seen but worth boosting engagement: I think Jonny Storm was *inside* bizzarnage at the beginning, and the symbiote jumped off of him to merge with Spider-Boy. They mention after affects of symbiosis, probably wouldn't've been relevant if he was just choked. Still not super clear from what I remember.

[@joshuaingobo1559]

6:06 That tagline is Amazing, Sensational, Spectacular, Web of, Friendly Neighborhood, Deadly Neighborhood, Ultimate, Superior, Symbiote, Spine-Tingling, Savage, Non-Stop, and Adjectiveless because it shows that Spider-Boy has possibilities to try and become a superhero.

[@kainhighwind2]

Okay I think I legitimately love this origin for Spider-Boy. I legitimately want more of this character. Dark Claw and Super Soldier are meh, but Spider-Boy? I think we have a real winner here.

[@tjjordan4207]

I wish these interactions between Marvel and DC are still being done today, when we could get crossovers and mashups like this comic.

[@CrazyFoo501]

8:56 Spider-Boy is aware he's in a comic book universe and death of major characters (that aren't backstory supporting characters) is only temporary Brilliant!

[@louisduarte8763]

He has some of Deadpool's 4th-wall breaking powers! Tikes, who would Deadpool have been combined with, Deathstroke? Too obvious?

[@Mask0fFate]

10:21 Actually, Bizarnage up to that point was bonded with Johnny Storm, so technically Spider-Boy was fighting Johnny. But, when Spider-Boy offered himself to Bizarnage to save the director (who Bizarnage was originally planning to ditch Johnny for), the Symbiote ditched Johnny for Spider-Boy.

[@G_Gr00v3]

I was so excited when I realized this comic was going to be reviewed on the show. Growing up, most of my early exposure to comics was some Spider-Man Anthology books a neighbor let me borrow. They also happened to have Spider-Boy #1, I never got the chance to read it, but loved the character design. This was my first time getting to see the actual story and character of the comic, thank you for covering this Lewis!

[@rorylumley4727]

I do like spider-boy mostly for his coustume as i think it mixes the coustumes well without being overdesigned or boring.

[@koneheadcokehead4981]

I love how Linkara finds a way to explain every single move or action a character does and is able to understand sometimes more than i could

[@Alucard-A-La-Carte]

I love the name "Bizarnage" mostly because it sounds like an attempt to do Snoop Dogg/carny late '90s/early 2000s "sliz-ang." Which makes me want to badly dab every time I hear it.

[@DigiRangerScott]

I finally watched Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie for the first time ever. I can’t believe the villain never mentioned Ancient Iran!

[@haydentcem]

Man, thinking about Rom in the Amalgamverse is gonna drive me crazy 😅

[@Rabbitlord108]

I think it would be interesting to merge him with Braniac 5. Call him "ROMIAC"

[@jakobthedragonboy]

Wait, did they combine MJ Watson with Queen Bee?! I don't get it, maybe someone just wanted to see her in a sexy Princess Whats-Her-Name cosplay.

[@DasKame]

How very Earthworm Jim of you

[@zxtreme31]

2:90 One other point about the daredevil-Batman fusion that would make them work. Ahem. Blind as a bat. Seriously, the story meshes perfectly. Young Matt Wayne is out with parents when they’re mugged. During the struggle a stray bullets hits a passing truck filled with chemicals that spray young Matt Wayne in the eyes. The last thing he sees before going blind is his parents lying dead in front of him. He grows up developing his body but also developing his heightened remaining senses. Billionaire lawyer by day, at night he dawns a costume to make criminals fear and wish to repent. He is Batdevil.

[@SetoShadowVT]

Funny how Linkara said he is surprised Marvel hasn't used the name Spider-Boy up until now after these comics because man lol they actually did just that but a different identity and concept for Spider-Boy

[@theruoc147]

Great power great possibilities should have been the tagline for the amalgam universe as a whole.

[@mathieuleader8601]

Bizzarenage looks like he could be a part of KISS

[@TheLastFanboy]

Countdown to Secret Invasion Countdown to Secret Empire Countdown to Civil War II and to mash-up a good dystopian future story with a bad one - Days of Future's End

[@lordzeppelin3824]

Ah, seems I was wrong last week. The comic I have must be the sequel issue where Spider-Boy meets the Legion of Superheroes Amalgam equivalent. That being said, this was a very fun review as always. 👍

[@joshuaingobo1559]

10:57 They’re the Challengers of the Fantastic, a combination of the Fantastic Four and the Challengers of the Unknown.

[@DasKame]

i dont even know the Challengers....

[@JohnPannozzi]

Challengers was a DC series created by Jack Kirby that was a sort of prototype for the F4.

[@CUniverse]

Kinda want more Amalgam Comics to come out. The 2 waves they made in the 90s had more hits than misses. Makes me wonder who has the rights to particular characters. Also: it's a DOWNRIGHT SIN we never got a Spider Boy in Across the Spiderverse

[@ianr.navahuber2195]

0:13 (Laughs in Dan Slott creating Baily Briggs AKA Spider-Boy in 2023) It still funny how long it took them to use the name for themselves 2:08 How would a Captain marvel Amalgam would look like. ESPECIALLY TODAY Would you fuse Billy Batson with Caron Danvers or with the original Mar-Vell? Would you fuse Mary Marvel with Carol Danvers ? or with Kamala Khan? 2:39 Why Daredevil would be the perfect character to fuse / Amalgam with Batman? 6:05 that's a great tagline 14:12 These days, Doc Ock would have probably been merged with Metallo.... or with Cyborg Superman given his track record. Or maybe Ultra-Humanite

[@caesar0frome950]

I’m surprised you never done a heroes reborn Month

[@AceSpadeThePikachu]

With the mostly white aesthetic "Bizarnage" just looks like a slightly edgier Anti-Venom.

[@JakeCosplays]

the web flewed gun is an intresting and smart idea. its been implemented as a device used for The Spider from Dynamite comics.

[@JamesAdams-nd1td]

I think King Lizard is a 4 way cross between Kong-Shark, the Lizard, Fin-Fang-Foom and Killer Croc. I gotta say, I like the idea that the writers were pretending that Amalgam was a real company with multiple books. This whole project was obviously more for fun than profit, and the writers were clearly having a blast with it. Rom would be the greatest of the Emerald Knights!

[@clauro6153]

The web gun was in the Kirby original design before they decide go with Dikto

[@lancerutt9936]

I think in the context of DC, it's a reference to Tarantula

[@TheMadMaple]

I'm pretty sure that King Lizard was supposed to be an amalgam of The Lizard and King Shark. Yes, the one from The Suicide Squad and Harley Quinn. He was introduced in the Superboy comic not long before this issue came out.

[@Cdr2002]

Countdown to Ultimatum, obviously! Speaking of fake events, I once saw a fan edited cover for a probably terrible storyline that would’ve shaken the heroes of Amalgam to their core, as secrets are revealed and hero is pitted against hero! “Identity War”

[@the4thwallkid132]

And yet this guy never got a cameo in across the spider verse unfortunately

[@e-convoy1783]

This is gonna be good!

[@Dreyfusxano]

I just finished watching this episode and I noticed a small spelling error in one of your after thoughts in the credits. "In case tou were wondering..." This is a very fascinating look into this series, keep up the good work.