Araña / Spider-Girl (Anya Sofía Corazón) Appreciation (2019)

[Lukmendes]

I'm glad Anya's getting some love from Marvel, but I do wish it'd translate into more comics appearances.

I have more of a mild interest in Anya than being a fan of her, but if I was a fan, I'd be just annoyed at how Marvel treats her so poorly, they slowy but surely took most **** that could define her, such as:

The "Hunter" power, which was gone as soon as she left the Spider-Society, cutting off her connection with it counts too.

Her Carapace, and eventually the rest of her powers (Since as I mentioned a few posts above, it's pretty vague if she did lose all of her powers after losing the carapace).

Her costume, which is now just Julia's costume which was just a modified version of Venom's, and then a few months later her own super-hero name.

And then, her own father, who was supportive of her being a hero and him being a reporter could help out to tell some stories, and he was killed by some forgettable super villain group.

And of course, Spider-Island, which gave her new powers which were just Peter's with invisibility and organic webs, hell, she basicaly became Venom without Venom while being dressed as Venom, and that also made her lose her Bola, also how the hell did she keep those powers anyway? She was given the antidote, and that would remove anyone's powers, including Peter's...

Combine all of that with her becoming way quippier when dealing with villains (She wasn't originally, only really joked among friends), and now she's basically Peter-but-a-girl-and-Mexican, and without a supporting cast, and being seen as more of a sidekick if we consider her appearance's in Carol's comic and her being briefly the protagonist of some Avengers run counts too.

It's honestly sad, she had a lot of potential, but Marvel just removed most of the stuff that could define her, so now she's a generic Spider-Person, and with Miles and Gwen being around, there's little chance that Marvel will bother with her, 'cause they have the "generic Spider-Person" traits, but are more popular for reasons, and she's not the only one suffering either, Julia being a Madame Web with other Spider powers had great potential too, but she's mostly in limbo, even more than Anya, and Prowler's tie-in to Clone Conspiracy made her powerless for whatever reason.

So yeah, at the very least Anya has those shorts and that Spidey cartoon, but who knows what'll happen once those are gone...

[Digifiend]

Julia being powerless would be due to Cassandra Webb's resurrection in that same event. However, that clone didn't survive. We don't know if that means the Madame Web powers have therefore been destroyed, because Julia's been absent since then, even missing Spider-Geddon.

Gil Corazon wasn't killed by a random villain group. It was a poisoned and out of control Red Hulk.

[Ravin' Ray]

Just get her and Sue Richards together. Maybe she can team-up with Franklin and Val from time to time.

[K7P5V]

Just get her and Sue Richards together. Maybe she can team-up with Franklin and Val from time to time.

Agreed. Or even Ben & Johnny.

[Spider-Chan]

It's honestly sad, she had a lot of potential, but Marvel just removed most of the stuff that could define her, so now she's a generic Spider-Person, and with Miles and Gwen being around, there's little chance that Marvel will bother with her, 'cause they have the "generic Spider-Person" traits, but are more popular for reasons, and she's not the only one suffering either, Julia being a Madame Web with other Spider powers had great potential too, but she's mostly in limbo, even more than Anya, and Prowler's tie-in to Clone Conspiracy made her powerless for whatever reason.

I feel you there.

She's who got me into reading comics, Amazing Fantasy and Araña being some of the first series that I got into. She's in a rough spot in which you either support whatever direction they're taking her or there's the risk of her not showing up again. You don't like the direction this is going? Stop supporting, but the message doesn't translate to "I don't like the direction you're taking with her" but rather "I don't like her".

At least up till last year, her main stitch was being the only teen girl from the spider family who reside on 616. But now Gwen moved to 616 and she now fills that role. Why use Anya when you could use Miles or Gwen? Heck, that's exactly what what happened during Spider-Geddon and the recent Spider-Verse; they moved her to the Web Warriors to be 616 multiverse representative, but both SG and SV remove her in favor of Miles and Gwen. The tease for a Kindred event hunting down the Spider family shows everyone and Gwen, but not Anya. She feels extremely redundant now, and writers and editors legit have no idea what to do with her (and don't seem interested anyway).

