Book Review - The Art of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man
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- 6 min read
June 19th 2026
It’s a big year for Spider-Man, the next Tom Holland movie arrives soon and has people excited, but Peter Parker will also return to Disney+ this year in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season two. This version of the web-slinger has been well received by fans, delivering a fresh take on the character, while delivering it with comic book-style visuals.
It’s good news for fans then that an artbook is here to celebrate a look at how the series’ look came together in The Art of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man from Abrams Books. The look at the first season arrives on June 23rd, and I can share my thoughts now that a copy has joined the collection.
Build Quality
The book comes as a large 24.6 x 30cm hardcover and has 240 pages (not 256 as it says on listings), making it a hefty shelf-filler. The gloss paper is thick, but also flexible, allowing the pages to open and lay flat, which is helped by the binding that has some flexibility of its own. The embossed Spider-Man image on the front is also a nice touch on an already well-themed piece of cover art. Overall its what we have come to expect from Abrams Books, who have been working on artbooks for a long time.
Content
Artbooks for animated shows typically go one of two ways: a gallery of images that are almost entirely representative of what you see on screen, or a look at concepts, alternate designs, and other behind-the-scenes images. In the case of The Art of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, it’s definitely the latter, as there is a lot of fantastic spreads exploring the look for Spider-Man and other elements of the show.
It begins with an intro from Brad Winderbaum and a foreword from Head Writer Jeff Trammell, before diving into the prologue. It shares the early stages of the show coming together, from hiring Jeff, to the Steve Ditko inspiration behind the visuals, and their approach. Seen here and throughout the rest of the book, you hear from the directors, writers, producers, art leads, and more through interviews, offering engaging insights and admiration for the show.
The ‘Development’ chapter begins the onslaught of artwork, but also shines the spotlights on the artists and the process of creating the visual identity. This is for the nerds that like to know the details on how their favourite shows are made, and it does a great job at doing so. It’s not a full history, but there is still a lot to read and I appreciate them putting this up front.
This chapter also includes some of my favourite spreads of Spider-Man in a wide variety of styles from different artists, including some that look like a kid’s cartoon, and others like a graphic novel. I would have liked to see some notes about at what stage of production they were made, as they come a bit out of the blue, but in terms of art, it was a pleasant surprise to see the variety, and it stands out compared to other Marvel Animation artbooks as a result. I really like all the art too, with Joey Vazquez and Paolo Rivera’s designs being standouts for me personally. One of these spreads can be seen below.
From here the book goes through each episode, with the first having the most insights as expected. Each one has a brief overview of the episode, then some more interviews from the creatives about their goals, influences, and experiences working on them. It’s a good set up for each episode before sharing more spreads of artwork. It’s fairly brief at times, but it’s enough to be informative and detailed without breaking the flow of taking in the art.
For ‘Episode One: Amazing Fantasy’ there are 9 spreads of Spider-Man suits with dozens of designs and poses, with more appearing in following episodes for other looks introduced in the show. I really liked this, because while there are other Spider-Man artbooks out there, not many have as many designs as you see in this release. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man does feature a number of suits, so some were expected, but fans will not be left wanting for unused variants of what was seen in the show.
Most of the artwork you see in the episode chapters are more aligned with the visuals of the show, reflecting the classic comic book style for the characters, technology, and locations, fitting a lot in for you to pore over. If you’re interested in the book, it’s safe to say you like the visuals of the show and so you won’t be disappointed. The 3D animation style is designed to look like a Silver Age comic, making it look just as good in 2D. A lot of what you see is what made it into the show though, so it’s not always as interesting as some of the early pages.
Some of the bigger characters, such as Scorpion, Daredevil, and Harry Osborn, get a couple of spreads to themselves with some additional written insights too. A few even get designs in different styles, highlighting that received as much care as Peter Parker himself.
It’s all very well balanced too, with nothing feeling left out, although there are only a couple of pages of storyboards and a little more would have been welcome. To makeup for this though, there is an ‘Interlude’ for the breakdown of the show’s opening, with interviews about the music and comic cover homages for episode openings, a welcome additional chapter. There is also brief overview of the other Spider-Man animated shows, nothing in-depth, but notes their release, channel, length, and voice actors.
Overall, I was very happy with what was included, the styles of the artists got to shine, early and final designs are shared throughout, and the interviews give those that love the show a peak behind the curtain. I’m always hoping every artbook will deliver, and this is definitely a step up from the other Marvel Animation artbooks.
Credits
Marvel artbooks have never failed to credit artists correctly and this book is no different. The name of each artist is either under the image, or tied to a number on the spread that corresponds to a piece on the page. On top of this, the credits for the art team and producers are also on the last page, so Marvel and Abrams have nailed this part of the review.
Use of Space
Continuing the high praise, the 240 pages of The Art of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are packed with content, making the most of the space and not leaving anything wasted. The backgrounds are kept simple with block colours and the images and text are neatly organised without overlap. Like other artbooks, they went for straight forward approach to put the art front and centre without distractions, something that has never failed when the artwork strong.
The binding helps reduce image loss in the centre fold, which is minimal at either end of the book, not completely avoided closer to the middle pages. There are not many pieces of art that cross the fold line, but everything is still well sized on the large pages.
Value
This look at the art behind the show comes with an RRP for $50 or £37, which is around the standard pricing in 2026 for an artbook. For the size and quality of what you get here, fans and collectors will find it to be fair. However, just before its release on June 23rd, the book is already on offer. Using Amazon as I do in all reviews, you can pre-order the book in the US for under $44 and in the UK under £30, both of which are strong deals for bargain hunters. Regardless of whether you are buying at full price or not, if you like the art style and want more from the show, the value is definitely here for fans.
Verdict
The Art of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man delivers some fantastic surprises, sharing a range of styles I wasn’t expecting alongside a lot of what I was. The book feels like more than just a look at the show, but also a celebration of the wall-crawler himself. It makes it recommendable to not just those that have seen this new take on Peter Parker’s crazy world, but also to Spider-Man fans in general.
Marvel Animation and Abrams Books have delivered their best book together yet, and with another season of the show coming later in the year, I hope this is just the first of many volumes of artwork!
If you enjoyed the reviews and previews and would like to order a copy of The Art of Marvel Animation’s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, you can do so here;
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