Exclusive: Marvel Releases New Spider-Man Preview

During the beginning of the Marvel Age of Comics, there would be new superheroes popping up every other month, but in recent years, the introduction of a new superhero has become a rarer occasion, and when it happens, like in last year's Giant-Size Amazing Spider-Man #1 with the introduction of Chip Zdarsky's and CAFU's Rapid, it is a big deal.

While Zdarsky introduced the character, Saladin Ahmed has been the regular wirter for Rapid since then, showing up in some notable stories in Amazing Spider-Man #975 and some other places, and now he is getting a spotlight in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 (by Ahmed, artist Federico Vincetini, colorist Chris Sotomayor, and letterer Joe Caramagna), where Spider-Man helps to train the new hero who can affect time (and thus appear to be moving rapidly).

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #1

SALADIN AHMED, JOE KELLY & MORE! (W) • FEDERICO VICENTINI (A)

COVER BY FRANCESCO MOBILI • VARIANT COVER BY FEDERICO VICENTINI

VARIANT COVER BY GABRIELE DELL'OTTO • VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY GABRIELE DELL'OTTO

VARIANT COVER BY NICOLETTA BALDARI

RAPID RESPONDERS!

• SPIDER-MAN shows new speedster RAPID around the friendly neighborhood!

• Rapid has A LOT to learn about the super-hero game!

• But the training wheels come off when SCREWBALL live streams death and destruction across NYC!

32PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T …$4.99

In the preview pages, we see that Spider-Man has taken Rapid under his wing (it is unclear when this story is set, as Peter Parker is in outer space at the moment. Let's assume that it is set AFTER Peter returns to Earth, as he was heading there the last time we saw Peter in Amazing Spider-Man #19. It's at least possible, though, that this is set BEFORE Peter ended up in outer space circa Amazing Spider-Man #8), and is training the new hero.

The big twist, though, it that Rapid is revealing that his time-altering powers are actually beginning to HURT him, and that speaks to the importance of having connections as a superhero, as if you're just some guy starting off on your own, you don't know the Doctor Stranges of the world, but Spider-Man DOES, so he can help see if someone can help Rapid's health issues.

The discussion, though, is interrupted by Screwball, who is trying to do a deadly case of creating content, and Spider-Man and Rapid will have to deal with her nonsense as she puts them through a gauntlet of possibly fatal challenges involving innocent New Yorkers, all for the "clicks" and subscribers for her video channel.

As the preview ends, the veteran hero and the newbie head into action (while feeling slighted that social media is making fun of Rapid's costume). You'll have to pick up Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1 next week to see how they fare against Screwball's messed-up take on Mr. Beast, and also to learn if Rapid's health problems are resolved!

Source: Marvel Comics