The Fantastic Neighborhood Spider-Man

WizKids previewed the Alternate F4 flavored Spider-Man yesterday and the complaints started ringing in so fast you'd think the Daily Bugle's editor was running another smear campaign. "Weak Sauce," they said. "F4, or F-Fail" fans cried. Is this figure *really* as bad as they say, or is it just that fans were hoping for more?

Take a look:


The Incredible Hulk expansion's version of Spider-Man is certainly not under-powered. Top dial, while holding a standard heavy object and with proper positioning Spidey can dish out 6 damage with a 12 attack (!) rebuffing the weak sauce comments. Under the right circumstances Spidey can retain that 12 attack for two more clicks.

Even without surprising foes from below or distracting them with witty banter Spidey has very solid attack values retaining a 10 for most of his dial before dropping to 9 on his last two clicks.


Damage values are what you'd expect from the wall crawler - he's capable of feats of Super Strength but doesn't rely on it in the way a Hulk dial has the green attack power the whole dial. Instead Peter has other tricks - with Incapacitate and two targets. Not exactly a failure.

Defensively Spider-Man's got his trademark Spidey (Super) Senses topping at 18 on his second click. The evasion power also helps activate his special banter power. Combat Reflexes rounds out the dial keeping him safe when he's up close and personal. He doesn't have the 50/50 trait of Common Spider-Man from "Web," but he's far from awful.


Perhaps his best feature is the Fantastic Four TA/Spider-Man Ally TA combo that will let him play well with other members of the new FF copying Ghost Rider's Mystic Ability, or borrowing the X-men team ability found among FF members like Storm or Wolverine.

The #38 Spider-Man has also been bashed for its Super Rare status. While the fact that Peter may be harder to find is a downer for his fans, this is a Hulk set after all. Because Spider-Man had a good showing in his own set last year there's probably a good chance that an equal number of Hulk fans would complain if the figure were of a lesser rarity.



This is a Spider-Man pulled from a very specific story - the replacement Fantastic Four from the early 90's (FF#347). He's not meant to be a definitive version, evidenced if not from the limited keywords then by the fact that the sculpt features him clinging to the side of the Baxter Building.

Frustrated critics are more likely upset that this Spider-Man doesn't do everything that they WANT it to do - be highly mobile with move and attack, and better defenses.

It's okay to hate on Spidey though, he's used to it.