Saturday Splash Page #151

"Down the Barrel of a Gun," in Spectacular Spider-Girl #2, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (finished art), Bruno Hang (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

A 4-issue mini-series from 2010, where New York City is in the middle of a gang war between Black Tarantula and an old-school Maggia guy enhanced with cybernetics. No, not Silvermane. This guy calls himself Silverback. I guess DeFalco and Frenz thought Silvermane would have to be dead by now or something.

Mayday promised her parents she'd stay out of it, but it's not sitting well with her. But she's got enough problems as it is. There's a horribly-dressed weirdo named Wild Card who keeps kicking her ass and telling her to stay out of the conflict. I mean, the outfit is bad. Like he's trying to fight her by making her go blind. Her clone/sister April is really getting into her Mayhem identity, and is actually working for Silverback.

Oh, and Frank Castle came out of retirement (that he spent in South America, where he still periodically fucked drug lords up) because Silverback was a guy he left crippled as a message before ending his war on the mob. Years of reading Garth Ennis' Punisher leave me unable to see Frank doing either of those things. Not ending his war on the mob, and certainly not leaving a guy alive as a message. "People scare better when they're dying," is definitely a philosophy the Punisher subscribes to.

The story has a feel of DeFalco and Frenz clearing the decks. They probably know this is one of the last Spider-Girl stories they're going to write, and they try to definitively move the old guard off the board, both characters that existed before Spider-Girl, and ones that didn't, but are supposed to pre-date her. Silverback and the Punisher bite the dust. Black Tarantula opts to leave New York with Arana, basically removing him as an issue. Peter (once again) accepts that he needs to trust his daughter can handle things. Even the two goons of Silverback's that are based on DeFalco and Frenz (I guess they didn't de in the wilds of Jersey) end up turning state's evidence in the hopes of being able to start new lives in witness protection elsewhere.

Silverback turns out to be a puppet of another villain, and that villain gets killed by Mayhem. Which sets up April's continuing descent into a "lethal protector" type as Mayday's biggest issue. Especially combined with her desire to assert her individuality as the true, only daughter of Peter and Mary Jane, which would come to a head in Spider-Girl: The End.

And with that, Summer (and Fall) of Spiders draws to a close.

Saturday Splash Page #146

"A Happy Sendoff", in Spider-Girl: The End, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (finished art), Bruno Hang and Sotocolor (colorists), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

"The End" was a loose group of comics Marvel did that were essentially the "final" story for a given character or group. The ones in the early 2000s were mini-series. One for the FF, one for Wolverine, 3 for the X-Men, one for the entire Marvel Universe (written by Starlin, so of course Thanos was responsible.) There were some one-shots in the mid-to-late 2000s. Marvel apparently revived it for 4 or 5 books in 2020, but I only learned that researching this post. 

To my knowledge, the best-regarded is Garth Ennis and Richard Corben's Punisher: The End, which basically says Frank Castle would never stop killing criminals, even if said criminals are the last humans left.

Spider-Girl: The End is 180 degrees from that book. Unsurprising, given the respective creative teams. Set after the strips in Amazing Spider-Man Family, Web of Spider-Man (vol. 3), and the 4-issue Spectacular Spider-Girl mini-series (which we'll see next month), we're told the story of how Spider-Girl died by a kindly old woman talking to a bunch of kids in what looks like an idyllic paradise.

The clone/symbiote hybrid, April Reilly, is still after Mayday to admit April's the original, as well as the better hero. They fight, a fire starts, May pushes her sister clear of falling debris, then is able to launch her clear of the explosion via impact webbing. As it turns out, the old lady is April, and we learn (though the kids don't), she tried to take May's place, but their little brother Benjy immediately knew she wasn't May, which tipped of MJ. April flipped, went full "lethal protector", to the point the government combined mercs with Carnage symbiotes, and civilization went down the crapper.

April gets a chance to go back and change things, and does, in the process tying off her own storyline. May returns home, unaware of the near miss, Wes, who had been circling as a possible love interest for a while, drops by and reveals he knows she's Spider-Girl, and that's where the issue ends. An actual happy ending!

Obviously, that wasn't going to last. . .

Saturday Splash Page #145

"Desperation Flurry," in Spider-Girl #87, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (finishes), Gotham (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

Olliffe leaves the book midway through a storyline involving Seth, the Serpent God of Death, handing the art duties to Ron Frenz (who had penciled a few fill-in issues previously) and Sal Buscema, who remain the art team for the remaining 40 or so issues.

I said last week DeFalco and Olliffe mostly avoided bringing back Peter Parker's rogue's gallery to challenge Mayday. That is not really the case for the DeFalco/Frenz run, where the Venom symbiote plays a major role, as well as the Black Tarantula's emergence as a major player in the organized crime world. DeFalco dusts off Carolyn Trainer, the second Dr. Octopus, and finally, near the end of the book, the original Hobgoblin, Roderick Kingsley.

Some of these work better than others. DeFalco has no issue letting the Hobgoblin smack around characters he's established as big deals or competent heroes previously, helping emphasize that this guy is dangerous. Likewise, the symbiote ends up connected to Normie Osborn, which creates a situation where Mayday trusts her friend, but worries the symbiote could be affecting him, and it becomes another secret between her and her parents. Mostly Peter, since he's far less trusting of Normie than Mayday is to begin with.

