Righting Wrongs and Writing Wrong (Spider-Geddon Spoilers)

Happy New Year! Wasn't 2018 an interesting turn of events? We got a new direction for the Spider-Man comics, an amazing new video game, for Spider-Man, a great animated Spider-Man movie with Into the Spider-Verse and a definite upswing in both quality and fan engagement overall. But we also lost both Spider-Man creators, Steve Ditko and Stan Lee. It was a big year, full of ups and downs. Oh, and this also happened during the Spider-Geddon event:

I'll be honest, I didn't know how to feel about this at first. On the one hand, a character who died pointlessly and gratuitously in Dan Slott's Spider-Verse has been restored in some form. On the other, I don't think the Dan Slott should get credit for simply 'resetting' things on his way out. We don't thank criminals for returning stolen goods. And yes, Slott came up with the idea, not the event's writer Christos Gage:

Social media is so helpful sometimes. So, I have mixed feelings about the whole situation. Yes, Peter is back in the land of the living but that doesn't undo the quantifiable damage Slott did to the MC2 and it's unique appeal. But...I am glad Pete is back. It's right that Mayday have her father back because therein lies one of the most endearing aspects of her character: the father/daughter dynamic.

Either way, it's a Brand New Year and I'm hopeful for the future of my favourite characters for the first time in a long time. We've got another new trade paperback coming out later this year to look forward to as well! Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Volume 2 comes out August 13th according to Amazon:

Continuing the far-out future adventures of May"Mayday" Parker, the daughter of Peter and Mary Jane - also known as the spectacular Spider-Girl! But will May be the only member of the Parker clan to wear the webs when the villainous Kaine resurfaces? The Raptor strikes,the Buzz flies in and the Soldiers of the Serpent spread hate - but nothing could be worse than the return of Spider-Man's arch-foe, the Green Goblin! But who's under the mask now?! On top of it all, May must contend with threats like Earthshaker, Funny Face and Dragonfist! What is this martial arts maestro's connection to Danny Rand? Meanwhile, May's deadliest foes band together as...the Savage Six! Or is it Seven?! Will they be the end of Spider-Girl? Plus, the man called Nova! Avengers Next! The Steel Spider! And more!


COLLECTING: SPIDER-GIRL (1998) 16-32



It's a bit of a wait, but at least we know well in advance it's being published. With the first volume collecting 18 issues (one of which was the double-sized annual) and this second volume collecting 17 issues (including the double-sized issues 17 and 25) I think it's fair to say we can expect roughly the same number of issues to be collected in further volumes. Which means (assuming the release schedule remains the same) we can expect the entire first series of Spider-Girl to be available across six volumes by...2023. Hopefully they increase the release schedule because I do not want to wait that long!

Until I run out of reasons to be hopeful, I remain

frogoat

Character Assassination: Spider-Girl in Spider-Verse

BEWARE SPOILERS!

I've been genuinely moved by comics on only a few occasions. Usually to tears. But for the first time ever I'm genuinely angry at a comic book.

Spider-Verse- I had such high hopes for this event. I thought perhaps a giant crossover with all the various Spider-People across the multiverse would be good fun. They'd quip, they'd swap stories and compare lives, maybe collectively grieve over the many losses they've all suffered as result of the dangerous lives they all lead. As a concept, I liked it very much. It even had genuine drama built into it by the mere fact that every world is built on differing choices and outcomes. Imagine, May 'Mayday' Parker confronting 616 Peter Parker about his missing marriage. Or Peter being confronted with a version of himself that has gone down a dark path and wondering if perhaps he's capable of the same deeds. All of these things would have made for a rather entertaining read, and we could have had a nice thread or character beat to take away from it all: Exactly who are we if there are in infinite number of us- all making different decisions. Does what we do even matter in the grand scheme of things. Wouldn't that have been worth exploring?

But this isn't really about missed opportunities or how my perception and expectations weren't met. This is about bad writing. This is about not understanding a character on a fundamental level. This is about the character assassination of May 'Mayday' Parker aka Spider-Girl.


