Turning to some more happy times for Spider-persons:

Spider-Girl - Volume 3: Avenging Allies by Tom DeFalco

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This volume is perhaps the darkest collection of Spider-girl stories yet. There was the story, "Misery" an Annual that sees Spider-girl disintegrate. Although, it had a bit of a cop out ending it showed signs of more trouble to come.

Spider-girl faces Dark Devil and a mysterious vigilante called Kaine. Spider-girl stumbles somewhat badly and her allies seem somewhat unreliable. Meanwhile, her social life is in shambles and her dedication to being spider-girl is tested.

At the same time, she undergoes a test to become a member of the New Avengers and actually goofs around when one of the new young Avengers much to the chagrin of Nova.

Overall, while there were some weaker stories here, this was still a great collection. Spider-girl is establishing herself as a hero, but different than her father as she's a much more social superhero, seeking out team ups and teams.




Spider-Girl Vol. 4: Turning Point by Tom DeFalco

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As told in the title, this book represents a huge turning point for the Spider-girl character. Based on Issues 17-21 and Issue 1/2 of Spider-girl, this helps Mayday confront her doubts and establish herself as a hero.

Issue 17 is simply awesome. It features the original Spider-man, in his 40s and with only one real leg, swinging back into battle to try and protect his daughter. But this issue really becomes May's triumph where she establishes herself as a true superhero after issues full of self-doubt after losing to Kaine. This time he faces him again, though with different results. From the high point of Issue 17, the stories that follow almost have to be anti-climatic, but she hits a solid stride taking on new villains such as the Raptor in Issue 18. Issue 19 is a bit of a cheat as 2/3 of the book is dedicated to character's daydreaming but the last 1/3 sets up Issue 20 which is a fight with the new Green Goblin.

Throughout the issues, we're once again reminded that this is a much more social Spider than her father. She has team ups with Darkdevil and Spider-man in Issue 17, Buzz in Issue 18, the Golden Goblin in Issue 20, and the Gold Goblin and Lady Hawk in Issue 21. Overall, this continues to be a fun and very readable superhero world.




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