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By Jason Bourgeois
So, just before working on this, it was announced that DC Comics is going to be rebooting their entire superhero line in September. I considered writing about that and scrapping this idea for another month, but then I realised we don't know anything besides, "Hey, we're rebooting everything in September!" There are certainly some thoughts to have on that subject, and I have many. However, unlike most of the internet, I would like something to actually base my opinions on and will wait to at least hear what books are coming out, how this is happening, and what the overall direction is going to be.
The most important thing, as it always should be, is if the stories are any good. And I'm sure some will be and some won't be, just like now, just like with Marvel. So keep reading this space and eventually I will have an informed opinion. Which is much better than a plain old opinion.
Instead of the gigantic, game-changing shake up at DC, let us turn our eyes to Marvel, and see what's happening with Spider-Girl. Because I can't have two more wildly different topics.
"Oh cool!" I can hear people saying. "He's finally going to talk about Spider-Girl, an amazing alternate future comic with the daughter of Peter and MJ! That book was great, and it died way too soon!"
Yeah, not that Spider-Girl, sorry. I've still only read all of a handful of MC2 comics. And really, she lasted a total of 125 issues, as long as Excalibur and even longer than many other comics. Don't cry me your tears over Mayday Parker!
No, the name got passed on to a more modern day character, Anya Corazon, or Arana as she was known a few years ago. She was granted spidery-powers back then, and was her own hero doing mostly her own thing. But recently she lost her powers, and started wearing a black and white spider costume. She also picked up the Spider-Girl name, which now that I've typed it out, makes no sense. She became a Spider-person after losing her spider powers. Ahh, whatever.
Anyways, the book is about Anya trying to make her way as a former superhero, now just a regular hero, with more than her fair share of gymnastic skills, hand to hand training, and experience swinging between buildings. So she's lost her extra abilities, but has all the training she's picked up over the years, so she's not a completely useless lump.
They've taken the idea that Peter Parker was once the voice of the everyday teen in the 60s and tried to update that for the 21st century. Writer Paul Tobin chose to do this by having Anya's caption boxes actually be posts to her Twitter feed, which is pretty clever. They work as caption boxes, and talking to her followers, which is an interesting way to use them, and try and make her more relatable. It could have come across as trying too hard to be cool, but I think they hit a decent balance with the idea. They don't hit you over the head of it being internet postings, while it still being clear to people that's what they're going for.
I've often considered checking to see if each one is under 140 characters, but I have a life.
The book kicked off pretty well, with some decent action and character moments, introducing new and old readers to the new status quo. Since Anya was starting fresh with a new level of abilities and life, it worked for all kinds of readers. But the first issue ended with a shocker I didn't see coming that altered the core of the character and gave the book its direction. I won't spoil it here for anyone interested in picking the book up based off my words, it definitely made me raise an eyebrow, and I wholly expected them to show it was all a fake out in the very next issue. But they didn't, and I commend Marvel for that.
The rest of the book has been surprising fun, and alternating between darkness and light as Anya copes with her new situation. But even so, it's mostly light. Anya is a fun loving character, and no Spider-person can be entirely dark. Well, Venom maybe, but I digress.
Sadly, the book got almost instantly cancelled and will be ending this month. Which is a shame, because there are far too few fun books out there that still tie into the greater scheme of things. This was a unique perspective at this time in the Spider-verse, and I would have liked to have read more of her adventures. Fortunately, there's another miniseries with her tying into an event in Spider-Man's own titles.
But I definitely recommend reading the eight issues of her book, even though the title was cut short. It will be a solid collection (With some erratic art that just didn't fit the tone for one story) in the eventual trade paperback, and is worth the read.
It worked before, so start those letter writing campaigns now! Keep Spider-Girl alive!!
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