The first time we see May during the events of Spider-Verse, she's already been beaten, lying helpless beneath the fiend Daemos' boot. It's very apt, actually. May never really manages to achieve anything for herself throughout this story, remaining beneath the writers heel the entire length of this bloated event. Many Spider-People, old and new were given a spotlight for this event- both in the lead up and during the story proper. Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Woman, Silk and many more. Oddly enough, they were all given an active role in their own stories. Here, in Spider-Girl's own little prelude to Spider-Verse however, she does nothing but react as everyone around her makes decisions. That's not Mayday. She steps up to the plate when times are tough and she gets tougher.

May's entire family (excepting her baby brother Benjy) and her boyfriend are seemingly slaughtered and her family home burned to the ground. Mayday's entire world is built around her support network: Her allies, her friends and most especially her family. It's part of the appeal of the character that she isn't mired in the cliché superhero origin/motivation of having a dead loved one to inspire or drive them to do heroic deeds. May does the right thing because she knows it's the right thing to do. She was raised by good, loving parents who taught her right from wrong. Moral lessons such as 'With Great Power Must Also Come Great Responsibility.' And really, isn't that all we really need to be a good person? It's an intrinsic part of the Spider-Girl mythos to have family drama and conflict. Sure, the Parker family is loving and caring, but that doesn't mean everyone get's along 100% of the time.   Peter and May often clashed over her heroic identity. I can certainly say that growing up I didn't always agree with my parents, but I never doubted their love for me.It's a fairly simply yet effective way to create interesting and relatable drama. In a shortsighted way, killing off Mayday's parents certainly drives her forward and provides drama. But you can only play that out for so long and when it's all said and done they will still be dead and we've lost the core relationships that made readers care about the characters in the first place.

The removal of any of those familial relationships during Mayday's formative years utterly and completely alters her outlook and worldview on a fundamental level. Killing Peter leaves a gaping hole in May's life that can never be filled by any other character. Peter is May's role model, her mentor, her ideal of what a man is and most importantly, he is her father. Throwing an alternative world's Uncle Ben into the family doesn't somehow make things magically better. He can't adequately fill the void- no one could! Which leaves May as a different person going forward. Suddenly May is just another superhero with a dead loved-one. Only she's not being motivated or inspired by Peter's death because he already inspired her heroic actions during his life. His death adds nothing and is thus pointless as well as unearned from a narrative viewpoint.

Furthermore, instead of inspiring Mayday onward, her father's death merely leads to some out of character shouting about forgoing morals and oaths to enact revenge on Daemos. Sure, you could argue that it's a character arc, that May's distraught and upset, that it's resolved when May witnesses the 'Superior' Spider-Man slaying the Weaver for no apparent reason. But I'd argue that it wasn't a character arc, more a long string of Mayday shouting angrily about killing Daemos or finding Benjy, with no real progression until it's abruptly resolved without any clear thought process behind it. We only once see Mayday's true pain and anguish: during Tom and Ron's story (not Dan's!). Unfortunately it is unable to resolve May's story on it's own, being constrained by the larger Spider-Verse's own arc.

If you were to bring out all the fan favorite Spider-Folk for a big crossover story, wouldn't you want them to be portrayed as the fans know and love them? Which is the issue I have with May's depiction throughout the story: It's not even really Mayday. No, I'm not going to try to tell you how this character clearly isn't the real Spider-Girl because of incorrect internal monologue structure or whatever. I'm saying if you want to push all these Spider-characters (and judging by all the new Spider-Titles, that was part of the plan) then you want to be selling the reader on what makes them unique and interesting. Kaine's all dark and brooding and not so quipy. Superior Spider-Man is a ranting super villain. Spider-Gwen is...well, Gwen Stacy with witty dialog. Spider-Ham is a anthropomorphic pig, for crying out loud.  Miguel O'Hara is snarky and brilliant. So, where exactly was Spider-Girl accurately represented or portrayed, even remotely? No, instead we get May shouting vengeful epithets and calling everyone else in the room a fake.
 

