Note: Trying to improve on what Steve Ditko designed back in the 60s is a mean feat; just ask anyone at Marvel who’s attempted it over the past 50 years. Regardless, the art community came together for P:R’s Spider-Man: Webhead 2.0 to show what could be done with comics’ wall-crawler. Yesterday you saw the honorable mentions, so today we present the finalists — the 2nd and 3rd place winners of the contest. Judging was heated, with these designs standing out as some judges’ personal favorite over even the winner. Tell us what you think, and stay tuned for tomorrow when we announce the first place winner. – Chris Arrant

Second Place Winner Brett Howard!

Brett Howard
Total Score: 55.5 (Out of a possible 70 points)

Vito: 8. There are so many things right with this one, it’s hard to pick a starting point. Colors are fantastic; can’t go wrong with black and red. The spider logo is solid, using the negative space very well, and I like the eye pieces. It looks good. I just think that maybe, just a little, it might skew toward Miles Morales’ costume a little (that’s not an indictment, but rather what it makes me think of). Just a little. But it’s still very good.

Rachel: 9. Yeah, but you could make the same argument about a lot of the others that are more heavily informed by the old-school Peter Parker costume–and, while the inspiration is obvious, I think this design is way, way sharper than the official Morales look. The spider-web is cool, but the bold, clean red-and-black just works so beautifully; if I were Marvel, I’d seriously consider adopting this design, or something close to it. The visual balance is fantastic, and I love the logo made out of negative space. Actually, I love everything about this except for the targets on the feet. Why are there targets on the feet?

Josh: 7. It’s a great design in terms of the graphics on the suit, and it’s definitely clean. It does make sense to have compound eyes, and yet, I do not want that, and I don’t think any kid who has ever found a sizable bug in his room at night does either. It’s a small point, but… ick.

Jon: 7.

Chris A.: 7.5. While I applaud the insect eyes, I think it takes away from an otherwise amazing design. I appreciate how Brett paid attention to the lighted-silhouette style and came up with designs based on that.

Conor: 8. You know, I actually really love the smaller versions with the more basic colors. I like it slightly less in the larger version, but that might just be because of the eyes. But overall it’s a really strong and stark design. If this was the new Spider-Man costume I’d be okay with it.

Ron: 9. I really like this one, a lot. It’s reminiscent of the classic design and even the late 90s Ben Reilly costume design, but also stands on its own in a unique inventive way. I agree with Josh on the compound eyes, but if you look at the lower left versions, with no compound eyes, then it sings.

Jon: Spiders don’t have compound eyes, folks.

Vito: Tell that to the spiders! I’m too busy running!

Third Place Winner Rosy Higgins!

Rosy Higgins
Total Score: 54.5 (out of a possible 70 Points)

Rachel: 10. So, you know how teenage Peter Parker is supposed to have made his costume from scratch? This is an accurate and awesome representation of what that would actually look like, and Rosy did an amazing job of translating the stuff that makes a superhero costume iconic to a punk / DIY aesthetic. I would read this Spider-Man’s comic in a minute. I would also pay substantial cash monies for that hoodie.

Vito: 8. This is an awesome costume, no doubt. It’s almost as if Rosy and Corey Lewis went to the same mall. The goggles are a great touch.

Josh: 9. Again, this is a “realistic” take done in a completely new way. The entire head is perfect, and perfectly attainable.I love how the goggles even hold the hood in place.

Ron: 2. I totally see and get the idea of a kid making his costume from scratch, but goggles AND a hood? Count me out. Not to mention the knee high boxer type boots? What kid has a pair of those?

Conor: 7. I love the goggle and the hoodie (and how they are applied practically) but I feel like the hair coming out is a bit much. There’s too much of Peter’s identity showing through. If the beauty of the full face mask is that anyone can be Spider-Man, this kind of tosses that notion out the window.

Jon: 9

Chris A.: 9.5. “Lovin’ you is easy ‘cause you’re beatiful…” Seriously, Rosy really took our contest to heart and came up with a near-perfect design. It’s a good prototype, but I think some of these elements could be streamlined if Rosy had a chance to draw it in action some.