When erased from the Web of Life, Spider-Boy returns and must convince the world he is who he says he is, including his mentor Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man, who doesn’t remember his long-lost sidekick.
Erased From Existence
Kidnapped by mad scientist Madame Monstrosity, seven-year-old Bailey Briggs undergoes one of her experiments against his will. She splices his DNA with that of a spider, giving him spider-strength, spider-speed, wall-crawling abilities, and a Spider-Sense that warns him of danger. He also transforms physically, receiving additional eyes and fangs. While trapped, he makes friends with a fellow captive, Eli, and they joke back and forth, though one of the jokes leads to Eli’s horrific transformation into Hellifino, an elephant and a rhinoceros.
Bailey eventually escapes and meets Spider-Man, who introduces him to Matthew Murdock, AKA Daredevil, to help him with his vision problem. With eight eyes, Bailey takes in too much information so Daredevil helps him focus. From there, Bailey trained with Spider-Man and Daredevil in the field, learning how to fight against basic thugs, ninja and henchmen. Spider-Man introduces Spider-Boy to Reed Richards, AKA Mister Fantastic, who sets him up with a costume and gear. Though he’s given web-shooters from Spider-Man, he has an accident with them, so he’s not allowed to use them.
Spider-Boy tags along on Spider-Man’s adventures and sits out whenever the bigger villains pose a threat. When Spider-Boy saves the city from Killionaire, the villain hires Arcade to take him out. Spider-Boy gets captured and sent to Arcade’s Murderworld but Spider-Man rushes to help him. Together, they liberate themselves from one of the deadliest places on earth. Impressed by Spider-Boy’s ability to hold his own against a foe like Arcade, his mentor agrees to update his fight list.
Bailey then spends a few years as Spider-Man’s sidekick, but gets erased from the Web of Life by a Shathra-corrupted Spider wielding the Totem Dagger. Upon returning, no one, not even Spider-Man, remembers him. To make matters worse, his mother, Tabitha Briggs, goes missing, so he lives at the F.E.A.S.T. Center, run by May Reilly Parker-Jameson, AKA Aunt May. Sometimes wishing he was just a kid, he endeavors to find his mom and rebuild his reputation as Spider-Boy!
Spider-Powers
As a human-spider hybrid, Bailey possesses spider-like physiology, similar to Spider-Man. He has spider-speed, spider-strength and can scale walls with his sticky hands and feet. Bailey also has a Spider-Sense, which gives him psychic flashes from people, places and things, and warns him when others are in danger. Furthermore, he can talk to all spiders. Bailey can change into his monster form, where he has fangs and additional eyes, but he prefers not to employ these aspects if he doesn’t have to since he doesn’t like being viewed as a monster.
He wears a costume designed by Mister Fantastic, which is created out of unstable molecules and, therefore, can mimic the wearer’s abilities. The costume includes shoes that become just as sticky as Bailey’s feet. Though Spider-Man doesn’t let him have web-shooters, he uses a set from the Superior Spider-Man (Dr. Otto Octavius, AKA Doctor Octopus, in Spider-Man’s body) for a time. Bailey also wears a Bug-Pack on his back that acts like a backpack and holds devices, such as the web-fluid dissolver.
Bigger and Bigger Threats
Gutterball, the bowling-alley bandit, is one of Spider-Boy’s most deadly foes. Spider-Boy also goes up against the sinister Super Villain, Professor Emilio Helio, AKA the Balloon Man, Taskmaster, and Killionaire.
Spider-Boy also faces his creator’s other creations, including his former pal, Eli, the elephant-rhinoceros hybrid, Hellifino.
Spider-Pals and Friendships
Bailey becomes close with his mentor Spider-Man as well as his secret identity Peter Parker, and Peter’s Aunt May. He trains with Daredevil and helps Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, against Taskmaster.
As Spider-Boy, Bailey saves Christina Xu, reveals his secret identity to her, and from then on she and her family look out for him. Bailey also has a twin brother known as Boy-Spider and made by Madame Monstrosity using Bailey’s DNA. Though his twin is more spider than boy.
Proving Himself a Hero
After three years building up his reputation as a hero and at 10 years old, Bailey’s Super Hero life as Spider-Boy goes down the drain when he was erased from the Web of Life. Returning to life, thanks to Neith, he soon discovered that no one remembered him. He insisted that he existed and set out to prove it, by saving a young girl, Christina Xu, from Martin Li, AKA Mr. Negative, and his gang of Inner Demons and they became fast friends and helping Spider-Man after he upgraded his Spider-Sense to detrimental results. Bailey went to the reformed Norman Osborn, AKA Gold Goblin, for help. On their way to help Spider-Man, they found him fighting Max Dillon, AKA Electro. Spider-Boy went so far as to bite Electro with his fangs, shocking the nearby onlookers as well as Spider-Man.
