The Scarlet Spider story was my only motivation for buying this, which made the $5.99 price tag an even harder pill to swallow. I still take issue (see what I did there) with the fact that we were asked to pay six dollars for an advertisement, which still had advertisements in it by the way.

Having voiced my displeasure about the price, the Scarlet Spider teaser was enjoyable. For any fans of the original Scarlet Spider, this short invoked memories of the “Lost Years”. The reader is invited to witness scarlet struggling with the classic spider-man pillar of great power coupled with great responsibility. In a world already filled with defenders, including one established with spider powers, Scarlet Spider must decide if it’s worth fighting or if they should live a peaceful and quiet life. And Scarlet Spider has extra motivation for why not to draw attention by fighting crime.

I thought Yost spun the story with insight and tact. Having a very limited number of pages, he is able to craft a short story that balances the character’s thoughtful internal struggles with action packed external conflict. Although this is an admittedly short story, it does not feel rushed. Yost also handles writing for a character that is following the archetype of an established character particularly well, perhaps drawing from his experiences on Red Robin. The actions and words of Yost’s Scarlet Spider give the character a hard, at times dark, edge.

The art of Ryan Stegman is excellent, and arguably some of the best in the whole of Point One. His style is slightly cartoony enough to express extra emotion in character faces, but does not go overboard (like some other spider themed book’s artist). His ability to portray action is especially noteworthy. He is able to excellently depict quick motion, without losing detail in the scene.

All things considered, I thought this was a great starting point to the ongoing Scarlet Spider title coming in January. Was I biased and already throwing my support behind the character? Yes. Does one good story justify six dollars for a glorified advertisement? No. This book is a monster, “but… what if?” If you have a friend who bought it, or your local comic shop owner was particularly nice and cut you a deal, this story is definitely worth reading.