Fuzzy Crusaders, Part 1 (of 3): From Small Beginnings...

[stig]

So. Lacking any examples of Good Comics (even my own webcomic - plugged here at www.bug-out-comic.com), I've decided to treat you to a three-part series on a little mini-arc of Spider-Man's life which, as with nearly everything ever written by J.M.DeMatteis for Spider-Man, has been swept under the rug and forgotten.

Not in the arms of fortune arose our two heroes...not rocketed from a doomed planet, nor spared from bloody death in a grim alleyway. In point of fact, it's a wonder they even appeared in Spectacular Spider-Man, DeMatteis' title of the time with Glenn Greenberg. But I digress.



As the story begins, in ish #246 (Mods, I've taken 8 pages from a UK 'Collectors Edition' of 38...hope that's okay), we have a conglomerate of villains assembling in a story entitled "The Legion of Losers!"



As you can see, this was the last proper appearance of the Spot before MODOK's 11, in which one of his interdimensional Spots appeared to have sucked out a lot of his brain material. In that series, he referred back to this issue, at first citing that he'd been in the Legion of Losers, then later adding "I fought Spider-Man once! He won!".



Grizz & Gibbon run from the cops (Grizz reasons that "They're just doing their jobs!"), only to run into our favourite web-head...at least, back when he was cool enough to be our favourite.



(Politeness, eh? Having a stable love-life will do that to you. What? Bitter, do you say?)





After another subplot (Flash Thompson = alcoholic), we find Spidey unconscious, held by the Spot's...spots, and the Legion relaxing with snacks and, in Kangaroo II's case, Sharper Villain catalogues.









Spidey doesn't take them in - why should he? They didn't actually do anything. Seeing profit in their newfound dispositions, Grizzly decides to take to super-heroism with his new partner - and so NY must tremble before The Gargantuan Grizzly and Gibbon The Boy Monkey!

Coming Tomorrow: THRILL to find out the secrets of the Bearmobile! GASP (with Grizzly) as asthma attacks! And TREMBLE at the surprise appearance of our heroes' new arch-nemesis...the one super-villain even SILLIER than these two!

Comments

[foxhack]

Meanwhile, at Anthrocon:

** A Daily Bugle reporter is at the scene

Reports of a protest against Spider-Man have been proven true, as several people dressed in animal suit, some of them with some odd-looking features in them, have rallied against Spider-Man for his constant attacks against furry fandom.

"THIS SPIDER-MAN, IF HE EVEN IS A REAL SPIDER, HE KEEPS ATTACKING POOR INNOCENT FURFOLKS ENGAGING IN DAILY ACTIVITIES SIMPLY BECAUSE THEY'RE DRESSED LIKE ANIMALS! THERE IS NOTHING STRANGE ABOUT PEOPLE WANTING TO DRESS UP LIKE ANIMALS! WHY WON'T PEOPLE UNDERSTAND US?!"

Uncle Kage, the convention's chairman, had no comment on the protest, but some people mentioned that 2, The Ranting Gryphon, mentioned Spider-Man in between his fourth and fifth bottle of vodka.

***

[foxhack]

I apologize for this stupid attempt at comedy, but I couldn't resist.

Also, I can't believe I actually remembered those names and the con... I don't do that shit, goddamn. These names just rub off on ya...

[silverzeo]

SO what's keeping these guys from being "empowered" by their animal gods like the rest of every animal-theme person in New York?

[cainofdreaming]

Would you touch them with a twelve-foot pole if you were a deity?

[psychopathicus_rex]

Y'know, I know these guys are SUPPOSED to be pathetic, but polka-dot boxers? C'mon, that's... that's just stupid. You can show that the Kangaroo is supposed to be stupid without making him LOOK like an idiot - what wannabe supervillain who spends his spare time dreaming about being up with the big boys would wear POLKA-DOTTED BOXERS OUTSIDE OF HIS UNIFORM, especially when the rest of his outfit is halfway decent? I mean, that's just SAD.
It's kind of a shame that the Spot always gets written as a blunderer - he really does have pretty awesome powers, and he seems to be a bit more intelligent than the rest of these guys, anyway. (Also, I can't help hearing him as his incarnation in the '90's 'Spider-Man' cartoon, where he sounds like a demented Bertie Wooster. Shame no one has thought to actually WRITE him like that; it'd be hilarious.)

[foxhack]

Considering the top half of his outfit is all patched and sewn together, I imagine he simply hasn't finished the bottom half of it. :p

[psychopathicus_rex]

I suppose it's possible, but you'd think the guy could just wear regular shorts or a pair of pants or something.

[stig]

Damn, should have explained - when Kangaroo first appeared he has a gigantic mecha-Kangaroo suit. Unfortunately, it exploded. This is why he's obsessed with catalogues, he's trying to build up a new suit over what was left.

Apologies.

[psychopathicus_rex]

Oh, I see. So basically, he was 'caught with his pants blown up', and he hasn't had a chance to change? I guess that makes sense - dude still has lousy taste in undergarments, though.

[mrosa]

I think this story marks one of the fundamental changes in superhero comics in the '90s: they became incapable of taking their silliness at face value. All these villains were serious opponents when they fought Spider-Man. The Kangaroo, for instance, stole a dangerous toxin that could have destroyed New York. And there was a very touching story with the Grizzly from the late '80s about him wanting to defeat Spider-Man at least once to stop feeling like a loser. And Spider-Man kindly obliges and last time we see the Grizzly he's hanging up the costume, happy. That was a good coda for the character. Bringing him up to make fun of him, instead of simply inventing a new villain to fill a month's worth of Spider-Man comics, that's one of the things that started ruining superhero comics.