They really need to revamp her, but at this point there's no way she's getting a solo ongoing (unless they go for a new legacy change and make her the new Spider-Woman, but I think Silk is the next in line now). I would suggest getting a latino writer for her, let them put a stamp and renewed personality on her. Focus on the mystical aspects of her, that's something no member of the Spider family has or feels tied to (the recent Ben Reilly series tried to go there, but everyone agreed it felt out of place). In any case, getting onto a team seems the only possibility, but again, it all comes down to a writer wanting to use her, otherwise you get a Web Warriors situation where it's very clear that Costa didn't want her, barely do any research on her, and had no idea what to do.

As of now, the only two writers I know that legit want to use her are Jeremy Whitley and Kelly Thokpson. Whitley was clearly planning on adding her to FF, either as a full member or as a guest, but the series was cancelled. Thompson has said that she wants to use her in Captain Marvel, whether they let her is another question (KSD also wanted to use Anya in her CM run, but was denied her use by the Spider-Man editorial).

Right now she's only showing up the cartoon, and it seems that this is her last hurrah. Next season will probably be the last, she doesn't seem to be showing up on Marvel Rising, and the newly announced pre-school Spider-Man series features Peter, Gwen, and Miles, but not Anya.

Well this is depressing :/

[Frontier]

So yeah, at the very least Anya has those shorts and that Spidey cartoon, but who knows what'll happen once those are gone...

Right now she's only showing up the cartoon, and it seems that this is her last hurrah. Next season will probably be the last, she doesn't seem to be showing up on Marvel Rising, and the newly announced pre-school Spider-Man series features Peter, Gwen, and Miles, but not Anya.

Even the cartoon barely does anything with her. She's gotten her suit and costumed identity but she's only been in action for three episodes.

[Huntsman Spider]

I have more of a mild interest in Anya than being a fan of her, but if I was a fan, I'd be just annoyed at how Marvel treats her so poorly, they slowy but surely took most **** that could define her, such as:

The "Hunter" power, which was gone as soon as she left the Spider-Society, cutting off her connection with it counts too.

Her Carapace, and eventually the rest of her powers (Since as I mentioned a few posts above, it's pretty vague if she did lose all of her powers after losing the carapace).

Her costume, which is now just Julia's costume which was just a modified version of Venom's, and then a few months later her own super-hero name.

And then, her own father, who was supportive of her being a hero and him being a reporter could help out to tell some stories, and he was killed by some forgettable super villain group.

And of course, Spider-Island, which gave her new powers which were just Peter's with invisibility and organic webs, hell, she basicaly became Venom without Venom while being dressed as Venom, and that also made her lose her Bola, also how the hell did she keep those powers anyway? She was given the antidote, and that would remove anyone's powers, including Peter's...

Combine all of that with her becoming way quippier when dealing with villains (She wasn't originally, only really joked among friends), and now she's basically Peter-but-a-girl-and-Mexican, and without a supporting cast, and being seen as more of a sidekick if we consider her appearance's in Carol's comic and her being briefly the protagonist of some Avengers run counts too.

It's honestly sad, she had a lot of potential, but Marvel just removed most of the stuff that could define her, so now she's a generic Spider-Person, and with Miles and Gwen being around, there's little chance that Marvel will bother with her, 'cause they have the "generic Spider-Person" traits, but are more popular for reasons, and she's not the only one suffering either, Julia being a Madame Web with other Spider powers had great potential too, but she's mostly in limbo, even more than Anya, and Prowler's tie-in to Clone Conspiracy made her powerless for whatever reason.

So yeah, at the very least Anya has those shorts and that Spidey cartoon, but who knows what'll happen once those are gone...

I feel you there.

She's who got me into reading comics, Amazing Fantasy and Araña being some of the first series that I got into. She's in a rough spot in which you either support whatever direction they're taking her or there's the risk of her not showing up again. You don't like the direction this is going? Stop supporting, but the message doesn't translate to "I don't like the direction you're taking with her" but rather "I don't like her".

At least up till last year, her main stitch was being the only teen girl from the spider family who reside on 616. But now Gwen moved to 616 and she now fills that role. Why use Anya when you could use Miles or Gwen? Heck, that's exactly what what happened during Spider-Geddon and the recent Spider-Verse; they moved her to the Web Warriors to be 616 multiverse representative, but both SG and SV remove her in favor of Miles and Gwen. The tease for a Kindred event hunting down the Spider family shows everyone and Gwen, but not Anya. She feels extremely redundant now, and writers and editors legit have no idea what to do with her (and don't seem interested anyway).

