Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 2

It doesn't feel all that long ago that I reviewed Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 and here I am again nearly exactly 365 days later, taking a look at Vol. 2. Collected in this trade paperback release we have Spider-Girl (1998) #16-#32 by Tom Defalco, Ron Frenz and Pat Olliffe.

While it's not my intention to review the issues within the collection, I have to admit, flipping through these stories I was transported back to my youth, to a time when I had nothing but wonder and joy for the medium of comics, when I first fell in love with the Spider-Girl character, her supporting cast and her world. There is so much to enjoy in these stories, with subplots and threads pulling together in surprising yet natural ways. There's a sense that any teething issues the creative team may have had are gone and now they are delving deeper into all the characters and giving us a richer and more fleshed out look at the established cast. 

When I wrote my review for the first volume in this collection, I wasn't aware of  some of the complaints I've since encountered online. While I mentioned the flimsy cardstock, I didn't have as much of an issue with the paper quality, but in hindsight I can see why this would be frustrating. As a fan of the series, I really want to see these issues reprinted in the best possible quality. It's also worth mentioning that I received another copy of the first volume with several missing pages in the weeks following my review, which after my initial anger I decided was perhaps worth retaining as a misprinted edition, even if it never amounts to any monetary value. With all that out of the way, the card stock for Volume 2 appears to be ever-so-slightly thicker than it's predecessor. Meanwhile, the glossy pages of the interior seem to be much the same. I've not noticed any issues with the printing process, nor have I encountered any missing pages, crinkling along the spine or even dints and folds in the cover. 

The cover is, in my humble opinion, a much more appealing choice than the first volume. Vibrant colours, a great layout and design with mood and menace and atmosphere emanating from every corner and an honest to gosh great looking Spider-Girl and maniacal Goblin looming in the background really made me want to crack this thing open and dive into the story. 

I think the choices of which issue to start and end the volume are solid. Despite my personal preference to package Spider-Girl #17 as the final issue of volume 1 because I feel it's a good culmination of her early adventures, I can't deny it would have made for an odd second volume 2. If the second volume had started with Spider-Girl #18 and had to close out with #32, it would be smaller volume and the only alternate then would have been to collect a few further issues such as #33-#34, meaning chopping up a few of the next major ongoing story arcs. Plus, this way the volume ends on a great cliffhanger. All in all, I think this was the best option. 

As for additional material, there is far less on offer here than last time, with only three pages in the back reproducing inked covers to several relevant issues in the collection in addition to two pages reproducing various inked pages of art from the stories. While these are a nice inclusion, I think printing several covers and interiors per page is a mistake. I'd much prefer to view Pat Olliffe and Al Williamson's art one-per-page so they can be better appreciated.

With that all said it's still a great collection, and currently the best way to physically read these issues. If you have the spare money, I'd recommend picking it up. If you don't have the money, I believe these stories are now available digitally through Marvel at a high quality too. Here's hoping the other MC2 titles get similar treatment in years to come.

Until I stop buying, disavow the MC2 and get legally declared non compos mentis, I remain

frogoat

LGBT+ Representation in the MC2

I've been somewhat short on free time lately, but I wanted to put out something to commemorate Pride Month before it's too late. So, today I'm going to take a look at LGBT+ representation in the MC2 comics.

While today it's well known that Felicia Hardy aka the Black Cat is bisexual in the Main Marvel Universe as revealed in Kevin Smith's Spider-Man and Black Cat mini series 'The Evil That Men Do', it's far less commonly known that the idea originates from her MC2 counterpart. First appearing in Spider-Girl #36, we learn that the MC2's Felicia Hardy married Eugene 'Flash' Thompson and had two children, Gene and Felicity. Later, the two would divorce and Felicia began a relationship with a contract operative from her detective agency; Diana. 

Diana first appears in Spider-Girl #47, where we learn about her and Felicia's relationship. The two had been together for six years when Felicia decided to leave Paris and return to New York so her daughter Felicity could re-establish a relationship with her father Flash Thompson. 

Unfortunately, the relationship is not without issues. Felicity, apparently angry toward her mother about the divorce, often lashes out at Felicia. Felicia mentions on more than one occasion that her and Felicity do not get along. Felicia confides to Mary Jane that she believes Felicity does not approve of her relationship.

The best part about Felicia and Diana's relationship is the way it's as a normal, loving relationship, complete with it's problems. Notably, the idea of Felicia being anything but heterosexual is introduced in a regular panel on a regular page without any big dramatic reveal. Mary Jane already knows, it's a long-term thing and nobody makes a big deal about it. Except for Felicity....

Though, as mentioned above Felicity has a lot of mixed up emotions including her depression, unresolved anger and resentment about her parents divorce, with Felicity believing her mother considers her a burden.