Along those lines, they try to set Black Tarantula up as a morally ambiguous character Mayday can't decide whether to fully trust or not. He offers her help, even brings in Elektra to train Mayday when she's getting her butt kicked by Doc Ock the Sequel, but he's still a guy consolidating his hold on crime in New York City, and not to dismantle it. So it's a little different than Peter's past friendships or alliances with people straddling the line between good and bad.

(There's also a bit where he seems to be courting Mayday, which I presume is because he doesn't know she's a high-schooler, but is really damn creepy. Not sure if that was intentional.)

Frenz tried to update his style, but it's not an improvement. Mayday ends up looking way too skinny, or with her face oddly shaped or angled. The longer he and Buscema are on the book, the more the art shifts to a place between Frenz's earlier work and Buscema's. By the time we get to Amazing Spider-Girl, it's more Buscema. Which means it's solid, but nothing revolutionary or experimental. It keeps things clean and easy to follow, emotions are typically very easy to read, the action is big, full of haymakers and people getting punched through walls. It's an old-school book in the writing, still lots of subplots and page space for the supporting cast, and the art reflects that.

I'm pretty sure I was buying the book monthly before Frenz and Buscema joined the creative team, probably starting in Olliffe's last year as penciler. I stayed with it until it was finally, truly canceled at issue 100 (it survived at least one more near-cancellation during this tenure, and maybe two.) Of course, Marvel started Amazing Spider-Girl 3 months later, so it wasn't a cancellation so much as a rebranding. 

I don't know if Spider-Girl was ever my favorite book, but there was a reliable, "competence" feels too much like damning with faint praise, level of care maybe, that I appreciated. You know what you're going to get with DeFalco, Frenz, and Buscema. It's not flashy, but they do their best to make sure you get your money's worth of plot, character arcs and action every month.

Random Back Issues #112 - Fantastic Four #296

Yes, more of that.

The 25th anniversary issue of Fantastic Four feels like it's following up on the conclusion of The Thing's series, where Ben was mutating further and decided to go off alone to die (pausing briefly to save the West Coast Avengers in issue 10 of their book).

Here, though, Ben is rocking (no pun intended) his traditional look as he tromps through the rain to where Reed's defective rocket crashed down. Bemoaning how he's still a 'walkin', breathin' monster', Ben enlists pilot and childhood friend Hopper Hertnecky to fly him to Monster Island. Hopper then visits the FF to tell them, Ben asked to be left alone, because he knew Reed would track him down sooner or later.

On the way out the door Hopper also, correctly, points out it's Reed's fault Ben's how he is, and makes his own plea to drop the issue. While Johnny flies around stopping bank robbers and beating himself up about dating Alicia, Sue finds Reed brooding and tells him, no, it's not Reed's fault Ben was transformed by cosmic rays Reed swore his spaceship was shielded against, and that Ben has been tormenting Reed all these years by sulking over his fate. His fate of being transformed into a rock monster because Reed was too certain of his own genius to allow more testing on his ship before asking Ben to pilot it.

Amazing that Sue manages to be more unlikable than Reed. Of course, she's the one who called Ben a coward for expressing doubts about the cosmic rays in the first place. So maybe she's just covering her own ass. I'm starting to think Sue deserves being married to Reed Richards.

Anyway, Reed's determined to have it out with Ben one last time, so the Fantastic Three fly to Monster Island, leaving She-Hulk, Alicia, and Wyatt behind. They find themselves immediately overwhelmed by all the monsters.

On Monster Island. Because they didn't bring the super-strong member of their team. What genius is driving this clown car?

They wake up to find The Thing standing over them, dressed like his new pal. That's right, Mole Man's got an entire society for ugly people, and Ben's his general! Having found a place he thinks he belongs, Ben wants to apologize to Reed for 'taking it out on him all those years.' I choose to believe Ben's just saying this to get them to go the fuck away. The last thing Reed Richards needs is people apologizing to him. Ben decides to be a good host and give them a tour, including showing them the enormous machine Mole Man promises will cause a new island to form in the middle of the Pacific, just for their society.

Reed's suspicious, especially once Mole Man calls them back, worried about such a breach of security. Then Alicia shows up, having asked Hopper to fly her to Monster Island. Quite why he listened, after insisting they should leave his friend be, I don't know. I guess Ben Grimm just has lousy taste in friends. Before she passes out, Alicia mumbles she had to come, so great was her fear of what Ben might do to Johnny. Ben later has an unproductive conversation with Alicia, where she says he was too self-absorbed and she needed someone gentle and understanding.

Re-read those qualifications, then consider she's dating Johnny Storm. Alicia might just be an idiot.

In a sour mood, Ben finds Reed and Sue making a ruckus looking for Johnny. Reed of course insists Ben needs to listen, so Ben punches him in the face. But it turns out Mole Man took revenge for Ben, using some machine to make Johnny, gasp, physically unattractive! Ben orders the lot of them sent to the surface, but Reed, never one to know when not to poke the bull, is determined to go back down. He's sure Mole Man's machine is going to create a new island through vulcanism, the resultant tsunamis killing millions.

He also describes Ben as, 'an innocent dupe whose only mistake is putting his trust in the wrong man!' What else is new? Meanwhile, in trying to get answers out of Mole Man, Ben learns his buddy has a private holosuite where he pretends to hang out at parties with conventionally attractive women.

