Spider-Punk Is Not Dead

Here's another great piece from Marcelo Ventura Art.  

Spider-Verse x Street Fighter Art

I've shared some of Monster_Wolf's anime/Spider-Verse crossover art. Check out this awesome Street Fighter/Spider-Verse art.

Spider-Verse x Anime Art

Check out these fun Marvel x Anime mashups by The_Monsterwolf.

Spider-Mirko (Marvel x My Hero Academia)

Carnage Devil (Marvel x Chainsaw Man)

Music Monday - Neighbor Like Me

Check out intro theme for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man performed by The Math Club and featuring Relaye and Melo Makes Music. It's a great track with elements of the classic theme.

I've watched the first two episodes of the series and I am  digging it. I know it's not for everyone, but I really enjoy the cell-shaded animation. I've been a big fan of that style for a while. I was a bit hesitant to watch it though because of recent comments from Spidey voice actor, Hudson Thames.

"I thought it was awesome. I mean, my biggest fear was that it was gonna be annoying and woke, and it wasn’t.”

If a person uses woke as a pejorative I immediately want to disassociate with them and the creative projects they are involved with. It shows a lack of empathy. However, I also understand that many other folks were involved with creating the show so I decided to give it a shot anyway.

I find Thames anti-woke comment funny, because of the main cast, only a few folks are white. Harry and Norman Osborne are now African-American. The same is true for Dr. Connors, who has also been genders-swapped and is now Dr. Carla Connors. Peter's closest friends are Nico Minoru, Lonnie Lincoln, and Pearl Pangan. Additionally at his Oscorp internship Peter meets Amadeus Cho and a Wakanda teen.

The series definitely deviates from existing versions of Spider-Man, but that's what the Multiverse is for. I'm really looking forward to seeing where it's going to go.

Spider-Boy vs Demon Venom

 I just found this fan animation and it’s fantastic. I wanted to share with y’all. I love seeing alternate takes on classic characters.

Does Whatever A Spider Can

I have made any new 5e supers content so I thought I’d share this cool Dragon Dop item I found. 

Madame Web (2024)

There are spoilers and stats below.

Plot

Cassandra Webb is an EMT in NYC who begins developing clairvoyance. Soon she finds herself entangled in a web of mystery tied to her past. She must protect three young women with important destinies from Ezekiel Sims, an evil Spider-Man.

Review

You will notice that most of my reviews on here are positive. That's because most of the time, I'd rather just not talk about something I don't like. I'm going to make an exception today. Though it looked weird, I was interested in the movie when it was announced and the first trailer dropped. The villain, Ezekiel Sims was a decisive but interesting addition to Spider-Man lore. He introduced the idea of the Spider-Totems, Morlun, and the Inheritors to the mythos (and by proxy the concept of the Spider-Verse). 

Unfortunately none of this is mentioned in the movie and this one really might be as bad as the critics said. I'll start by talking about the good points. The idea that not every person gets the same spider powers is an interesting one. Ezekiel's costume looks like a cool dark version of Spider-Man without the spider symbol. Spider-Woman II/Arachne, Araña/Spider-Girl III, and Spider-Woman III all have cool costumes and their action scenes are cool. This leads me to my first complaint, we only see the Spider-Ladies in action in a brief nightmare/vision Ezekiel has and posing in vision Madam Web has at the end. The film's dialogue is flat and the delivery is just bad. Dakota Johnson seems bored and confused the whole time. Her delivery is awkward and off-putting. Ezekiel's dialogue just doesn't sound natural, like there is some sort of dubbing thing. Adam Scott plays Ben Parker and Emma Roberts is Mary Parker. Both characters are wasted though. Though he's not named, Peter Parker is born in the film. There's some weird product placement with Pepsi (who are involved with Ezekiel's death). Finally the introduction of Las Arañas was just kind of meh. They could have been cool, like most of the film just kind of fell flat.

I'm not saying don't watch it, but definitely don't pay to watch it.

