Attack of the 50 Foot Spider-Girl

 

Tis the season for all manner of monsters, so for today’s post we will be taking a look at one monstrous transformation in the MC2: the Attack of the 50 Foot Spider-Girl from Spider-Girl #90. Who knows, maybe we will have some fun with this?

 

As I mentioned and as the cover to Spider-Girl #90 depicts, May ‘Mayday’ Parker transforms into a giant monstrous spider-creature…or so it seems. After an encounter with the villain Misery, May unknowingly finds herself trapped in a nightmare in which she changes into various forms reflecting her subconscious fears. After apparently confronting Misery, Spider-Girl is overpowered and begins to change into a giant humanoid spider creature. She is then attacked by helicopters who shooter her down. Turning back to normal, May soon begins to shrink to miniscule size. Eventually, after a pep talk from the spirit of her namesake great-aunt, May realizes she is still trapped within her nightmare and busts out of Misery’s Grief Machine and stops her with a single punch, for real this time.

 

The cover of Spider-Girl #90 proclaiming ‘Attack of the 50 Foot Spider-Girl’ is a homage to the 1958 science fiction horror movie Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, complete with similar pose. Additionally, the aircraft shooting down a giant hairy monster is a nod to the classic 1933 movie King Kong and may also be influenced by various Godzilla films. Furthermore, monstrous transformations in pop culture are often used as metaphors for a person’s feeling of alienation, self-destructive behaviour, and loss of humanity. 

 

Let’s dive even deeper here, because Mayday’s father Peter has not only sprouted extra limbs before but has also been transformed into a Man-Spider by the Savage Land denizen Brainchild in 1982’s Marvel Fanfare #2 and later underwent a second Man-Spider ‘Spider-Morphosis’ thanks to the machinations of the Plantman in 1998’s Amazing Spider-Man #437 (the latter of which is also written by Tom Defalco, coincidentally).

 

 

This is a fun little story that looks at some of Mayday’s fears and worries. It is not the last time May would think of herself as a monstrous spider-creature, either. Nor her last encounter with her great-Aunt May for that matter! I look forward to covering more of these ‘transformations’ in a later post someday but for now, that is all I’ve got!

 

Until I mess with the Plantman and get all bug-eyed and hairy, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Spider-Symmetry: Mary Jane and the Smythe Family

 

Another quick post, this time for my long-neglected Spider-Symmetry series. For today’s entry, I wanted to show a fun little connection between two Spidey comics separated by 20 years and a whole universe.

 

First up in Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 we meet Alistaire Alphonso Smythe, the son of Spencer Smythe. In his first appearance Alistaire is an overweight man who worked for the Kingpin until he is promptly fired. We also learn that Spencer Smythe left Alistaire and his mother, only visiting occasionally, and ignoring Alistaire, in his obsession talking only of destroying Spider-Man. Due to some silly shenanigans, Alistaire captures Mary Jane and her Aunt Anna, mistakenly believing MJ is Spider-Man until his flying saucer-style Spider-Slayer crashes into powerlines. While the cover of this story depicts Mary Jane removing her coat to reveal she is wearing a Spider-Man costume beneath, this unfortunately does not actually occur within the issue itself.

 

Staci Smythe makes her first appearance as an unnamed store clerk in the Spider Shoppe when May first discovers the place in Spider-Girl #45. We later learn more about Staci Smythe in Spider-Girl #91 when she is revealed as the costumed villain La Fantome. Staci Smythe desired to be a famous fashion designer and attended fashion college. While there she was recruited by Mary Jane Parker to work at the Spider Shoppe upon its opening, allowing her to pay for her education. Recognizing Staci's surname, Mary Jane had hoped to give the young woman a break from the stigma of her family's name, which Staci evidently greatly appreciated.

 

Disguised as La Fantome, Staci began making attacks on Daniel Kingsley at his Spider-Women themed fashion show and warehouse office as revenge for his profiting from idea's stolen from the Spider Shoppe. Staci also organized a rally in support of the Spider Shoppe which attracted the police, prompting her to don her La Fantome guise once more. However, La Fantome undone when her fellow rally attendee's (including Spider Shoppe secret-owner Mary Jane Parker and Spider-Girl herself, May Parker) joined forces to surround her wearing various spider-costumes allowing Spider-Girl the opportunity to easily apprehend and unmask her. 