Keeping in mind the storyline played out between 2001 and 2002, it's worth mentioning the real-world reaction to the subplot. Spider-Girl #47, which depicted nothing more salacious than Felicia and Diana holding hands, prompted one reader to send a letter into the series' letter page, published in Spider-Girl #54:

There were no letters pages for a few issues, until Spider-Girl #57 saw two letters published in response to the original letter:

Meanwhile, on the Alvaro Spider-Girl Message Board, fan reactions were mostly positive:

Mostly likely as a result of two near-cancellations with issues #38 and #50 followed by an impending cancellation with #61, many of Spider-Girl's subplots were streamlined, promptly resolved or fell by the wayside. Unfortunately, the plotline revolving around Felicia, Diana and Felicity wasn't resolved and, following the series un-cancellation, it would be over 20 issues before Felicity would be seen again, with Felicia and Diana seemingly being lost in the lurch entirely.

Mainly because of some fan circles online it would be remiss of me not to mention the widely believed that the character is struggling with her own sexual identity. I think perhaps this topic deserves it's own post, so I might touch on it in-depth at a later date. Needless to say, Felicia certainly mentions wanting to be Mayday's 'partner' an awful lot. 

While the depiction of a regular same-sex couple might seem fairly commonplace nowadays, keep in mind this was nearly 20 years ago. I commend the creative team Tom Defalco, Pat Olliffe and everyone involved because this type of representation was sorely lacking at the time. It certainly meant a lot to a confused late-bloomer growing up. I hope everyone had a wonderful Pride Month and continues to hold their heads high until next year!



Until the flags stop flying, I remain


frogoat

Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 1

A few days ago I received my copy of Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 1 and I'd like to talk about it! I won't be going into too much detail about the stories reprinted in this collection, but it comprises What If #105 (not Spider-Girl #0) and Spider-Girl #1-15 as well as Spider-Girl Annual '99 and Spider-Girl #½.

Read as a whole, the individual issues really flow well together and form an overarching narrative, without feeling like they need to be read one after the other like the standard made-for-trade six issue arcs made commonplace in modern comics. This is most evident in the supporting characters and subplots, which weave through several issues and resolve at their own pace instead of being shoved into a set number of issues. In sharp contrast, it has sadly become standard practice nowadays to simply remove supporting characters and their storylines in favour of superheroes talking to other superheroes.

While I am a big fan of the series and I am admittedly bias about the series quality, I was more than happy to purchase this collection. Why? Because even though I own the individual issues and tracked down all the digests that were released, this will be the first time any issues of the Spider-Girl series have been collected in trade paperback form beyond the initial 8 issues. I consider it a major misstep that Marvel didn't release the series in this format until now; 20 years after the series began publication.

Much of the appeal of this release lies in potentially having the entire series sitting on my bookshelf in all it's glossy-paged glory someday soon. In addition, the last 16 pages are dedicated to various 'extras' such as variant covers, concept art and contemporary promotional materials. The most interesting of these for me was an article from the Marvel Catalog: August 1998. I'd never seen this piece before and found it fascinating to read through the article, which includes an interview with Tom Defalco and mentions the creative teams early plans for the nascent trio of titles that birthed the MC2 imprint.

If I had to make a negative comment, it's that the cover's card stock is rather flimsy when compared to other similar recent Marvel collections. While this doesn't really bother me much, it did mean my copy arrived in the post a little worse for wear, complete with a few marks and bends on the front cover. However, the blame for that surely lies with Amazon's frankly abysmal packaging, which consisted of nothing more than a brown envelop without bubble-wrap. Cheers Amazon!


Until I can gleefully announce the next volume of Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection, I remain

frogoat

Spider-Symmetry with Misery

A super-quick one today covering the little homage Ron Frenz pays to Pat Olliffe's work. From Spider-Girl Annual '99 we have a few great images featuring May 'Mayday' Parker aka Spider-Girl and Misery by Pat Olliffe with inks by Sal Buscema:

Then we have these pages by tremendous artist Ron Frenz (again inked by the amazing Sal Buscema) also featuring Spider-Girl and Misery from Spider-Girl #90:

Just some nice examples of the often overlooked care and effort that goes into making these wonderful books. If you spot anymore of these, let me know. There's heaps of them!

Until I stop revisiting old favourites, I remain

frogoat

 

Please Support Mayday!

While it's been listed on Amazon for a few months now, the recent Marvel Solicitations for July have confirmed that the original Spider-Girl series will be collected in large trade paperbacks starting with Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 1. Writer and co-creator Tom Defalco has asked fans to support this first volume via pre-ordering to help insure we get a second volume.