What I Would Have Done

I don't normally do this but I'm going to talk about what I would have done differently. I would have definitely introduced the idea of Morlun and the Inheritors. Instead of just being selfish and wanting power, I would have had Ezekiel offing Spider-People to keep the Inheritors from focusing on his Earth. He could have even went full Terminator and went after Mary to stop the birth of Peter. Also while they could have kept the spiders that give them their powers, I would have dropped the super powered Las Arañas tribe as a whole. Or kept them, but made them guardians of the spiders, rather than having them powered by the spiders.

In Your Game 

Ezekiel doesn't have the full suite of Spider-Man powers. He has enhanced strength/dexterity/constitution, a neurotoxin touch, and visions of the future. I'm also giving him resistance to bludgeoning damage because he gets hit by vehicles twice in the movie and keeps going.

Real Name: Ezekiel Sims

Medium Humanoid (Spider-Person), Neutral Evil 

Armor Class: 16 (Dex)

Hit Points: 112 (12d8+60)

Speed: 30 ft., Climbing 30 ft

Challenge: 5 (1,800 XP)

Str 22 (+6) Dex 22 (+6) Con 20 (+5) Int 15 (+2) Wis 14 (+2) Cha 12 (+1)

Saving Throws: Dex +9, Con +8

Skills: Acrobatics +9, Athletics +9, Deception +4, Perception +5, Stealth +9 

Damage Resistance: Bludgeoning

Senses: passive Perception 12

Languages: Spanish, English

Unique Traits

Evasion: Ezekiel can dodge out of the way of area of effect spells and attacks. When subjected to one that allows him to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, he takes no damage  instead if he succeeds and only half if he fails.

Spider-Climb: Ezekiel can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings without having to make an ability check.

Spider-Sense: Ezekiel adds +4 to his Initiative checks and can't be surprised while he is conscious. Creatures that gain Advantage to attacks against him because of invisibility or stealth lose Advantage on those attacks. He loses all perks of this trait other than initiative against a foe that also has Spider-Sense.

Actions

Mutliattack: Ezekiel can make three slam attacks.

Neurotoxin: Melee Weapon Attack: +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 9 (2d4+5) poison damage.  The target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. If the target already has the poisoned condition they gain a level of exhaustion.

Slam: Melee Weapon Attack +9 to hit, reach 5 ft., (one target), Hit: 10 (1d8+6) bludgeoning damage.

The Spider (2024)

About a month ago I shared the trailer for a Spider-Man horror fan film starring The Walking Dead's Chandler Riggs. I really enjoyed this short and I'm glad to see they went the direction I was hoping. While the film features Peter, is the first on screen depiction of the Mark of Kaine. The I'm going to include stats with this one, but I'm going to put them after the flick's posters, to help avoid spoilers until you've finished watching. 

“The Spider”

Real Name: Peter Parker

Medium Humanoid (Spider-Person), Neutral Evil 

Armor Class: 16 (Dex)

Hit Points: 38 (8d8+32)

Speed: 30 ft., Climbing 30 ft/ Fly (web-swinging) 60 ft

Challenge: 3 (450 XP)

Str 18 (+4) Dex 22 (+6) Con 18 (+4) Int 16 (+3) Wis 10 (+0) Cha 8 (-1)

Saving Throws: Dex +8, Con +6

Skills: Acrobatics +8, Perception +2, Stealth +8, Survival +2

Senses: passive Perception 12

Languages: English

Trait

Evasion: The Spider can dodge out of the way of area of effect spells and attacks. When subjected to one that allows him to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, he takes no damage  instead if he succeeds and only half if he fails.

Organic Webbing: The Spider can shoot webbing from his wrists that he can use to do a variety of things, such as swinging and using Web. 

Spider-Climb: The Spider can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings without having to make an ability check.

Spider-Sense: The Spider adds +4 to his Initiative checks and can't be surprised while he is conscious. Creatures that gain Advantage to attacks against him because of invisibility or stealth lose Advantage on those attacks.

Web Sense. While in contact with a web, the Spider knows the exact location of any other creature in contact with the same web.

Web Walker. The Spider ignores movement restrictions caused by webbing.

Actions

Mutliattack: The Spider can make two attacks: one with his bite and one with his claws.

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) poison damage. The target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute. The creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

Claws: Melee Weapon Attack +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., (one target), Hit: 9 (2d4+4) slashing damage.