Confronted with the distressing reality his new friend would rather be with the pretty people up above and not the "uglies" he claims are like him, Ben is not in a great mood when he finds his old friends trying to trash island-maker. But he listens to Reed and helps wreck it, which causes the entire place to collapse. Johnny's hit by falling ceiling and Ben carries him to Mole Man's lab, and convinces him to undo what he did to Johnny. Matchstick can't be moved for 7 minutes, so Ben stands there holding up the ceiling while Mole Man retreats to seeming certain death in his crumbling dream world. He would, at minimum return in Byrne's second Sensational She-Hulk stint, trying to force her to marry him.

Reed, Sue, Alicia and Hopper watch the island collapse from an inflatable raft. Reed's determined to swim(?) down to get Ben and Johnny, over Sue's objections, but the guys surface and it's now six people, including a 500-pound rock guy, in one inflatable raft. But Ben seems willing to rejoin the FF rather than use Reed for dental floss, so, whoo-hoo?

{4th longbox, 112th comic. Fantastic Four #296, by Jim Shooter and Stan Lee (writers), Barry Windsor-Smith, Kerry Gammill, Ron Frenz, Al Milgrom, John Buscema, Marc Silvestri, and Jerry Ordway (pencilers), Windsor-Smith, Vince Colletta, Bob Wiacek, Klaus Janson, Steve Leialoha, Joe Rubenstein, and Joe Sinnott (inkers) Glynis Oliver (colorist), John Workman (letterer)}

Random Back Issues #111 - Spider-Girl #81

Is that what's happening? I thought you two whiffed the high five.

Spider-Girl's fighting Aftershock, who I think was introduced in the only issue of the original 100 issue run not written by Tom DeFalco (issue 51, written by Sean McKeever). Aftershock's not doing so hot here, as the armored car she attacked was empty at the time, which the driver tried to tell her.

What should therefore be a pretty easy win against an idiot goes sideways when Mayday's distracted by her cellphone. She dodges the next attack without thinking and aggravates some recently injured ribs, landing in a pile of garbage. Yep, she's Spider-Man's daughter, all right.

The security guard tries to grab Aftershock and gets electrocuted for his trouble. Spider-Girl manages to perform CPR to save his life before heading home. She also gets a call from her friend Brenda Drago (former legacy Vulture villain Raptor), that Brenda's now engaged to Normie Osborn. So in addition to getting chewed out by her dad for not coming home to look after her baby brother after school (because she was losing to an idiot), she also has to hear Peter bemoan the idea anyone would willingly marry an Osborn.

Mary Jane tried playing peacemaker, but the forecast is chilly at school the next day when Mayday gets a call from the Avengers. Electro showed up at the mansion, demanding to speak to Spider-Man. He initially dismisses Spider-Girl as a 'teen sidekick,' then revises it to 'secretary' when she explains no one gets to see Spider-Man without going through her.

Peter throws on the old costume to meet Electro (who, in a nice touch, recognizes Spidey's walking with a limp, because he's missing a leg from the knee down). Aftershock is Max Dillon's kid, but he's stayed away from her. Partially because the mom insisted, partially because his aura and his daughter's are on different frequencies, so it hurts them both to make physical contact. There's even a picture in the file Max is carrying that shows him and what is supposed to be a baby, but looks like Tiny Gerald Ford reacting badly.

Peter agrees to help, musing how awful it would be not to be able to hold your child. In the middle of that, all the younger Avengers show up, because they all want to meet Spider-Man. Which is cool, that he's considered one of the greats by the next generation, and lets his daughter see a different side of him.

Mayday finds Aftershock robbing a jewelry store. Hopefully she didn't grab costume jewelry. Spider-Girl's holding back, leaping about and just slapping Aftershock instead of full on punching her. All that really accomplishes is pissing the girl off, and she blasts Mayday from the street to a rooftop at least a couple of stories up. Aftershock vows to 'melt the flesh off your scrawny bones,' but the Avengers arrive, and electricity can't get through melt the Juggernaut's kid (or, unfortunately, the flannel shirt he wears around his waist.)

Aftershock's not exactly happy to see her dad, and he considers bailing, but Peter gives him the speech about how parents can't ever give up, and so Max hugs his daughter. This hurts, but it seems like it fades after a few panels. I guess their bio-electric auras adapted or merged with each other given time, it was just Max never stuck it out long enough for that to happen before. Which is understandable. If your kid screams in pain every time you so much as touch them, you would probably stop doing that.

At home that night, the Parker family discuss what'll happen to Aftershock (she's a minor, so a light sentence or paroled into Max's custody is Peter's guess). Peter and Mayday stay up to talk and Mary Jane finds them asleep on the couch at 3 a.m., having apparently buried the hatchet. Except the cover for the next issue reminds me that Normie's about to get bonded to the Venom symbiote, so that'll be another thing to make Peter wary. But haven't we all had a friend our parents distrusted because they were forcibly bonded to a brain-eating alien slime mold?