They really need to revamp her, but at this point there's no way she's getting a solo ongoing (unless they go for a new legacy change and make her the new Spider-Woman, but I think Silk is the next in line now). I would suggest getting a latino writer for her, let them put a stamp and renewed personality on her. Focus on the mystical aspects of her, that's something no member of the Spider family has or feels tied to (the recent Ben Reilly series tried to go there, but everyone agreed it felt out of place). In any case, getting onto a team seems the only possibility, but again, it all comes down to a writer wanting to use her, otherwise you get a Web Warriors situation where it's very clear that Costa didn't want her, barely do any research on her, and had no idea what to do.

As of now, the only two writers I know that legit want to use her are Jeremy Whitley and Kelly Thokpson. Whitley was clearly planning on adding her to FF, either as a full member or as a guest, but the series was cancelled. Thompson has said that she wants to use her in Captain Marvel, whether they let her is another question (KSD also wanted to use Anya in her CM run, but was denied her use by the Spider-Man editorial).

Right now she's only showing up the cartoon, and it seems that this is her last hurrah. Next season will probably be the last, she doesn't seem to be showing up on Marvel Rising, and the newly announced pre-school Spider-Man series features Peter, Gwen, and Miles, but not Anya.

Well this is depressing :/

Agreed with you both, and I am honestly worried that with so many "extraneous" Spider-People around in 616, there's gonna be another Grim Hunt-style culling in the works sooner or later.

[Spider-Chan]

That's pretty much what this is teasing:


The fact that this page is from the time when Gwen was still leaving in Earth-65, and yet she's a bigger priority to Kindred, tells you everything about how relevant Anya will be in this potential event/storyline. If she doesn't die, she will simply not show up.

[Frontier]

That's pretty much what this is teasing:


The fact that this page is from the time when Gwen was still leaving in Earth-65, and yet she's a bigger priority to Kindred, tells you everything about how relevant Anya will be in this potential event/storyline. If she doesn't die, she will simply not show up.

And Jessica Drew is even less relevant to Peter then Anya is .

[Digifiend]

One down, six to go I suppose, unless the ending of the latest Superior Spider-Man was a fakeout.

[Lukmendes]

Julia being powerless would be due to Cassandra Webb's resurrection in that same event. However, that clone didn't survive. We don't know if that means the Madame Web powers have therefore been destroyed, because Julia's been absent since then, even missing Spider-Geddon.

Actually, I checked out Daredevil's pre-ANAD run, which Julia showed up, it looked like she didn't have any of her powers during that too, she was also still blind for whatever reason, even though losing Madame Web's powers actually restores one's vision...

And as for Cassandra being the reason she lost her powers, nothing in the issues point that out, while it makes sense, Julia just mentions not having powers and doesn't mention what could've happened to lose her powers, and when she meets Cassandra, there's no dialogue that's like "So that's why I lost my powers!" or somethin' like that.

Plus, even if she lost the Madame Web powers for whatever reason, there's no reason she should've lost her default Spider-Powers.

Gil Corazon wasn't killed by a random villain group. It was a poisoned and out of control Red Hulk.

The forgettable super villain group poisoned and killed him a few seconds before Red Hulk's rampage, All that Red Hulk did was look guilty for a bit.

I feel you there.

She's who got me into reading comics, Amazing Fantasy and Araña being some of the first series that I got into. She's in a rough spot in which you either support whatever direction they're taking her or there's the risk of her not showing up again. You don't like the direction this is going? Stop supporting, but the message doesn't translate to "I don't like the direction you're taking with her" but rather "I don't like her".

Yeah, unpopular characters are in a bad spot by default, they're either used under a writer's whims, which can be good or bad, or not used at all.

At least up till last year, her main stitch was being the only teen girl from the spider family who reside on 616. But now Gwen moved to 616 and she now fills that role. Why use Anya when you could use Miles or Gwen? Heck, that's exactly what what happened during Spider-Geddon and the recent Spider-Verse; they moved her to the Web Warriors to be 616 multiverse representative, but both SG and SV remove her in favor of Miles and Gwen.

