An Overwhelming Spider Sense

Boomerang

Log: Four
Narrator: JJules95
Subject: Boomerang
Notable aliases: Frederick (Fred) Myers, Boomer (yes, lol), Out-Back, Fred Slade
Appearances: Comics
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
Skin: Caucasian
Height: 5ft. 11in.
Weight: 175 lbs
Abilities: Champion baseball pitcher, flies via jet boots, pinpoint accuracy, skilled street fighter, wields a variety of gimmicked boomerangs
Threat Level: 4
Weaknesses: Maneuverability, science and smarts, offering a better solution than fighting

The story of the main Boomerang is kind of eh. Basically, he pops out of nowhere and tries to kill the Spiderlings to impress the Kingpin and hopefully work for him. Unfortunately, he is beaten horribly. We see him time and time again being a bit of a baddie alongside other bigger names than himself. He's like the Spot in that he's not that powerful, just really skilled in his accuracy. Sure, he can fly, but he's kind of a two trick pony. No, the real deep greatness of his character doesn't come until recently in 2018 when we get slapped in the face by Nick Spencer.

Spencer is a comic book writer and he has the brilliant idea to say, "Hey! You know what would be great? If Fred Myers was Peter Parker's roommate!" You can see where this is going, and I'm going to explain it in a recap sort of way to hone in on the details a bit more. I love this story, if you couldn't tell.

We start off with Peter being in a committed relationship with MJ and being in an apartment room with Robbie (another kid who works for the Daily Bugle). Jillian rooms with MJ a few floors down in the same apartment building.

Since Jillian and Peter have promised to help each other with rent and fighting crime equally, they have double the normal payments. Peter has a stable-ish job working at the Bugle, but Jillian still hasn't gotten a job that pays her yet. All she does is volunteer at Mr. Martin Li's homeless shelter. She does this, and only this, because she wants to give Peter as much time as possible to live a normal life with MJ. She does a lot of the street patrolling as Spider-Woman while Peter gets a paying job and only comes in when Jillian is having a bit of trouble fighting.

Because of their arrangement, Jillian and Peter are having trouble paying rent. Robbie comes up with an idea to get a third roommate since they can turn the extra room they have into a bedroom. Peter glumly agrees, but is so bummed out about it that he doesn't bother to go to the roommate meetings. Boy, was that a mistake.

Fast forward a week later when it's time to help the new guy move in. We start the scene with Jillian running through the halls of the apartment building, trying to catch up to the guy who claims he's Peter and Robbie's new roomie. When he stops at the door to open it, Jillian purposefully trips and face plants onto the ground so she wouldn't run into him. Peter smoothly (not) rolls off the couch that he was making out with MJ on and his eyes widen when he sees Fred Myers.

See, the Spiders know who most of their enemies are, and they definitely know who Fred is. Jillian was trying to beat Fred to her brother to warn him, but couldn't make it without using her powers and giving herself away. Fred introduces himself to Peter and here's where things get interesting.

Fast forward again a few months and things are going pretty nicely. Fred is actually trying to be a good friend to Peter and actually develops a small crush on Jillian (it's Nick Spencer, of course he would ship Boomerang, his favorite villain, and Spider-Woman). Fred is very open about his life as Boomerang when he starts to realize he can trust Peter and Jillian. The two Spiders find it more difficult to keep up their secret identities around him, but so far they've pulled it off.

One day, Fred dresses in his Boomerang clothes and takes Peter and Jillian on a secret journey. Curious, the two Spiders follow him out of costume. Fred allows them to enter the Spiderlings Rogues Pub, The Bar With No Name, and the two are freaking out. Villains from Spot, Kangaroo, Black Cat, and Speed Demon are there. Jillian pulls her brother aside and whispers her worries, and how she feels extremely uncomfortable being here. Peter reassures her and says it might be good to be so close to their enemies. Jillian agrees to go along with it for the time being.

The night carries on and talks about the Spiders catches on in the pub. Jillian and Peter act suave and do their best impressions of J. Jonah Jameson, pretending to hate the Spiders as much as the villains in here do. Finally, Jillian can't take it anymore and rushes out under the pressure. Peter acts like he doesn't know what her problem is and asks Boomerang if he can visit more often.

Since Spider-Woman is fighting more often than Spider-Man at the current time, she is feeling more of the impact of being so close to her enemies than Peter is.

Only a few days later, Fred is seen walking down the street and holding a bouquet of flowers. He mumbles to himself phrases he thinks of to ask Jillian out. Suddenly, there is a fight going on between Spider-Woman, Electro, and Sandman that Fred watches with interest. He notices Spider-Woman gets gravely injured on her back, so much as to even tear her suit, but she ultimately wins in the end when her brother joins the fight. Feeling a faint pang of relief, Fred continues walking to his apartment.

When he arrives, Fred gently knocks on Peter's bedroom door to ask if he has any advice when asking girls out. Peter says to go away, but Fred thinks he's joking and opens the door anyway. When he sees Peter wrapping gauze around Jillian's torso, Fred freezes and drops the flowers.

Jillian scrambles to her feet and pins Fred to the wall, covering his mouth in case he screams. When he finally settles down and Jillian removes her hand, all he says is, "Oh my God. I have a crush on Spider-Woman."

The rest is pretty cute (curse you, Nick Spencer). Jillian and Peter become more confident around Fred and he constantly invites them to the pub. Boomerang actually has a few team ups with the Spiders and helps them take down bigger villains. He becomes sort of an antihero instead of a full on bad guy. Also turns out that he's really good at keeping secrets, and doesn't tell their identities to anyone. Well, guess he didn't want villains constantly battling against his new girlfriend.

TL;DR... Remember, always go to the meetings where you pick out who's going to share a house with you. There's an off chance one of the candidates might be one of your worst enemies.