{10th longbox, 88th comic. Spider-Girl #81, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/art breakdowns), Sal Buscema (finished art), Gotham (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)}

Saturday Splash Page #80

 

"Big Shoes to Kill," in Thor #387, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (penciler), Brett Breeding (inker), Evelyn Stein (colorist), John Workman (letterer)

As he would with Fantastic Four, Tom DeFalco took over as writer on Thor after Walt Simonson left. Thor probably suited DeFalco's style better, with his tendency to describe every conflict or individual hit as the mightiest one ever unleashed (or words to that effect). Fits with Marvel Thor's tendency to talk big-time shit.

While DeFalco did keep certain aspects of Simonson's run intact - the Rainbow Bridge remains shattered, and DeFalco expands this to have Asgard drift among different dimensions - others get promptly rolled back. The beard Thor grew to disguise the damage from Hela's Pimp Slap of Death? Cut, revealing Thor's face is entirely healed. Beta Ray Bill drops out of the book almost entirely, replaced more by Hercules. Don Blake remains out of the picture, but DeFalco bonds Thor to an actual mortal, architect Eric Masterson, after he's injured during one of Thor's battles.

Now Thor can have conflicts between his fights and Eric needing to pick up his son from school, or attend a custody hearing! Um, hooray?

DeFalco tries to go big with the conflicts, throwing Thor up against the Celestials right off, while Asgard is under attack by the forces of Seth, the Serpent God of Death (I think he has to be referred to by the entire title.) Odin comes back after his big move against Surtur, but I think that was as much so DeFalco could throw Surtur into the mix, too.

During that stretch, Ron Frenz is being inked by Joe Sinnott, and that really gives the book a retro feel, as Frenz seems to be trying to ape Kirby. His characters aren't as blocky and rough, but some of the energy's there. The covers are definitely done in a way to evoke the older comics. The dialogue is overwrought and dramatic, probably too much so at times, but the cast is mostly mythic figures, so you can argue that's just how things are with them.

After that arc concludes in issue 400, Frenz starts co-plotting the books with DeFalco. Sinnott stays on as inker, or sometimes is credited for finished art, but eventually that role goes to Al Milgrom takes. At that point, the art shifts away from the Kirby pastiche/homage and more closely resembles Frenz' work on Amazing Spider-Girl. Enough so I thought it was Sal Buscema inking him, but apparently not.

Probably the most notable addition from the Defalco/Frenz run, which lasted for over 70 issues, was Eric Masterson, who was Thor (or pretending to be Thor) for a time, before receiving his own enchanted weapon and becoming Thunderstrike. It's either that or the issue where Steve Rogers (as The Captain) is able to lift Mjolnir.

Masterson should probably be considered in the context of all the "replacement" versions we saw in the '90s, like Azrael-Batman or the various Supermen. At one point, when helping to rescue a sleeping Odin from Annihilus, he even goes so far as to heft a big gun emplacement and turn it on Annihilus' forces. This gets him chided by Sif for not being befitting of a true warrior, but hey, he can't be concerned with things like that, winning is what matters, lady.

That's not a stretch of issues I've read a lot of, though, so any comments beyond that would be based on half-remembered things or vague impressions.

Saturday Splash Page #43

 

"Fly-By-Night Operation," in Web of Spider-Man (vol. 2) #1, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/artist), Sal Buscema (inker/finisher), Bruno Hang (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

In the late 2000s, Marvel briefly brought back Web of Spider-Man, this time as an anthology title. There was a mixture of done-in-one stories focused on supporting characters, but it was also another place for folks like me to get their "Mayday" Parker Spider-Girl fix.

The Spider-Girl parts only lasted a few issues, and continued threads from earlier stories in Amazing Spider-Man Family, the previous attempt at a Spider-themed anthology book. At this point the big issue was Mayday had a clone of her own, who was actually part symbiote thanks to Osborn. Calling herself "April", the clone tried to integrate into the Parker family life, but tended to resent the fact she felt she was the original and May had stolen her life.

That's woven in with an ongoing gang war involving Tombstone and the Black Tarantula, and then Fury the Goblin Queen up there rushes onto the scene, trying to both destroy traitors and the Parkers once and for all. April has to decide which side she's going to be on (for now, at least), and Mayday's boyfriend maybe figures out her secret. It's pretty standard DeFalco/Frenz Spider-Girl stuff, with Sal Buscema providing the finishes on the art. Lots of melodrama and big speeches. Lot of Spider-Girl triumphing through hard challenges and throwing big haymaker punches.

Oh, and DeFalco and Frenz show up working for Tombstone, only to be killed by Batwing, the character Kurt Busiek and Pat Olliffe created in Untold Tales of Spider-Man (which we'll get to in a month or so.)

Random Back Issues #55 - Amazing Spider-Man #281

How long you think Hydro-Man's been waiting to use that one? For that matter, how long did it take him to think it up?

An opportunity to use my "sinister syndicate" label! It's a great day! This is the second part of the first story that actually introduced that bunch. I have a soft spot for them since they formed to improve their chances of making money, rather than out of a desire for revenge.

Silver Sable's put Spidey on the payroll to help her catch Jack O'Lantern, and how nice, Jack called to tell her he'll be at Coney Island at midnight. Sable knows it's a trap, but figures with Spidey along they've got it under control. Now they're up against five super-villains (although Sable's disappointed none of them have a decent bounty on their heads.) Oh yeah, and Spidey's nursing an injured shoulder after he tripped Speed Demon last issue, and Sable hurt both her ankles kicking the Beetle. You know, the guy in the powered suit of metal armor. (She's not coming off as very bright, especially since she's putting a wrap on the right ankle she insists isn't too bad, rather than the left.)

