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Spider-Girl Modern Era Epic Collection
Spider-Girl Modern Era Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Legacy
The Spectacular Spider-Girl’s adventures start right here!
What if Peter Parker and Mary Jane had a daughter? The ever-amazing answer is she’d be May “Mayday” Parker — A.K.A. Spider-Girl! Spinning out of the pages of WHAT IF? into her very own universe, the teenage Mayday inherits spider-powers and dons her retired father’s red-and-blues! Now follow her adventures from the beginning as Mayday learns about Spider-Man’s legacy and wrestles with whether to follow in his footsteps! She’ll face threats old and new — from the Venom symbiote and Kaine to Crazy Eight and the Dragon King — and meet incredible faces from the future Marvel Universe including Darkdevil, Wild Thing, the Fantastic Five and the newest roster of the mighty Avengers! Discover a friendly neighborhood hero for a new generation!
What If? (1989) 105; Spider-Girl (1998) 1-15, 1/2; Spider-Girl Annual 1999
What if Peter Parker and Mary Jane had a daughter? The ever-amazing answer is she’d be May “Mayday” Parker — A.K.A. Spider-Girl! Spinning out of the pages of WHAT IF? into her very own universe, the teenage Mayday inherits spider-powers and dons her retired father’s red-and-blues! Now follow her adventures from the beginning as Mayday learns about Spider-Man’s legacy and wrestles with whether to follow in his footsteps! She’ll face threats old and new — from the Venom symbiote and Kaine to Crazy Eight and the Dragon King — and meet incredible faces from the future Marvel Universe including Darkdevil, Wild Thing, the Fantastic Five and the newest roster of the mighty Avengers! Discover a friendly neighborhood hero for a new generation!
What If? (1989) 105; Spider-Girl (1998) 1-15, 1/2; Spider-Girl Annual 1999
456 pages, Paperback
First published March 26, 2024
10 people are currently reading
28 people want to read
About the author
Tom DeFalco
2,479 books108 followersTom DeFalco is an American comics writer and editor, well-known for his association with Marvel Comics and Spider-Man.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 9, 2024
Spider-Girl Modern Era Epic Collection collects What If #105, Spider-Girl #1-15, 1/2, and Annual 1.
I wasn't reading many comics when this was originally published around the turn of the century but it had a reputation as a good book. Born out of the Clone Saga, the What If issue by DeFalco and Frenz imagines a world where Peter and Mary Jane's daughter lived and became a super hero. The issue sold like Aunt May's wheatcakes so the MC-2 line was born, spearheaded by Spider-Girl.
Tom DeFalco, Pat Oliffe, and Al Williamson are the creative team on the regular series and put out a consistently very good super hero book. Williamson had to be 70 at this point but was still delivering the goods on inks. It's really cool that Pat Oliffe drew two of the best Spidey books of the later 1990s, this one and Untold Tales of Spider-Man. Anyway, the setup is pretty good. May inherits her father's super powers and hides them from her parents. Peter is missing a leg and the Green Goblin is dead following their last confrontation. Mary Jane is a housewife unless I missed something. May is more outgoing than her father and is on the basketball team.
The stories themselves are well crafted but standard monthly super hero stories. May juggles high school life with being a super hero. I think one of the reasons this really works for me is that it's an almost zero baggage approach to Spider-Man but also a tribute to the legacy of the character. There are nods to Spider-Man's vast continuity but the book isn't mired in them. For instance, when May finds her costume in the attic and Peter says it belonged to her Uncle Ben, I felt a twist of sadness. DeFalco also leaves some mysteries on the table, like what is Darkdevil's deal and why has Kaine resurfaced?
The book is extremely accessible since the reader gets in on the ground floor. The MC-2 universe is slowly unfurled, with Franklin Richards in the Fantastic Five, a teenage Juggernaut being a member of the Avengers, and Jubilee leading the X-People. I'm hoping the rest of the MC-2 stuff is eventually collected.
This title was a breath of fresh air to Spidey fans when it was published and the lighter tone will probably appeal to Webheads today. I'm in for the duration. Four out of five stars.
I wasn't reading many comics when this was originally published around the turn of the century but it had a reputation as a good book. Born out of the Clone Saga, the What If issue by DeFalco and Frenz imagines a world where Peter and Mary Jane's daughter lived and became a super hero. The issue sold like Aunt May's wheatcakes so the MC-2 line was born, spearheaded by Spider-Girl.
Tom DeFalco, Pat Oliffe, and Al Williamson are the creative team on the regular series and put out a consistently very good super hero book. Williamson had to be 70 at this point but was still delivering the goods on inks. It's really cool that Pat Oliffe drew two of the best Spidey books of the later 1990s, this one and Untold Tales of Spider-Man. Anyway, the setup is pretty good. May inherits her father's super powers and hides them from her parents. Peter is missing a leg and the Green Goblin is dead following their last confrontation. Mary Jane is a housewife unless I missed something. May is more outgoing than her father and is on the basketball team.