Can you see why I'm upset? I really thought Spider-Girl showing up in this big story event after years of dormancy would do wonders for the character's exposure and marketability. I regret to inform you all I was terribly wrong. I think Mayday would have fared far better away from all this wanton death and destruction. As it stands now, May is no longer even called Spider-Girl and no longer wearing her distinctive costume. Instead, she's yet another in a long line to call themselves 'Spider-Woman'. Considering both Jessica Drew and Gwen Stacy both have a series (Spider-Woman and Spider-Gwen, respectively) it seems unlikely that May will receive her own title, which was secretly my fond hope following all this bloody exposure. I thought surely, with all these female Spider-heroes getting books, Mayday will merit a 'Spider-Girl' title.

The name Spider-Girl was earned by May 'Mayday' Parker over twelve long, hard years of continuous publication. To see it stripped from her again with such disregard makes me finally start to believe those that say Marvel doesn't really want May as Spider-Girl but are happy to trade on her title and goodwill. Which brings me to the costume. A gender-swapped Spider-Man costume? Are you kidding me?!? "The costume she's synonymous with isn't good enough, let's stick her in something generic that say's 'I'm just Spider-Man with boobs'." As if to infuriate me further, the actual gender-swapped Spider-Woman, Petra Parker from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon sports this look. Don't tell me that's a coincidence.

I'm done thinking Marvel cares about or wants to promote Mayday unless they can change her into someone or something else on a fundamental level. The glimmer of hope I see on the horizon is Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz are contributing to the Secret Wars crossover.

I apologize for all the negativity but I felt I had to express myself. Hopefully sometime soon I will return with more positive things to talk about.

 Until Spider-Girl is restored to her former self, I remain

frogoat
  

Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 3) #8 Review

This is a re-post of my review from Spidey-Dude.com which you can see here.

Story:

Disclaimer: This review was written before the conclusion of the Spider-Verse storyline. Some points raised may later be addressed.

The Inheritor named Daemos attacks the Parker home of Earth-982. Mayday's boyfriend Wes is apparently killed attempting to defend her from being crushed to death by Daemos.


Peter knocks Daemos away from Mayday and tells Mary Jane to save their children. While Peter battles Daemos, Mary Jane tells Mayday to take her baby brother Benjy and flee. Mary Jane rushes to her husband's side as May runs out of the burning family home with her brother. A scream is heard from the house just as Old Man Spider-Man and Spider-UK arrive through a portal.

Mayday begs them to help, but Old Man Spider-Man tells her they can only detect her and Benjy. Daemos emerges from the house dragging the body of Peter. He tells Mayday he will find them no matter where they go. Mayday vows to break every vow to avenge her father and kill Daemos before she disappears into the portal.

Review:

Where to start?

Dan Slott manages to do more to ruin the MC2's Spider-Girl in 8 pages than I ever thought possible. On the other hand, Dan Slott also writes the married Peter and Mary Jane as well as anyone could hope for.

Starting with some positives, I really enjoy seeing Humberto Ramos' depiction of Spider-Girl, brief though it maybe. His kinetic style is perhaps best suited to the action-oriented stuff, but I think he does a fine job showing emotion through the characters faces and body language. I was impressed how much pathos he manged to depict through Mayday's ripped mask with just one eye visible. I did find it difficult to make sense of where everybody was in relation to one another at times and the odd angles chosen sometimes forced me to look twice. I think Victor Olazaba's inks help deepen and distinguish Ramos' pencils, which is usually a good thing. The colors by Edgar Delgado were suitably darker in tone than most Spider-Girl stories and the lighting particularly from the flames worked well to evoke the destructive nature of this story. I'd like to see this art team draw more Spider-Girl someday. The cover to the book by Giuseppe Camuncoli looks amazing too.

But what about the story? The cover's copy reads 'Spider-Girl's Last Stand' and with the accompanying artwork of Mayday looking battered but determined surrounded by destruction, you'd be forgiven for thinking she had agency in her own story. Instead, Mayday starts off pinned by Daemos and already defeated. Wes has more of a heroic moment than Mayday. Then Peter throws himself at Daemos to slow him down so that his family can escape. Then Mary Jane gives Mayday Benjy and steps up to rejoin her husband. Wes, Peter and MJ all take an active role in the story while Mayday spends the entire story reacting.