 

Things look bad, but then the Sandman decides to join the party, having heard the commotion. Spidey and Sable dip out, but you know Parker's not going to abandon someone in need, so back they go. Sandman's doing pretty well when he lets Rhino just pass through him, but tries to match him power for power and gets smashed, then scattered by Speed Demon. He pulls himself together in time to go at it with Hydro-Man, as those two apparently really don't like each other. I do enjoy those kinds of petty beefs among villains. It's fun. 

 

Although Sandman describing Hydro-Man as like looking into a 'broken, distorted mirror,' is a bit much. But this is part of that gradual shift to being a good guy Sandman went through for a few years in the '80s and '90s, so I guess he's gotta feel bad about his past behavior.

 

Silver Sable takes out the source of Beetle's sting blasts (his antennae?) and Spidey slams him into a roof, then stops Boomerang. Unfortunately, Hydro-Man's learned turf beats surf and goes for the easier target (Sable) instead. Spidey disrupts his concentration by throwing Boomerang through him, giving her the chance to grab a fire extinguisher and spray it into waterboy, which makes him nauseous? Sure, fine. Unfortunately, Spidey took a serious hit in the back from the Rhino to make that throw. Fortunately, this activates his secret super-power (at least when DeFalco's writing him), The Desperation Flurry.

Sandman gets the drop on Speed Demon (who was already had one foot out the door wondering what it took to stop Spidey), but Hydro-Man gets the webslinger off Rhino and the villains retreat. Sable tells Spidey he's not getting paid because he quit when he chose to come back to help Sandman, but she wonders if Sandman would like a job? (As we saw in Random Back Issues #20, the answer's yes.) That lady is a shitty, shitty boss. Probably deducts funeral expenses from their pay. Spidey tries swinging home, broke and broken, and collapses on a roof before long, wondering if he got a permanent brain injury. Well, that would explain so many things from the late-2000s.

 

In other developments, the "Who is Hobgoblin?" story still isn't finished. Flash Thompson was arrested in a costume, but Robbie Robertson isn't convinced. Then Jack O'Lantern breaks Flash out of jail, thinking rescuing the Hobgoblin will make him a player in the New York underworld. What it actually does is piss the real Hobgoblin off. I don't know how framing Flash was going to work long-term since presumably the Hobgoblin would want to get back out there at some point.

 

The two of them fight from inside Jack's base out onto the rooftops, but it ends inconclusively. Hobgoblin gets Jack with a 'computerized barrage of electro-blasts', but Jack's armor protects him long enough to hit Hobgoblin with a pumpkin bomb, sending him careening into a storefront window. Meanwhile, Flash escaped in the confusion and is wandering the streets, unsure what to do.

The Hobgoblin thing has a ways to go yet, and of course the eventual end (Ned Leeds), ends up being retconned later, but at this point they've been teasing the mystery out for like 40 issues, which is just way too long.

[1st longbox, 60th comic. Amazing Spider #281, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (story layouts), Brett Breeding (pencils and inks), Nelson Yomtov (colorist), Joe Rosen (letterer)]

Random Back Issues #33 - Spider-Girl #87

'Doohickey'? Mayday, please, the appropriate technical term is "dingus" What would your father say?

We're looking at the middle chapter of a three-parter today, where Spider-Girl gets mixed up in a fight between the the Fantastic Four's kids and Apox, the Omega Skrull. Think "Super-Skrull, but with the Power Cosmic".

So you've got Franklin Richards (as Psi-Lord), plus Kristoff (wearing a Dr. Doom faceplate), Alyce and Jake (Ben and Alicia's kids), and Torus (Johnny and Lyja's son, but he's got Namor's eyebrows, although I guess they're supposed to take after his mom). Apox lost last time (about 40 issues ago) because there was a device at the base of his skull that fed him energy, but as Mayday finds out, that flaw's been corrected.

The kids aren't doing much more than annoying Apox, who is there to kill the originals, but it's enough for Apox to signal his Skrull warship to put a force field around the HQ. He thinks it's just to keep anyone from interfering, but the Skrulls aren't complete dopes. It's actually an extermi-field, which absorbs solar energy and will eventually blow up the entire city.

The team has a plan, but Torus gets cocky and gets taken hostage as Apox goes tearing through the building. Franklin and May give chase and pass by a bunch of inactive robots that Reed projects his consciousness into. That seems like the sort of thing you'd see in Earth X, but I picked up some of that last week and Reed's just moping around in Doom's pants. Lame.

Franklin explains Reed's body was damaged by radiation from a villain's doomsday weapon in the Negative Zone, and that Sue has been keeping the tear in reality the weapon formed closed with a force field ever since. The villain isn't named, only that he's a 'cosmically-powered warlord from another dimension'. I'm assuming some from DeFalco's generally derided FF run, but I don't know who it would be.

Apox gets the information from Torus (from telepathy or hypnosis I'm not sure) and reaches the Negative Zone portal. Jake and Alyce (whose powers remind me of X-Ray from the U-Foes) slow him down enough for Franklin and Mayday to catch up and Franklin has him pinned, but Jake makes the same mistake Torus did and distracts Franklin where he loses focus and Apox flattens the lot of them. Jake gets blasted through at least five floors, and Alyce gets knocked clear out of the building and bounces off the extermi-field. Ouch.

