Spider-Boy #1

History

Bailey Briggs originated from an offhand editorial conversation during Dan Slott and Mark Bagley's adjectiveless Spider-Man run: Slott proposed a sidekick whom literally nobody in the Marvel Universe remembered, and the concept resonated immediately. Co-created visually by artist Humberto Ramos, the character debuted in Spider-Man vol. 4 #7 (April 2023) and received a solo spotlight in Edge of Spider-Verse #3 before both issues sold out multiple printings, which convinced Marvel to fast-track a solo ongoing less than a year after his introduction. Slott himself wrote the series — with Paco Medina on interior art and Ramos supplying covers — and deliberately oriented it toward younger readers and comedic excess while still grounding Bailey's arc in genuine pathos; the series ran 20 issues before concluding in 2025 when Slott departed Marvel for DC Comics.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Released November 1, 2023 (cover-dated January 2024); written by Dan Slott, interior art by Paco Medina (main story) and Ty Templeton (backup 'Balloonacy'), with covers by Spider-Boy co-creator Humberto Ramos.
• First comic-book appearance of Gutterball (the Bowling-Alley Bandit), a bowling-ball-headed villain whose 'Indestructr-o-ball' head physically damages Spider-Man when he throws a punch at it.
• First comic-book appearance of Hellifino (Eli Hartman), Bailey's former fellow prisoner who was spliced with both elephant and rhinoceros DNA by Madame Monstrosity — a fusion inadvertently inspired by a joke the two boys made while captive together.
• The 10-page backup story 'Balloonacy,' set during a Thanksgiving Day Parade, features the first comic-book appearance of Balloon Man (Professor Emilio Helio), whose gas-controlling abilities are played against a team-up between Spider-Boy and Squirrel Girl (Doreen Green) and her companion Tippy-Toe.
• Forbush Man (Irving Forbush, Earth-665) and Captain Squirrel appear in the backup — Forbush Man as a giant Thanksgiving parade balloon rather than an active participant, a deliberate comedic homage to Marvel's oldest humor-comics mascot.
• Madame Monstrosity (Dr. Melodia Stillwell) appears in both the main story and flashback sequences, establishing her as Spider-Boy's arch-nemesis; her first appearance was in Amazing Spider-Man vol. 6 #31 (August 2023), not this issue.
• The issue is a 40-page, double-story format — an oversize debut structure Marvel used to justify a higher cover price and give the title an event-book feel at launch.
• The series was collected in the Spider-Boy Vol. 1: The Web-Less Wonder trade paperback, which reprints issues #1–4 alongside the relevant Amazing Spider-Man #31 Madame Monstrosity story.

Cast · 17 characters

Full credits

Key issues in Spider-Boy

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#1 1st appearance — Hellifino

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#13 1st appearance — Hulkette

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#4 1st appearance — Boy-Spider

Variants (31)