As a story featuring Spider-Girl there isn't a lot of the tone one would expect. Mayday's character seems lacking. Sure, she monologues and feels responsible for bringing this down on her family and she clearly loves and respects her parents; that much I think was well handled. But the use of 'Mayday Parker' instead of May 'Mayday' Parker is either an error or a clue this isn't really the MC2 character. 'Mayday' is merely a nickname but here Spider-Girl refers to herself this way as though it were her actual name. Even Mary Jane calls her 'Mayday' for goodness sake. There's also the use of 'The Spider-Girl' to describe herself as the definitive Spider-Girl which struck me as odd.

Another quibble of mine was Old Man Spider-Man showing up and simply telling Mayday that it's too late to help because he can't detect any other Spider-Totems. Did Dan Slott forget about the MC2's own Kaine. Or Darkdevil. Or Gerry Drew. Or Jessica Drew. Or Julia Carpenter. Or Mattie Franklin. Or Aranâ. Or Black Tarantula. I know what you might be thinking, perhaps they are already dead? But no, dialogue  from Daemos seems to imply this is his first stop on this world.

There are a multitude of reasons I could rant on about why this story fails, but I think the main reason is simple. This was the first time we'd really seen May in a comic since her series ended four years ago, and the first thing we see is her parents and boyfriend murdered and her family home destroyed. Which leaves us with a very different character leading into the Spider-Verse event. If they wanted to use Spider-Girl, then use her as she has always been portrayed. If they wanted a vengeful and angry character, then why not use a different character? This depiction does a disservice to the fans of the character by making her unrecognizable and does nothing but tear down over a decade of character development and progression.

Worse still, Spider-Girl is no longer viable as a concept with her parents dead.  The whole point of having the daughter of Spider-Man is to show how they interact with one another. Mayday's relationship with her parents is one of the richest sources of drama and development. Spider-Girl was a rare find in comics: a superhero who didn't need a tragic past to drive her. Cutting that out leaves us with  yet another brooding, angst-ridden orphan superhero.

A far more interesting approach to having Spider-Girl in this event would have been to highlight the various strong points of her series: The marriage of Peter and MJ, May's optimism and strength of  character, her ability to see the good in others. There are key moments in Spider-Verse where Mayday's unique perspective could have shone through. Instead she's reduced to spouting rage-filled epithets. It's a true shame.

I think where Dan Slott shows the most promise is with his depiction of the married Peter and Mary Jane and the assertion  that they would never be parted. Which gives a nice piece of tragedy to their deaths, pointless though they may be. I suppose some credit must be given for featuring Wes in the story, though he's really only there to increase the drama by dying. This universe's earth designation is correctly given as 982, which considering the errors in other Spider-Verse stories, is something they got right. Considering what transpires, I don't know if that's a good thing.

Only time will tell if this is all set right at the conclusion of Spider-Verse. On a personal note, my favorite character suffering through the loss of her parents struck me very hard, especially while re-reading the story again. I find it almost cruel and heartless that anyone would write such a story without regard to the consequences going forward. The loss of parent is a life-altering event. I don't feel it was handled with the care and forethought that was needed. I hope there is a plan going forward for Mayday and her family.
All said and told, I really did not enjoy reading this story. A lot of people wanted to see Spider-Girl again, but not like this. Not like this. D-

Until things are set right again, I remain
frogoat

Thoughts on Preview of Amazing Spider-Man #8

Let me be clear. I have been extremely fair and reasonable and calm when speaking about Spider-Girl's role in the Spider-Verse crossover event. I've mentioned how much hope and joy I have in seeing my favorite character return to comics for a proper appearance. I've even spoken in defense of Dan Slott to those who've preemptively damned this story based on his previous handling of female characters and 'event' storytelling. I'm certainly going to wait until I read the book before I judge it. Now, with all that said, the two preview pages do not lend me much hope for the future of the Parker Family MC2. They look like they are being torn apart and possibly killed for the sake of motivating May through this story. And I can't abide that.