May pulls out the classic Spider-move of leaping around and hitting Apox from every angle really fast and. . . it doesn't work. Apox swats her (although he compliments her as the only one who attacked him like a warrior), and rips open the doorway to the portal while May barely keeps Franklin and Torus from being sucked in. Next issue, she charges in alone after Apox to try and stop him.

For a Tom DeFalco book, there is surprisingly only one subplot mentioned in the issue (if we ignore Mayday's long-established crush on Franklin Richards). Normie Osborn is running Oscorp and telling his designers to work on building some weapons. Glider-like weapons. He's being vaguely threatening about it, too. Normie had bonded with the Venom symbiote recently, and so the implication is the symbiote is influencing him. I think there ended up being a swerve there, that Normie's just trying to be focused and confident, but not evil.

[10th longbox, 90th comic. Spider-Girl #87, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (inker/finishes), Gotham (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)]

What I Bought 8/16/2019 - Part 1

I didn't mention it last week, but we officially reached 4500 posts with Sunday Splash Page #74. It snuck up on me, since I stopped really paying attention to my total posts some time in the last few years. I figured now would be as good a time as any to mention it.

We're looking at some books from the first two weeks of August today. The first issue of a mini-series, and a one-shot I took a chance on.

Gwenpool Strikes Back #1, by Leah Williams (writer), David Baldeon (artist), Jesus Arbutov (color artist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - For a second, I thought the expression on Peter's face in the smartphone did not match his actual expression, but I think it's that it's close up, so some more details are visible.

Gwenpool is not actually trying to ruin heroes' lives to keep herself from fading from existence. She is, however, trying to get a superpower that is easier for writers and artists to represent in team books and guest appearances than her current ability to jump into the space between panels. I don't know, I feel like you should be able to work with that. You just play it as confusing the hell out of whoever she teams up with, as she vanishes, then reappears abruptly with something useful.

Setting that aside, Gwen hopes Spider-Man can give powers via radiation, but only succeeds in accidentally unmasking him in front of a bunch of bank customers she took hostage. That puts Spidey in a mood, and he leaves her webbed up, until a cancer ridden version of herself shows up to free her, and sends Gwen on a trip outside the pages to find Radioactive Man and get. . . something from him. Cancer most likely. Not helping disprove all those people who think you're Girl Deadpool, Gwen.

Baldeon's work is loose and expressive enough for Gwen and her hijinks. The weird baggy sweatpants and hoodie look over her regular costume. The 9-panel grid page where Gwen explains her current status feels clunky, but all of Gwen's gestures and twitches make me think of a person giving a presentation who is really uncomfortable with public speaking and can't keep herself still. With Gwen it might just be a matter of struggling to keep still, period. And I like the version of the "gutters" we get as everything is on the verge of ending for her.

Sensational Spider-Man: Self-Improvement, by Peter David (writer), Randy Schueller (plot), Rick Leonardi (penciler), Victor Olazaba (inker), Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist), plus Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (inker), Chris Sotomayor (colorist), Travis Lanham (letterer) - The costume inside isn't actually black-and-white. It looks more like a precursor to Spider-Man 2099's costume. Which wouldn't be a huge surprise, with David and Leonardi involved.

Peter's costume (and his back) get trashed fighting Firebrand, so Reed Richards whips him up a new, unstable molecule costume, with upgraded webshooters, which Spidey can barely control. Oh, and the web pits act as glider wings. Peter almost causes a helicopter crash, then barely manages to corral Firebrand before he kills his ex-wife for swiping all his ill-gotten loot. Plus, Firebrand's daughter is scared of Spidey in a black costume, so he mails it back to Reed.

Well, I'm not ever a fan of Peter getting new outfits from other people, so that's a strike there. Especially since Reed's apparently Neil Degrasse Tyson now, as he criticizes Spidey for calling the costume awesome, when that should be reserved for something like the Grand Canyon. Christ, Richards, could you try to not be a complete cock for two seconds?

Also, this is not some of Leonardi's better work. He needs a strong inker, and Olazaba's hit or miss here. There are panels in here where Reed's facial features are barely defined shadows. Like Puppet Master was making a clay duplicate but got bored halfway through. They did a lot better on the climax, with Firebrand's ex and Rita, the little girl. So maybe they just figured nobody cares about Mr. Fantastic and focused their efforts accordingly.

There's also a backup story by DeFalco, Frenz, and Buscema, where Peter tracks down some guys who killed an old many because his nephew wouldn't help them rob a warehouse. The kid did the responsible thing, but it didn't exactly work out, and Peter wonders if that's because the kid had no power. Kind of a bummer, especially when he doesn't give the kid an answer about whether the guilt of losing someone ever goes away. But I guess he couldn't say it does, since his over Uncle Ben hasn't, even if I subscribe to the idea Peter likes helping people and being Spider-Man, and it isn't only a guilt thing.

Frenz and Buscema on art looks pretty much like it always does, which is either good or bad, depending on your preference. Buscema's inks really make it feel like his art work, but I think Frenz' pencils help a lot. Either that or Buscema's going with softer inks than when he was on Spectacular Spider-Man back in the day. I always found his stuff back then a little too, sharp maybe. All the lines on faces were thin and stark and made everyone look kind of old and a little unpleasant (plus he gave Mary Jane what I assume was a beauty mark on her cheek that I thought was a mole every time I saw it). Which isn't the case here, or on their collaborations on Spider-Girl over the years.