Afterwards, Spider-Man demanded that Bailey cease his heroism as Spider-Boy as he was too young and still didn’t believe that he had had a sidekick. Bailey refused and instead elucidated Spider-Man with his origin story, and that he did in fact exist as his sidekick. Bailey noted how his mentor made him a web-fluid dissolver so he could break free of spider-webs, and that he started to trust him to face bigger and badder threats, like Jackson Weele, AKA the Big Wheel. Spider-Boy reminded Spider-Man how he saved Aunt May that day too, and Spider-Man seemed more convinced from the young hero’s tales.
Spider-Boy then helped Spider-Man save Lucky Lane’s Bowling Alley from the menace Gutterball. But the Daily Bugle deemed him a monster with one bad photo. Upset, he returned home to F.E.A.S.T. where his friend Christina helped him feel better. Peter arrived and told him the good news, that the bowling alley was celebrating Spider-Boy in a ceremony, offering him a lifetime pass for all his help in defeating Gutterball.
Spider-Boy soon faced one of Madame Monstrosity’s Horrifying Humanimals, Eli the Hellifino, who unmasked him just enough to reveal the barcode on the back of his neck, confirming that he was indeed one of her creations. Spider-Boy tried to jog Eli’s memory of their friendship, but he, too, forgot that Bailey existed. Spider-Boy encouraged Eli to make a different choice and not be a monster. Eli let him go and headed back to Madame Monstrosity’s base as Spider-Boy resolved to save his friend.
When a thief stole his phone, containing the only photos of his mom, Bailey followed his Spider-Sense, which alerted him to Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, and Taskmaster, the latter of whom was attempting to steal Super-Adaptoid. Thanks to Spider-Boy’s timely intervention in helping Cap, Taskmaster escaped with only Super Adaptoid’s hand.
During the Thanksgiving Day parade, Spider-Boy took Christina up to a rooftop to get a better view where they found Doreen Green, AKA Squirrel Girl, who had the same idea. Spider-Boy soon caught a free balloon but it set off his spider-sense, showing him Professor Emilio Helio, the Balloon Man. Spider-Boy and Squirrel Girl team up against him and his Balloon Platoon. When Squirrel Girl made fun of Emilio’s voice, which was high-pitched from his need to breathe helium to live, Spider-Boy warned her to stop as Emilio was sensitive about it. The Balloon Man responded in kind with his stretchable stampede of balloon animals, all filled with attack gasses. Spider-Boy and Squirrel Girl used static cling to stop the balloon animals from attacking others. But the Balloon Man had only just begun and had taken over the parade’s giant balloons, which began attacking the surrounding buildings. But Santa soon joined the fray and helped save the day. Santa then left Bailey a gift under the F.E.A.S.T. Center tree, a photo of Bailey and his mom.
Bailey next went up against Killionaire and his Super-Adaptoid offspring Toy Soldier. Spider-Boy taught Toy Soldier a lesson on free will and when taking to heart a message of heroic worthiness etched into Thor Odinson, AKA Thor’s hammer, Toy Soldier liberated itself from Killionare and became a Super Hero. Though Killionaire swore vengeance upon Spider-Boy as a result. Spider-Boy also helped Thor battle and then reunite a frightened giant Asgardian spider lost on Earth with his Asgardian troll companion. It was during this time that Spider-Boy revealed he could speak to spiders while in monster form, though he keeps it secret from Spider-Man.
When Spider-Man discovered Spider-Boy’s secret ability, he benched the young sidekick on account of a lack of trust. But a new spider who looked a lot like Bailey started causing havoc. Bailey had a vision of this Boy-Spider attacking Miles Morales, AKA Spider-Man, so he rushed to help and learned that Boy-Spider was genetically his twin brother, also created by Madame Monstrosity with Bailey’s leftover DNA. After helping his confused brother escape, Bailey’s friends questioned his loyalty, so Bailey set out on his own.
He hid at a local school where he got clothes from the lost and found and enjoyed some free food, until he accidentally revealed his powers and had to bolt. Shortly afterward, his Spider-Sense went off after touching a pen that Christina had given him. He could see that she was in imminent danger from Hellifino and Madame Monstrosity. He donned his Spider-Boy duds and set out to save Christina. Spider-Boy found Christina and engaged Hellifino in a fight, which led to the elephant-rhino hybrid trapped under a collapsed building. Spider-Boy opted to save his former friend’s life as he couldn’t allow him to die. Hellifino, however, did not accept the gesture and instead captured both him and Christina, taking him back to his boss, Madame Monstrosity. Trapped in Madame’s lab, the mad scientist turned Christina into a human-pigeon hybrid. Spider-Boy made every effort to escape but was stopped by Madame Monstrosity’s feline familiar and personal handmaid known as Tabitha Briggs--Bailey’s mom! Though like everyone else who had forgotten him, Tabitha didn’t remember him either, and seeing that the Madame had the upper hand, Spider-Boy gave in and remained trapped.