Mark of Kaine (Recharge 5-6): Melee Weapon Attack +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., (one target), Hit: 9 (2d4+4) slashing damage. The target must make a Constitution saving throw (DC 14). On a failed save they are incapacitated for 6 (1d6+4) rounds.

Web (Recharge 6): This is treated as a non-magical version the Web spell. This ability's save DC is 14.

The Spider Within

Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse was originally slated to release yesterday. Obviously it didn't come out and while that sucks, I'm glad the creators are taking their time with the project. We did get something to hold us over though. The Spider Within is a short film set within Sony's Spider-Verse. 

The film was created in partnership with the #KevinLoveFund and the education initiative: #TheHeroWithin. There is a lesson plan that accompanies the film which can be viewed here.

The Spider Trailer

Starring The Walking Dead’s Chandler Riggs as Peter Parker, The Spider is an upcoming fan film that will give us a horror take on Spider-Man. Do we need a horror take? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean I’m not really interested in seeing how it turns out.

Street-Spider: Across the Combo-Verse

I stumbled across these Street Fighter Spidersonas by @IgnantAstro and thought y'all might get a kick out of them too.

Superheroes In The Dreaming Age - The Web Archivist

Wasted Lands: The Dreaming Age Role Playing Game is a tabletop RPG of cosmic horror, swords, and sorcery set in a savage lost epoch, where you play out the birth of the gods of ancient myth. Since superheroes are basically our modern versions of myth, the amazing Tim Brannan, has been turning supes into gritty fantasy archetypes for the game. So far he's given us:

• Batman
• Wonder Woman
• Superman
• Raven
• John Constantine
• Zatanna

He's also been gracious enough to give my spidersona, the Web-Archivist the same treatment. He created the stats, I came up with the background. 

The Web Archivist is a young man named Ryn. The son of scholars, he was raised to respect knowledge and it's power. Unfortunately his library home was attacked by dark cultists. The stole secretive tomes and burned the rest, slaughtering the library's other residence (including Ryn's parents). If not for the timely intervention of the hero Anansi he might have fallen himself. Swearing vengeance on those that would misuse knowledge and honoring the trickster that saved his life, Ryn dubbed himself the Web Archivist. He stalks the dark places, creeping through ruins like a hunting spider, silent and deadly.

The Web Archivist

Class: Sage
Level: 3 
Species: Human (Spider-person)
Alignment: Light Good
Background: Scholar

Abilities
Strength: 14 (+1) 
Agility: 16 (+2) N 
Toughness: 14 (+1) 
Intelligence: 16 (+2) A
Wits: 15 (+1) N
Persona: 16 (+2) 

Fate Points: 10
Defense Value: 8
Vitality: 12 (d6)
Degeneracy: None
Corruption: None

Check Bonus (A/N/D): +3/+1/+0
Melee Bonus: +1 (base)
Ranged Bonus: +1 (base)
Saves: +3 vs. Spells and Magical Effects

Sage Abilities

Languages (16), Lore, Mesmerize Others, Suggestion, Renegade Skills, Spells, Read Languages

Renegade Skills

Open Locks: 15%
Bypass Traps: 10%
Sleight of Hand: 20%
Sneak: 20%

Spells
1st Level: Protection from Evil, Web

Divine Touchstones
Level 1: Arcane Power: Enhanced Senses
Level 2: Arcane Power: Innate Magic: Web (1st level)
Level 3: Additional Movement: Wall crawling

Heroic (Divine) Archetype: Scholar

This One Hits The Right Spot

I think I like this piece by Yiifie a little too much. It definitely speaks to some kinks.

And remember if you want to add the Spot to your 5e games check out this post.

Spider-Barbie and Ken Cat Mugshots

Art by Dove

Remember if you want to add Spider-Barbie and Ken Cat to your 5e supers games click the links for stats.

Hi, Ken Cat!

 Another piece by Dove, Spider-Barbie needs her Ken Cat. Also, I love the Drive reference in this piece.