Sunday Splash Page #21

"Asking the Wrong Question", in Amazing Spider-Man Family #6, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (plotter, penciler), Sal Buscema (inks/finishes), Bruno Hang, Andrew Crossley, John Kalisz, Antonio Fabela (colorists), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

Last entry for stuff titled "Amazing Spider-(blank)". Unless I buy something else later.

After Amazing Spider-Girl was canceled, Marvel in its usual clear-headed and calm manner, let the character and setting go fallow for several years so that Mayday's eventual return was a big deal.

Just kidding. They almost immediately continued her adventures in this anthology series. When it ended at issue #8, they started up another anthology book using the Web of Spider-Man title, which ran for about a year. The Spider-Girl stories only went for a few of those issues, though. Marvel did helpfully collect all the Spider-Girl stuff in a trade, which is what I'm working from here.

It's DeFalco, Frenz, and Buscema on Spider-Girl, so it's basically what we got with Amazing Spider-Girl. A few different plots running simultaneously, taking turns in the spotlight. A lot of expository dialogue. Solid, straightforward art that gives you all the information you need and is easy to follow, if not particularly flashy. Callbacks and references to earlier stories, most of which at least one of those three creators were involved with. Not as much focus on supporting character subplots as you typically see, but they were more constrained on pages and issues than before, so that's not too surprising. Also, a complete lack of Norman Osborn, which was a big plus in my book.

But there's a momentum to it that's still appealing. Stuff happens at a decent clip. Even if some threads aren't resolved, they're still being added to and built up towards some conclusion. You may not end up impressed by how it ends, but you know they're at least going to try and give you some payoff. That's kind of meat-and-potatoes, but there's value to that.

Sunday Splash Page #10

 

"Friday Casual Spider-Angst", in Amazing Spider-Girl #2, by Tom DeFalco (writer), Ron Frenz (writer/penciler), Sal Buscema (inker), Gotham (colorist), Dave Sharpe (letterer)

In summer of 2006, Marvel canceled Spider-Girl after 100 issues. It had narrowly avoided the ax several times before then, but not this time. But since this is Marvel we're talking about, the book was relaunched three months later with the same creative team, a slightly different title, and a brand-new first issue that boosted sales for, oh, two or three whole issues. The book did run 30 issues before being canceled again.

You pretty much know what you're getting with DeFalco. He has a very old-school style of writing; expository dialogue, big speeches about not giving up, the phrase "hoo-boy!". But he did at least try to not only build a supporting cast, but give them their own subplots that would eventually get the main stage. He and Frenz certainly tried to give the reader their money's worth. Whether a Clone Saga of her own, and the entirely unnecessary return of Norman Osborn (sorta) accomplished that is up to you. Wasn't what I was looking for.

Frenz had, in the previous series, been experimenting with what I think was meant to be a more modern style, maybe trying for a manga influence. It didn't go well. He moved back to something closer to his earlier style, especially with Buscema's inks. Late in the series, when Frenz was often credited with breakdowns while Buscema was credited with finishes, the art began to resemble Sal's art even more. The art was solid, clear, and easy to follow, not particularly flashy.

31 Days of Scans - Day 16

I’ve been thinking about this one (Favorite LGBTQ Character), and mostly drawing a blank. It seems like most of my favorite characters are established as being heterosexual. I know there’s a strong fan contingent that thinks Tim Drake could be gay and/or bisexual (mostly with regard to him and Superboy), but I don’t think DC’s ever officially gone that route with him. I like Shadowcat fairly well, and I’m pretty sure Claremont established that Kitty is at least bi at some point, but I’ve never read the story, and I don’t know if anyone else has ever paid it any mind. Harley Quinn is pretty clearly bisexual these days, between whatever is going on with her and Ivy, plus her interest in her tenant’s son who escaped from prison, plus her trying to cajole Power Girl into fooling around with her (although that may have just been teasing. Hard to say with Harley). Mystique is an interesting character, but hardly one I’d describe as a favorite. Cable/Deadpool had a lot of references to Wade having an interest in guys, but I’m not sure how seriously we were supposed to take his fantasies about him and Cable on a beach with suntan lotion. Also, I don’t think it’s been followed up on by anyone else.

I settled, such as it is, on Felicia Hardy, but even that’s perhaps shaky. Kevin Smith made one reference to Felicia being interested in women as well as men in his Spider-Man/Black Cat mini-series, but a) it was one caption in one panel, and b) that mini-series is generally better left forgotten. However, Tom DeFalco did establish very clearly in Spider-Girl that Felicia was bisexual. She’d been married to Flash Thompson, and they’d had two kids together. But at some point, they got divorced, and Felicia met Diana, and the two of them were together. I’ll confess, I’m pretty sure the implications of what Felicia was saying didn’t sink the first time I read that comic. You’d think them holding hands would have tipped me off, but I’m a little slow sometimes, and I think this was an interlude during some big fight scene at the Fantastic Five’s headquarters, so I was probably rushing through it.