The Amazon listing can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/Spider-Girl-Complete-Collection-Vol-1/dp/1302912488/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1523981147&sr=8-3&keywords=spider-girl+the+complete+collection+vol.+1

Presumably any pre-order will help so if you can spare it, please consider placing an order now.

Until I stop shouting Make Mine Mayday! I remain

frogoat

Got Milk?

Recently I've been thinking about well-established artists in the comics industry who's take on the MC2 characters we've yet to see. Then I remembered there are a bunch of artists outside of MC2 mainstays such as the wonderfully talented Ron Frenz, Pat Olliffe, Paul Ryan, Ron Lim or Todd Nauck who've in some way worked on my favourite fictional universe. Every so often I'll try and dedicate a short post to each artist's brief foray into the MC2 Universe.

Adam Kubert

This first example comes from a somewhat odd place. A series of nine trading cards were released as part of the 'Got Milk?' marketing campaign by America's National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board in 1999. They feature milk-moustachioed depictions of Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, She-Hulk, Spider-Man, Venom and Daredevil in addition to the set we are covering here. (Sources are linked here.)

Yes, that's right! We get the obvious set of three MC2 cards featuring next generation characters such as the cast of A-Next, Spider-Girl and....er....Doctor Doom?! What the heck is he doing in there? I can't post this without pointing out the obvious error of Thunderstrike aka Kevin Masterson wielding a hammer. Considering the MC2 imprint was new at the time this was released, I can forgive Adam Kubert's slip-up, especially since it's honestly such a nice piece and I really like his take on the characters, particularly Spider-Girl. Unless I'm mistaken, the colours are by Paul Mounts, who does a great job making those colours pop out at you. I wonder if there exists a version of this artwork without the slogan and milk-moustaches? 

For completeness' sake let's look at the back of the cards, shall we?

I guess that's it for now. Remember to drink your milk, kids, so you grow up big and strong! 

Until I stop trying to find these on eBay, I remain

frogoat

Mayday's Diary

While re-reading through some MC2 comics, I realized I hadn't talked about a small narrative device that actually plays a small part in the plot years later. As we learn in a short back-up story from Spider-Girl Annual '99 (written by editor Bill Rosemann, instead of Tom Defalco himself) May 'Mayday' Parker keeps a diary.

In this first appearance of Mayday's Diary, it's used to recap readers on the events of the past year's-worth of published Spider-Girl stories, presented in May's own words.

Mayday's Diary is again used as a framing device when the series was relaunched with Amazing Spider-Girl #0, providing a more plot-relevant recap of the events of the previous Spider-Girl series.

Finally making the leap to a physical in-story appearance, Mayday's Diary shows up in Amazing Spider-Girl #25 when 'April Parker' uses it to catch herself up on recent events in 'her' life.

  

Probably apropos of nothing, but the diary looks different here, though there is still a flowery-theme.

Perhaps May's old dairy simply ran out of blank pages and this is a new one she started in Amazing Spider-Girl #0?



I realize this is nothing earth-shattering or exciting, but it helps ground a fictional character like Mayday in the real-world when she uses such a mundane, everyday item like a diary. A nice touch. I may be mistaken but I believe these are the only instances we see Mayday's Diary. Please do let me know if I'm wrong.

Until I get replaced by my symbiote-clone hybrid, I remain

frogoat

Spider-Girl's 20th Anniversary

Despite technically already missing the real 20th anniversary of May 'Mayday' Parker's first appearance in What If #105 by a few months (publication dates being earlier than the cover dates) I'm pleased to jump on the bandwagon in celebrating this momentous occasion!

Unfortunately I am currently experiencing laptop-related technical issues so the extent of my posting will be linking to other peoples wonderful work. So, apologies for that! A good friend of mine and all around prolific poster on tumblr has made a series of posts to celebrate May's anniversary. They can be found here: https://hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger.tumblr.com/

and here: https://mrsspidermanmaryjanewatsonparker.tumblr.com/

The wonderful comic-fan-turned-professional Kat Calamia has conducted a great interview with the series creators Tom Defalco, Ron Frenz and Pat Olliffe over on Newsarama:
https://www.newsarama.com/38572-happy-20th-anniversary-mayday-parker-spider-girl.html

As I come across further celebrations, I'll try to post them. Hopefully my laptop won't give it's last gasp before then!

Until we get an announcement of a new series by the original team, I remain (hopefully)

frogoat

A Merry MC2 Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Look Who the Cat Dragged In!

So, it's only taken me this long to pull this particular Spider from the portal. I can't tell you how happy I am right now.

 

 Until the next MC2 character is added to the game, forcing me to game hard to satisfy my obsessive need to collect everything MC2, I remain

 frogoat