The world of common book superheroes is extremely malleable. For the most part, you can take a lot of traditional superheroes and put them into any unconventional setting. While you might need to jump through some logical leaps of why a character is in a completely different land or dealing with completely different threats, as long as you maintain the core of a character, most of that can be forgiven. I've seen Spider-Man swing through the streets of New York ever since I was six years old, but I never thought I would get the opportunity to see him swinging through the streets of Japan. While it might seem random, the story this book tells us is solid enough that I didn't find myself caring nearly as much.

The irony is that this story uses Spider-Man to prop up a character in the same way that Peter Parker is often propped up in his own stories. We have a young, feeble man who is powerless, but comes across an unconventional circumstance where he is gifted a great spider-themed power. I appreciate the fact that the story doesn't try to have Hyo completely mirror Peter Parker's tale, even though some of the parallels can be a bit forced. Nor does this story try to turn Hyo into another Eddie Brock just because the Venom symbiote is involved. Hyo is more typical of what you would expect from a classic shounen that happens to have some overlaps with Peter Parker, and his contact with Spider-Man got him started on a hero's journey.

The book is relatively self-contained, which I appreciate because even with our main antagonist being the Kingpin, a character who has notoriously been able to get out of trouble due to his money and political influence, given the sheer amount of destruction that happens throughout this book, there's only so much you could've done with that setup before it got ridiculous. Granted, I would've liked the story to expand a bit more on Hyo's relationship with the symbiote. The book teases the symbiote to be more of a character like it is traditionally in the comics, only to drop the ball. It's probably one of the more disappointing elements of the book that I wish had been developed more, especially as it's established that the symbiote in the story merges with the mind of our main character.

However, what the book lacks in plot, it certainly makes up for with its creative artistic direction. The story features several spider people, the Kingpin, and a handful of Spider-Man's classic villains, but all of their designs have been overhauled to match the overall aesthetic of this new Japan. Everyone is more or less wearing their classic costumes, but they are updated or merged with a lot of Japanese armor and clothing. Whether it's Spider Ghost wearing a traditional white kimono or Spider-Man himself wearing layers of samurai armor to protect himself, these updates do a good job of going for something stylistically distinct without losing any of the core appeals of the characters. I have two design quirks that I particularly love about this book. The first is how Kingpin's scale is so emphasized in the panel layouts. He's so big that he pretty much takes up most of the pages that he's in, and in a lot of ways, he comes off more as a demon rather than a man. The second aesthetic choice that I love is the use of Japanese calligraphy ink styles to portray Venom. We have splashes of black to showcase the different ways that the symbol takes form. We get tendrils, weapons, and different transformations, but they all start with those splashes of black ink.

This allows for creative action sequences and page spreads, especially when we get into some of the unique abilities and techniques that Hyo achieves as he trains with these new powers. The action is very easy to follow and flows effortlessly from one page to the next. The book, in general, has a solid sense of flow from beginning to end, except during some of the rougher moments between the actions. Since the story is all about the symbiote, which has distinct rules and lore behind it, this book needs to do its due diligence to try to catch up your average reader on what to expect from this creature. Even if it's not the same one from the comics, there are still a lot of similarities and distinct things that need to be brought up about it. Which is a shame because that means we are sometimes left with pages made up of exposition featuring Spider-Man explaining what the symbiote does. Maybe that's not as big of an issue for your average reader, especially since this is a scholastic book aimed towards children. But I still found it pretty redundant.

Honestly, if I had a kid who was into comic books and manga, this feels like the best of both worlds. We get a celebration of one of the most popular superheroes of all time, updated in an aesthetic that feels both traditional and distinct at the same time. The action is great, the designs feel inspired, and the overall story is pretty easy to follow for people of all ages. Longtime Spider-Man fans will probably get a kick out of something presenting itself as distinctly different, while casual readers can enjoy the art and action. It's a little clunky in places, but I had a good time with it, and that's all that matters