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Crying, the children wanted to see Spider-Man.

They saw what they thought was his car — the red Smart Car with the Venom spider from Spider-Man — in the Big V Country Mart parking lot.

As the car’s owner — longtime Big V employee Bryan Webb — tells it, he responded to the kids’ grandmother with, “Tell them that right now, Spider-Man is incognito and working his day job. But at night, he turns into Spider-Man and fights crime.”

The kids’ sadness turned to awe.

Webb’s response was tied to his hobby — Marvel Comics. His passion for comics is reflected in his extensive collection: at least 500 comic books and about 50 character statues and busts.

His tattoos reflect the obsession.

Venom sits on his right shoulder. The Wolverine from X-Men is on his left arm. His upper back has a tribal bat.

The rest of his back has an X-Men scene with a team of five: Gambit, Cyclops, Rogue, Wolverine and Storm.

One calf has a tribal tsunami. The other calf has yet another image of Wolverine — his favorite character. Remember the person in the Wolverine suit at Octoberfest a few years back? That was Webb.

Then there’s his car, commonly thought to be the only, or at least the most visible, Smart Car in Smithville. He put a Venom sticker on the hood and has plans for the next addition: a black ooze sticker will wrap around the car and appear to be stripping through the car, transforming the car something else.

Webb’s comic craze stems back to when he was about 10. That’s when his parents gave him his first Marvel comic — a 35-cent Spider-Man one.

As a teenager, he was a loner. Comics were his friends.

Now 42, comics are his escape.

“I like to get away from reality. Life is too serious sometimes. You have to walk away and do something else,” he said. “I’m pretty much a big kid at heart.”

Webb, who’s lived in Smithville all his life, typically seems calm and even-keeled, even when discussing his favorite comic stories and characters.

Aside from being a comic fanatic, Webb is a great friend, Nathan Baber said.

Baber and Webb became friends through comics. They’re technically rivals. Baber prefers DC Comics — the Superman ones. Webb is all about Marvel, the ones with Spider-Man.

They put the competition aside for their friendship.

“Bryan’s very generous, he’s very giving. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for his a friend,” Baber said. “It’s the little things. If I’m strapped for cash, he picks up the tab at lunch.”

Webb also considers himself a gamer. He was into War of the Worlds and now likes to play Dungeons and Dragons online.

He’s also really into his dog, a 1 year old Chihuahua named Lion-O. The name comes from the Thundercats cartoon.

His comics imagination never stops.

If the ooze planned for his car really could turn his car into something else, what would it be?

“A robotics Venom life-form. It would transform inside the car and start fighting, like a transformer,” he said, cracking a very slight smile.

THE COMIC-CRAZED NEIGHBOR

- One of his most prized possessions — Life-sized bust of the Venom head

- Why he likes Smithville — He grew up in Smithville and has enjoyed working at Big V Country Mart for nearly 20 years.

Smithville Editor Nancy Hull Rigdon can be reached at 532-4444 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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