Grade 3–5—Gus is a big fan of comic-books, especially of Spider-Man. He is expressive and all-out funny, and his creativity puts him in precarious situations. Just as his comic-book heroes narrowly escape the clutches of various villains, Gus, too, escapes reality in a "Calvin and Hobbes"-esque vivid and active imagination. Much of his character is graphically expressed in dramatic lines and sharp angles. Gus's stories are told on the top portion of the pages and his comic-book creations are at the bottom. In the first title, Gus goes to a family reunion, where he replaces his family with villains from the "Spider-Man" stories. In Along Came a Spidey, Gus has to face the shame of losing a race to his sister. He also meets Spider-Man's secret alias, Peter Parker, and witnesses an exciting skirmish with the Vulture and Green Goblin.