The stories themselves are well crafted but standard monthly super hero stories. May juggles high school life with being a super hero. I think one of the reasons this really works for me is that it's an almost zero baggage approach to Spider-Man but also a tribute to the legacy of the character. There are nods to Spider-Man's vast continuity but the book isn't mired in them. For instance, when May finds her costume in the attic and Peter says it belonged to her Uncle Ben, I felt a twist of sadness. DeFalco also leaves some mysteries on the table, like what is Darkdevil's deal and why has Kaine resurfaced?
The book is extremely accessible since the reader gets in on the ground floor. The MC-2 universe is slowly unfurled, with Franklin Richards in the Fantastic Five, a teenage Juggernaut being a member of the Avengers, and Jubilee leading the X-People. I'm hoping the rest of the MC-2 stuff is eventually collected.
This title was a breath of fresh air to Spidey fans when it was published and the lighter tone will probably appeal to Webheads today. I'm in for the duration. Four out of five stars.
May 19, 2024
Spinning out of a story thread developed in What If? #105 and ideas from the '90s Clone Saga, Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz created Mayday Parker, the teenaged daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson, who assumes the mantle of Spider-Girl. Set in an alternative reality, Spider-Girl's adventures would span out from the initial 12-issue limited series into more ongoing stories in the future. The initial Spider-Girl run was a bit of a cult hit, popular amongst a core readership group that kept the title afloat for a while despite the comparatively lower sales, and now has the ability to find a second audience in the form of this Modern Epic Collection.
Set in the MC2 Universe (could be considered an early precursor to the Ultimate Universe), Mayday deals with familiar yet different variations of popular Spider-Man rogues, with some supporting figures like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four rounding out the cast. Darkdevil serves as a critical figure in Spider-Girl's growth from inexperienced superhero to confident webslinger, and she goes on to take on a rogues gallery of her own in the form of characters like Black Tarantula, Hobgoblin, Dragon King and more.
The stories here don't really build up to much, instead DeFalco utilizes a fairly compressed method of storytelling to allow each issue to stand on its own. It's fairly clear that there was a lot of uncertainty towards future publications happening, hence the need to be able to tie up loose ends quickly with each issue. Nonetheless, there is a clear progression of development to be seen with respect to Mayday's character, along with that of her supporting cast. Frenz's artwork is very '90s in style, with tons of scratchy and exaggerated designs to cultivate an edge to the aesthetic. The stories here are entertaining even if they are a little slight, and an interesting exposure to a different side of Marvel comics that current readers probably ignore or have forgotten about.
Set in the MC2 Universe (could be considered an early precursor to the Ultimate Universe), Mayday deals with familiar yet different variations of popular Spider-Man rogues, with some supporting figures like the Avengers and the Fantastic Four rounding out the cast. Darkdevil serves as a critical figure in Spider-Girl's growth from inexperienced superhero to confident webslinger, and she goes on to take on a rogues gallery of her own in the form of characters like Black Tarantula, Hobgoblin, Dragon King and more.
The stories here don't really build up to much, instead DeFalco utilizes a fairly compressed method of storytelling to allow each issue to stand on its own. It's fairly clear that there was a lot of uncertainty towards future publications happening, hence the need to be able to tie up loose ends quickly with each issue. Nonetheless, there is a clear progression of development to be seen with respect to Mayday's character, along with that of her supporting cast. Frenz's artwork is very '90s in style, with tons of scratchy and exaggerated designs to cultivate an edge to the aesthetic. The stories here are entertaining even if they are a little slight, and an interesting exposure to a different side of Marvel comics that current readers probably ignore or have forgotten about.
June 28, 2024
a very retro comic from a time when that style was in its waning years. this was right before Morrison's X-Men, Bendis' Ultimate Spider-Man, and other books that would do more to define Marvel over the next 25 (!!!) years. This also took place concurrently with Busiek's Avengers, also a very retro-minded book that closed out that particular era of Marvel.
it's a wonderfully written and drawn book, maybe a bit corny in its presentation, but it's got the melodrama and the heart. it's not a perfect book, but it's perfect to me, and i think more folks should read it.
it's a wonderfully written and drawn book, maybe a bit corny in its presentation, but it's got the melodrama and the heart. it's not a perfect book, but it's perfect to me, and i think more folks should read it.
November 27, 2024
These were (some of) the comics that were on the racks when I started in comics retail after graduation from university. Although I never read them at the time, the art and style are nostalgically familiar, and I have enjoyed discovering Mayday Parker and her soap opera, high school, crime fighting adventures.
November 26, 2025
Loved reading this as a kid and glad to see it still holds up! Really nice to see a more hopeful vision of the Marvel Universe’s future than we usually get, and I really like the ensemble of future villains that are introduced here (Crazy Eight is basically just a Joker ripoff but I’ll let it slide). I really appreciate that Mayday is given a unique characterization from her father, it would’ve been so easy to make her a quip-spouting clone of Peter and I like that they challenged our ideas of her.
Need a standalone Spider-Girl animated movie NOW.
Need a standalone Spider-Girl animated movie NOW.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews