Araña, Vol. 2: In The Beginning

Araña (Collected Editions) #2

by Fiona Kai Avery, Roger Cruz

Straight from the pages of Amazing Fantasy come the continuing adventures of Anya Corazon - scrappy teen from Brooklyn by day, and butt-kicking Hunter of the ancient and mystical Spider Society by night What seems like a routine collar turns out to be anything but when the corrupt judge Anya captured reveals a deadly new threat to the Spider Society. While Miguel tangles with an old enemy, a new nemesis arrives on the scene to challenge Anya - in the most unlikely of places Collects Arana 1-6.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Marvel, Fiction, Fantasy

144 pages, Paperback

First published September 21, 2005

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow to start, but really improved once it started to pick up the pace. I appreciated the view into the history of the Spider Society and the Wasps - it gave the story some real stakes. The addition of Amun was also welcome, though I do wish the story was longer to develop Amun, Lynn, Papi, Nina and Ted more! Still, the glimpses we get into their lives are fascinating. Anya has a really strong supporting cast. I just wish we knew more about Miguel.

While reading this, I had the thought I was probably going to put it down and not pick it back up, but once I got into it I really got into it. I will be reading volume 3 just to see how this story concludes!

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reprints Araña: Heart of the Spider #1-6 (March 2005-August 2005). As the hunter for the Spiders, Araña is starting to figure out she has her hands full. The Wasps are determined to stop Araña and the Spiders, and they are willing to take no expense. When an Egyptian teen assassin called Amun is hired to eliminated Araña, Anya finds her world as a superhero and her personal life colliding. Amun knows her secret identity and everyone Anya cares about could be in danger…is Araña finished before she begins?

Written by Fiona Avery, Araña Volume 2: In the Beginning is a Marvel Comics superhero comic book collection. Following Araña Volume 1: Heart of the Spider, the series features art by Roger Cruz. Issues in this collection were also collected in Araña: Here Comes the Spider-Girl.

Araña had a classic comic book introduction. It was classic in that she appeared in an anthology book, had a storyline and spun-off into her own series. The character also got a lot of publicity due to the bigger push for diversity in comics, and Araña has a lot of untapped potential…but the comic book falters.

Avery does her best to try to give Anya her own persona, her own world, and her own voice, but the story just plods. Over the course of the story, Anya faces off against some of the Wasps (which she had done before) and fights a couple times with her new enemy “Amun” who is also set up as a potential romance. The fact that everything feels like “potential” in the whole collection says that nothing much occurred…even the relationships that Avery is trying to develop feel undercooked. I like Anya’s relationship with her father, but the characters in WebCorps really haven’t done much.

Part of Araña problem is what makes Araña unique. Unlike a character like She-Hulk, Araña is a “Spider-Man” character without having any ties to Spider-Man (it is good to see the two characters meeting in this volume however). Much like Spider-Woman before her, Araña is her own person and has her own abilities and it doesn’t feel like they just stuck Spider-Man in a female’s body…but the whole Wasp-Spider battle and history isn’t compelling and in a sad way, Araña would have been better off fighting some of Marvel’s big wig villains to kick off her book…then segueing into the Wasp-Spider storyline might have been a bit more palpable.

It is this potential which makes Araña: The Heart of the Spider a disappointing comic book. I liked the character and felt she could become something great with some tweaking. The attention the character received combined with so-so sales however meant that Araña could be used as an example of “no one wants to read this character because she’s a woman and a minority”…which is completely unfair. If Araña had been given a few more guest appearances, some big appearances (like in Avengers or X-Men or even Spider-Man), it feels like she would have had a better shot in her own book. It is more about exposure and cross-marketing than the inability of the character to stand on her own. Araña 2: In the Beginning is followed by Araña 3: Night of the Hunter.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the mini-series that set up the premise of the book Araña's own series proper kicks off in this book. Having thwarted the plans of the Sisterhood of the Wasp in the Amazing Fantasy series, Anya Corozon has to thwart the Sisterhood's interim plans with the help of the Spider Society's mage Miguel. However, when Miguel is seriously wounded, she finds herself alone having to deal with an Egyptian teenage assassin brought in by the Sisterhood of the Wasp.

This is an odd book. It's set in the Marvel Universe, but you would barely know it. The only clue is a Spider-man cameo. Other than that, we're not dealing with existing Marvel villains and there's no reference to other heroes. This is practically a teen indy book and for that, it's not bad.

Anya is a likable character and she's got a decent enough if not well-developed supporting cast. The story is good. It takes up the entire six issues which gives it a chance to breathe. I do like the confrontation that happens in Issue 5 where she has to (for once) use her powers outside of the long Spider-Wasp war. The way the book turns in the last couple issues is interesting.

The Spider-man cameo may be the oddest part of the book as it's not given any set-up and little explanation. Still, this book works. It maintained my interesting and left me ready for the third volume.

[Kathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting with a training trip to the desert where she sees the spirit of her deceased mother, this book is all about the connections Anya makes. Connections with her friends, her father, her teammates, her partner, Spider Man, and even her enemies. Aggressive, belligerent, and now forced to keep secrets, Anya is still a good friend and a great hero. I like her a lot. I highly recommend this book for anyone who enjoys superhero books, especially younger readers.

[Nicholas Fossum · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's slow in the beginning and starts off feeling like they're trying to explain what they didn't in the first one, action and everything was better towards the last half but still kinda slow

[PAUL KEIRNS · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a fan of Ariana. She is an excellent alternative to Spider-Man. I am really looking forward to more of her adventures.

[Nicolas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's nice to have things underway, but I feel like there's a little too much going on for the story to really settle. I'd much rather follow Arana solo as she finds her groove. I'm much less interested in Miquel and the whole mythology of it all. And as much as I liked seeing Spider-Man, it was an odd inclusion because this series feels so separate. Still, the character is strong and I'm interested in seeing where she goes from here.

We discussed this whole series over on Comic Book Coffee Break: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6BjS...

[Will Fenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story was great, but the art was very "Xtreme," especially considering the main character is supposed to be 14-15.

[Blair Conrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A continuation of the first volume, with not a whole lot of development, except a little bit of exposition about the Webcorps/Wasps backstory, and the relationship between the Hunter and the Mage.
I was happy to have seen a few of my "but, but, that just can't continue on like this" points resolved (a little), but ultimately, I didn't think there was much in this volume. The characters continue to leave me a little flat, so I think I'm going to leave the series for a while.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't realize this was the second of three volumes of the story, so I can't really judge it fairly. Where it succeeds, it shines -- Arana is an incredibly well-made character, and I enjoyed getting this glimpse at her pre-Young Allies history. Her supporting cast is authentically diverse and well-crafted, and her powers and personality are great. Roger Cruz's art is also fantastic. But the plotting and pacing in this volume is so terrible that it's hard to give it more stars, sadly.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

I like the characters a lot, but for some reason Anya's story doesn't really grab me.