Spectacular Spider-Girl #1
Written by Tom DeFalco
Art by Ron Frenz
This is the third number one issue my beloved May has gotten, the third. And with it I’ve come to realize that Marvel loves to torture me, to lie to me. They promised me my May in a new ongoing, with each issue having backups about the rest of the MC2 line. I applauded Marvel for not giving up on the little book that could, when they easily could have several times over…..when they tried to do so several times over. But when I saw the “#1 of 4” on the cover it just broke my heart. Rather then run her consistently in an anthology book they’re going to yank her for a four issue mini?
What are they doing? Jerking her around in hopes that it will leave her loyal fans jaded to the point where they can warrant the cancellation of one of the best books that the company produces? It’s not fair, it’s really not. It’s like, I’m sorry she contradicts the boring single Peter Parker that you insist on having, but deal with it, it’s another reality, it’s another take, and it’s a kind of storytelling that reminds me of when I first fell in love with Spider-Man.
So what’s up with May? Well, if you read her in Web of Spider-Mn, or even Amazing Spider-Man Family, then you know that May is living with her clone (or is May the clone?) April, who has a symbiote and an attitude. There’s a massive gangwar going on, and while May can’t seem to stay out of it with her fathers sense of responsibility, the unhinged April is making things worse by helping Silverback’s gang.
Now the cover makes it kinda clear what’s happening in this issue, I mean, how many giant white skulls over a black background does Marvel use? No, not Ghost Rider, the thing isn’t on fire. Well, it’s DeFalco’s way of saying “Welcome Back, Frank!” as we’re treated to an older version of the Punisher that has long since retired after destroying the mob, who is being brought back into action because of the one person he left crippled instead of dead. In fact, his presence in the book and well foreshadowed encounter with May, and possibly April, is most likely the point of the four issue story. DeFalco writes a much…..saner Frank, one who didn’t wage a holy war against all things crime, rather one who waged a war on the mob, and who retired when he had won.
As a continuation of the previous arc over in Web of Spider-Man, this continues the mob war, continues the awesome, and DeFalco is obviously just writing however many pages they give him with only minimal consideration given to which book it’s going in. To mark a number one there was a one page spread that recapped us on all things May for the umpteenth time, and what should be noted is that if Marvel wasn’t relaunching May in a new book every six months, then they wouldn’t have to keep introducing her with pages that could be given to the plot at hand. No real complaints though, I mean, it’s a number one issue, that means we might see some new blood picking up their first encounter with May, and that means new people get to fall in love with her just like I have.
One thing this book has always done well is balancing out the in-costume action with the out-of-costume character development, and we’re treated to some interactions with May’s friends, as well as a responsibility talk with her father, Peter Parker. This is one of the reasons I’ll be saddest to see this as a mini-series, when the book was ongoing Tom had the ability to develop each and every one of her friends and do long term subplots that made us care for them that much more. With single story-arc runs, as he’s been getting since Amazing Spider-Girl ended, he still tries to further them along, but several characters fall into the role of generic supporting cast. Sure, I love Courtney and Davida, and I’ve been rooting for Wes to get the girl for like, two years now, but with four sixteen page issues (there’s a backup filling the rest) some things get cut, and since the gangwar and return of the Punisher is the bread and butter, her friends get to be wall flowers. I mean, they aren’t bland and without their characterization, but they don’t have a chance to do anything particularly meaningful since May is tied up elsewhere.
It’s still most definitely Spider-Girl, however, and on that regard, I have no complaints.
As mentioned before though, the book has a backup story, this issue featuring The American Dream, Shannon Carter, which opened up with a continuity error as the letter from the editor labeled her as the daughter of Captain America, when she’s actually the nice of Sharon Carter. Now I personally like to think she’s actually Steve and Sharon’s daughter, and was just raised by other people, we don’t have evidence to prove it, so it’s just happy wishing. ANYWAY, Dream is doing her own fight in the gangwar, taking out thugs and moving from place to place. We’re treated with a brief recap of her character, and some dialogue that, while normally I’d call painful and annoying, is pretty standard for Shannon dating back quite a while. She’s not known for quipping, but she is known for trying too hard to emulate Cap and she definitely sounds like it, which is something I’ve always liked about her character. She’s not female Captain America, she’s a girl who wants nothing more then to be Captain America, even if she’s trying too hard to be Steve to truly do the role justice. She’s a fun character who makes me miss A-Next.
After that we get a reprint of some material that I believe was from the first Spider-Girl Annual, which features May playing basketball against her villains in a dream sequence. There isn’t much to say about it other then, well, it’s fun. That’s what Spider-Girl has always been about though, fun.
8/10
It’s Still a Spider-Girl World.