Code Name: Ken Cat

Real Name: Kenneth Sean Carson

Medium Humanoid, Chaotic Neutral

Armor Class: 14 (Dexterity)

Hit Points: 75

Speed: 30 ft./ Climbing 30 ft/ Fly (web-swinging) 60 ft

Challenge: 4 ( XP)

Str 18 (+4) Dex 18 (+4) Con 18 (+4) Int 14 (+2) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 18 (+4)

Saving Throws: Dex +8, Cha +8

Skills: Acrobatics + 8, Athletics +8, Deception +8, Investigation +6, Perception +5, Persuasion +8, Sleight of Hand +8, Stealth +8

Senses: Darkvision 60', passive Perception 11

Languages: English

Unique Traits

Cunning Action: Ken Cat can take a bonus action to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.

Evasion: Ken Cat can dodge out of the way of area of effect spells and attacks. When subjected to one that allows him to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, he takes no damage  instead if he succeeds and only half if he fails.

Sneak Attack: Once per turn, Ken Cat deals an extra 14 (4d6) damage when he hits with a weapon attack and has advantage on the attack roll, or when the target is within 5 feet of an ally  of Ken Cat that isn't incapacitated and Ken Cat doesn't have disadvantage on the roll,.

Actions

Mutliattack: Ken Cat can make two claw attacks.

Claw: Melee Weapon Attack +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., (one target), Hit: 15 (1d6+4) slashing.

Reaction

Uncanny Dodge: Ken Cat halves the damage he would take from an attack that hits him. Ken Cat must be able to see the attacker.

Across the Barbie-Verse

I've decided to stat out Spider-Barbie (which I originally shared in this post). The artist, Dove, got requests for a black version of Spider-Barbie, so here she is.  

Code Name: Spider-Barbie

Real Name: Barbara Millicent Roberts

Medium Humanoid (Spider-Person), Lawful Good

Armor Class: 17 (Dexterity)

Hit Points: 75

Speed: 30 ft./ Climbing 30 ft/ Fly (web-swinging) 60 ft

Challenge: 6 (2,300 XP)

Str 18 (+4) Dex 24 (+7) Con 16 (+3) Int 16 (+3) Wis 16 (+3) Cha 18 (+4)

Saving Throws: Dex +11, Cha +8

Skills: Acrobatics + 11, Athletics +8, Advanced Technology +6, Insight +7, Persuasion +8

Senses: passive Perception 13

Languages: English

Unique Traits

Dancer: Spider-Barbie can use disengage and dash as bonus actions. 

Evasion: Spider-Barbie can dodge out of the way of area of effect spells and attacks. When subjected to one that allows her to make a Dexterity saving throw to take only half damage, she takes no damage  instead if she succeeds and only half if she fails.

Expansive Career History: Spider-Barbie can call upon her various former careers to gain proficiency in a tool or skill. This proficiency lasts until she takes a long rest. 

Nimble Striker: Use Dexterity for Unarmed Attacks, rather than Strength

Spider-Climb: Spider-Barbie can climb difficult surfaces, including upside down on ceilings without having to make an ability check.

Spider-Sense: Spider-Barbie adds +4 to her Initiative checks and can't be surprised while she is conscious. Creatures that gain Advantage to attacks against her because of invisibility or stealth lose Advantage on those attacks. Melee and Ranged attacks against Spider-Barbie have Disadvantage.

Web Shooters: Spider-Barbie can shoot webbing from her wrists that she can use to do a variety of things, such as swinging and using Web. 

Actions

Mutliattack: Spider-Barbie can make two unarmed strikes.

Unarmed Strike: Melee Weapon Attack +11 to hit, reach 5 ft., (one target), Hit: 15 (1d8+11) bludgeoning.

Web (Recharge 6): This is treated as a non-magical version the Web spell. This ability's save DC is 16. 

The Spectacular Spider-Barbie

“Come in on Barbie let’s go Spidey…”

Spider-Barbie was created by Dove.

A Spot On Write-Up

 As I mentioned in my spoiler free review, I really liked Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.  It made the Spot pitiable, sympathetic, and monstrous. Meaghan Colleran from Bell of Lost Souls has done a great write-up of the character for 5e in this post. Check it out. 

Spider-Hero Academia

I saw this fan animation and had to share it. Spider-Gwen has to get the goober while Froppy and Uraraka are defending it.

Official Spider-Punk Playlist

Cody Ziglar, writer of the Spider-Punk miniseries has created an official Spotify playlist for Hobie. Check it out here.