 

So, we have both stories, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #19 and Spider-Girl #90, featuring Mary Jane in the classic Spider-Man costume and both featuring a Smythe Family member as the antagonist, albeit with the latter issue revealing Staci at least meant well. Plus, this time Mary Jane wore the costume in the issue itself! Heck, going way back to the events of Amazing Spider-Man #25 (and visited by a time-travelling Mayday in Spider-Girl #10-#11), both Spencer Smythe and Mary Jane’s first appearance (albeit an obscured appearance), the resolution of the plot involves a Spider-Man costume being used to thwart the Spider-Slayer too. But maybe that’s a stretch?

 

Until I stop having my brain wrinkled by these fun little touches, I remain

 

frogoat

 

 

Tigra in the MC2

 

I am late to the party as always but since she has made it to the big leagues with her first movie appearance in the Disney+ original film Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, I wanted to throw some attention toward everyone’s favourite were-tiger, Greer Grant Nelson aka Tigra in the MC2.

 

Greer Nelson first appeared in 1972’s The Cat #1 as the titular character, before she later gained her feline form and identity as Tigra in 1974’s Giant-Sized Creatures #1 where she appeared alongside the Werewolf By Night.  Finally, Tigra gains a power boost and a tail in the pages of West Coast Avengers #15 giving us her iconic look as it’s known today. 

 

Anyone who frequents this blog regularly (all two of you) will know I usually try and identify when a character’s last Main Marvel Universe published appearance occurs prior to the point of divergence into the MC2. For Greer this turned out to be extremely easy, as Tigra appeared in 1995’s Avengers #382 or more accurately the flipbook version titled Marvel Double Feature: Avengers/Giant-Man #382. This features the last of a 4-part back-up tale (written by the late great George Perez, no less) following Hank Pym where Tigra makes a brief appearance. Tigra does not appear again until Avengers (vol. 3) #1-#4 which as I’ve mentioned previously seems to be the point at which events for the MC2 Avengers really diverge, at least assuming Wonder Man stayed dead.

 

As I’ve discussed previously, we know the original Avengers team’s last mission was nearly 12 years prior to the events of A-Next #1, as mentioned by Jarvis when he recounts the details to the new Avengers. Tigra is seen amongst the assembled Avengers during the flashback where it is decided the team must venture through the portal to the alternate world to halt Doom’s multiversal threat. While it is difficult to discern specific details from this cameo, Greer appears in her now-iconic hirsute feline design. It should be noted we do not know if Tigra was on the Avengers then-current roster at the time or simply returning for this major emergency summons (A-Next #7).

 

Tigra was among those who agreed to embark on the grave mission which saw only seven members return through the portal. While we do not get a 100% confirmation, it is assumed Greer Nelson died along with almost all the Avengers who went on this final mission. Despite the sobering tragedy of such a massive loss, the Avengers team did collectively succeed in saving their Earth from the threat of Doom (A-Next #7).

 

We get one other MC2 appearance of sorts for Greer Nelson with the cover for Spider-Girl #60. While not appearing in the issue itself, we do see Greer Nelson amongst an assortment of other superheroines on the cover, again sporting her original The Cat costume. You might have to take a close look as she is only partially visible at the very top left of the image. Confirmation this is not her sort-of successor Patsy Walker in the suit as Hellcat comes when we look to the original pencils of the cover by Ron Frenz.

 

 

Sadly, that is all I have to offer regarding Tigra in the MC2. The Avengers roster was certainly culled significantly on their final mission, leaving the world quite sparce on heroes for over a decade. I’d enjoy a flashback tale or something featuring Tigra or maybe her next generation counterpart, even if I know it’s fairly unlikely.

 

Until I gain feline abilities through a mix of science and magic and later grow a tail, I remain

 

frogoat