I don’t think it got a lot of play. Felicia wasn’t in the book a whole lot, mostly during the stretch when her daughter, Felicity, was trying hard to convince Mayday they should be a crimefighting duo (with Felicity dressing as the Scarlet Spider), much to Felicia’s consternation. Mayday wasn’t terribly thrilled with it either. We did find out Felicity wasn’t entirely happy with her mother’s decisions, though I think DeFalco meant it as Felicity blamed Diana for breaking up her parents’ marriage, or blocking any chance of them getting back together, rather than Felicity being homophobic. We didn’t ever get to see mother and daughter sit down and clear the air the way Mayday did with both of her parents so often, and Felicia never showed up during the stretch when Mayday was dating Gene Thompson. I’d have been interested to learn what she thought of that pairing. Would she have seen enough of Peter’s sense of responsibility in Mayday to obliquely advise Gene to stay away?

Anyway, it never struck me as an out-of-character development for Felicia Hardy. It wasn’t difficult to see her and Flash drifting apart, or to see her meeting Diana, feeling a connection, and pursuing a relationship with her. She’s spent most of her life making her own choices, saying how she felt, doing what she liked, and dealing with the consequences as best she can. I can’t see her letting other people’s expectations of what they think is right deter her from being with someone she decides means something to her.

Both pages are from Spider-Girl. The first is probably issue 47, so DeFalco (script and co-plotting), Frenz (co-plotting and pencils), John Livesay (inks), Heroic Age and Christie Scheele (colors), and John Workman (lettering). The other would have been shortly after that, probably 48 or 49. So it's probably Defalco (script and co-plot), Pat Olliffe (co-plot and pencils), Al Williamson (inker), Angelo Tsang and Calvin Lo (colors), and Randy Gentile (lettering).

31 Days of Scans - Favorite Elseworld/Multiverse

I guess I could have picked GrimJack. It’s set in a pan-dimensional city where all realities phase in eventually, which sure sounds like a multiverse. But since I think they meant an alternate universe, there really is only one choice.

I know it isn’t really a Spider-Girl world, but it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. It’s a generally upbeat world, certainly by Marvel standards. Bigotry and crime haven’t been wiped out, but giant robots haven’t herded all mutants into death camps, there’s nary an Apocalypse in sight, no Badoon or Martians invading. A new generation of heroes stepped up, and things are doing pretty well. Peter Parker did not make a deal with Mephisto. He may have hung up the webs, but he still helps people as a forensic scientist. Which doesn’t mean he won’t still bust some heads.

Peter and Mary Jane are together, and each is the other’s rock. Whatever problems one is having, the other shares the burden. Astoundingly, being married hasn’t made their life perfect. I don’t know how that could be, as I was assured by many fine people at Marvel that once you get married, all your problems are over, and the drama departs from your existence. Mary Jane has a health scare, Peter struggles from time to time with not being Spider-Man anymore (mid-life crisis). They both worry about their teenage daughter, the risks she faces, the choices she makes. MJ is there to help blunt some of Peter’s bluster, and provide a supportive ear for Mayday when she needs that.

Peter is there to offer the benefit of his years of experience as a superhero, and maybe lend a hand once in awhile. That issue actually highlighted something else I liked about that universe: Spider-Man is liked and respected by the new generation of heroes. Mayday’s teammates on the Avengers were ecstatic at the chance to actually meet the Spider-Man, much to her surprise.

Mayday herself is a generally decent kid, trying to do the right thing in her way. Wanting to give people the benefit of the doubt, and getting frustrated when they take advantage of that. She questions her own judgment, but generally recognizes she can only do her best, and other people have to make their own choices and accept responsibility for them. By and large, she continues to believe she can make a difference, and she keeps trying. Because she enjoys it, and because she wants to help.

It also doesn’t hurt Defalco, Olliffee, and Frenz gave her a pretty wide cast of acquaintances, and actually spent time developing them as characters. Davida, Courtney, JJ, they have their own likes and dislikes, their own plot threads, and those don’t freeze in place waiting until Mayday is unoccupied with Normie Osborn’s latest breakdown. Things progress while she’s not around, and that feeds into the conflict between her civilian and superhero life. Which isn’t a new thing obviously, but Spider-Girl always did it well, I thought.

It’s a world where the heroes mostly work together rather than fighting each other, and they mostly beat the bad guys, protect the innocent, and save the day, though not always without cost. It’s an optimistic world, where redemption is possible if you make the effort, and the current generation learns from the mistakes and experiences of the one before it, rather than ignoring them. That makes it a nice place to turn to when either real life or the current approach of a lot of other comics wears me down.

Images from Spider-Girl #44 (MJ calls Pete on his nonsense), by Tom DeFalco and Pat Olliffe (script, plot, pencils), Al Williamson (inker), John E. Workman (letterer), Christie Scheele and Heroic Age (colorists). Spider-Girl #81 (MJ putting the blanket over the father/daughter pair), by Defalco and Ron Frenz (script, plot, breakdowns), Sal Buscema (finished art), Dave Sharpe (letters), Gotham (colors). Spider-Girl #8 (Pete showing he’s still got it), by DeFalco (writer), Olliffe (pencils), Williamson (inks), Janice Chang (letterer), Christie Scheele (colors). Spider-Girl #100 (the page I lead off with), by DeFalco and Frenz (plot, script, pencils), Buscema (art finishes), Sharpe (letters), Gotham (colors).