Yes, it's not lettered. Yes, it's only two pages. Yes, I'll wait and see. But based on these pages alone? I'm suddenly a lot less excited and a lot more apprehensive for Spider-Girl and her role in Spider-Verse. Please don't do this, Dan Slott. Please don't tear apart a whole family. They've been through so much. MC2 is supposed to be the safe haven. Not lacking danger and drama, but safe in the sense that for once, we know Peter made it. He's got a loving family, a great relationship with his wife and even though he retired from web-swinging, he still lives up to the greatest responsibility of all: family. I'd truly hate to see that thrown away.

I'd also hate for Mayday to loose her Father, Mother or both simply to push the story forward. There are certainly other methods of motivating a hero on a journey. May herself is a prime example of a hero without a tragic back-story. Instead of the cliché and well-trodden route of the dead relative/loved one, our Mayday instead stepped forward to defend her family. In doing so May discovered that when she succeeds, people live. It's a clear variation on the Power and Responsibility angle Peter himself learned through lose and pain. I guess if I have a point, the crux of it would be that this doesn't fit at all, both from a storytelling point of view and from a universal outlook approach.

 If Mayday suddenly finds herself an orphan or otherwise tragically motivated, she'll become a very different character from the one I know and love. She'll also become less interesting and less unique. That would be the real tragedy to come out of this story. Spider-Girl -the series- ran for 100 issues followed by a second 30 issue series, then a bunch of featured spots in Spider-Titles, then a third series and a one-shot. Spider-Girl, the concept and character has legs. There is no reason to destroy what works to push a plot forward. 

Okay, I'm being very negative and probably jumping the gun. I'm just very invested in this (emotionally, mentally, financially, you name it!) and I want to see my absolute favorite character in all of fiction handled with the care and respect she deserves. Please. Maybe everything will turn out fine and I'm just overthinking and over-analysing a few unpublished images, who knows? On a positive note, I really, really dig Humberto Ramos drawing THE Spider-Girl. It's means one more artist off my 'Draw Spider-Girl' list. I like what I see, Humberto!

I've got my fingers and toes crossed, Mr Slott. Please do right by Mayday Parker and her family. I'm going to read this entire event to find out. 

Until Spider-Girl and Swiney Girl meet and swap Hamburger recipes, I remain

frogoat

 

Wouldn't it be Neat?

Have you ever been going about your everyday business only to have a random idea about your favorite piece of fiction come floating into the forefront of your mind? I know I have. Wouldn't it be neat if this or that happened? Maybe you've got a nifty explanation for a continuity snafu or a great hero/villain story or a new quest for your intrepid hero to venture forth upon? Here's a few I've had rattling around recently.

Wouldn't it be neat if Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos did a Spider-Girl story?

I'd love to see Ramos' take on this particular web-swinger, having enjoyed his recent stuff on Superior Spider-man and Amazing Spider-man before that. His style currently is, I believe, the best it's ever been. Slott's love of continuity and using obscure characters could really bring out something sensational.

Wouldn't it be neat if the Romita's drew the MC2?

I know, technically John Romita Jr has drawn MC2 characters before, but that was for one background image on a splash page in an Avengers story. I'm talking full-blown cover-to-cover work from the both, Senior and Junior. They draw some of the best Spidey stuff in my opinion and I'd love to see JRJR's J2 get some panel time.

Do ya seem 'em?

Wouldn't it be neat if La Fantome became a bigger threat?

Think about it: As the descendent of the Spider-Slayer creators and with her established schtick of being a Mysterio type spooky villain, Stacy Smythe could become a huge threat amongst Spider-Girl's rogues. Just sayin', it could be done.

Wouldn't it be neat if we found out what happened to the X-Men?

Of all the superhero teams in the MC2, the fate of the original mutant team is the biggest mystery. We know at some point they saved the world, gaining a little acceptance in the process, but most appearances of the X-People imply they are more withdrawn from society currently. So, what happened? Who's still alive? Why is Jubilee the leader of the next generation of mutants? I'd love a mini series for the X-People.

Wouldn't it be neat if Doc Magus was the son of Doctor Strange and Clea?

This ones pretty self explanatory. We don't know a great deal about him or how he became the current Sorcerer Supreme, or why Stephen Strange is no longer worthy of that title. Strange and Clea have a long history together. There's lots of story potential there, parental issues and all.