She's not even in the cover of SV#1, Spider-May is on it and not her lol.

The tease for a Kindred event hunting down the Spider family shows everyone and Gwen, but not Anya. She feels extremely redundant now, and writers and editors legit have no idea what to do with her (and don't seem interested anyway).

The thing that annoys the most in that page is Jessica and Ben being there, since Jessica and Peter aren't really close, and Ben, while he stopped being evil, I don't see him and Peter being on good terms so fast.

Plus, Kaine isn't there, that's annoying too.

Either way, probably better that Anya isn't there at all, she'd probably be considered fodder to be killed, and her chances of getting anything while alive are bad enough, if she's killed it's gonna be like Mattie, meaning forgotten by everyone most times.

They really need to revamp her, but at this point there's no way she's getting a solo ongoing (unless they go for a new legacy change and make her the new Spider-Woman, but I think Silk is the next in line now). I would suggest getting a latino writer for her, let them put a stamp and renewed personality on her.

I always thought that the best ways to make her personality stand out more is by giving her back some of her traits from the original run (Namely her short temper, that attitude of not wanting to be a doormat in any way), and/or MC2 (Where she was more on the pragmatic side), plus obviously toning down her quipping, at least as a start.

Focus on the mystical aspects of her, that's something no member of the Spider family has or feels tied to (the recent Ben Reilly series tried to go there, but everyone agreed it felt out of place). In any case, getting onto a team seems the only possibility, but again, it all comes down to a writer wanting to use her, otherwise you get a Web Warriors situation where it's very clear that Costa didn't want her, barely do any research on her, and had no idea what to do.

Yeah, the mystical side of the Web of Life is pretty fitting for her, and none of the other characters have really a connection with it, problem is that, outside of Shathra, pretty sure there's nothing to use, so they'd have to be creative and create more stuff that hopefully could be interesting.

Using her original run wouldn't even do much to help to have a basis, both Spider-Society and Sisterhood of Wasp were so basic with their magic users they may as well have super powers and it wouldn't make much of a difference.

One thing that could be learned from the original run is to not overly rely on just one super villain group, while it can work to have just one group to fight, it's very limiting, and we kept seeing the same faces too much.

Honestly, I think both Julia and Anya could be used to deal with a magic side of the Web of Life, would make sense to have her since Anya would need someone to point at where the magic problems are, that way two Spider-Women are out of limbo together and can do something.

It's probably very pessimistic for me to say this, but I think that if they tried to push Anya being part of the magic side of the Web of Life, if it failed, Marvel would eventually pick another more popular Spider and give it to 'em.

As for her being on a team, she definitely would need to be in a small team, otherwise the chances of her getting any focus would be hurt a lot.

As of now, the only two writers I know that legit want to use her are Jeremy Whitley and Kelly Thokpson. Whitley was clearly planning on adding her to FF, either as a full member or as a guest, but the series was cancelled. Thompson has said that she wants to use her in Captain Marvel, whether they let her is another question (KSD also wanted to use Anya in her CM run, but was denied her use by the Spider-Man editorial).

That's odd, are they planning on using Anya at all or they just don't wanna risk losing her? Y'know, since if she's used a lot by other writers she could be "moved".

Right now she's only showing up the cartoon, and it seems that this is her last hurrah. Next season will probably be the last, she doesn't seem to be showing up on Marvel Rising, and the newly announced pre-school Spider-Man series features Peter, Gwen, and Miles, but not Anya.

Well this is depressing :/

Yeah, at least she was given chances, too bad her chances were in meh cartoons lol.

Even the cartoon barely does anything with her. She's gotten her suit and costumed identity but she's only been in action for three episodes.

As the saying goes, beggars can't be choosers...

Agreed with you both, and I am honestly worried that with so many "extraneous" Spider-People around in 616, there's gonna be another Grim Hunt-style culling in the works sooner or later.

And the last Grim Hunt killed a magically powered up Spider-Female, yeah, if a Grim Hunt 2: Electric Bugaloo is announced, we know who's next...

[Digifiend]

Was the 2006 Ms. Marvel book from the spider office? Because if not (and I would assume it was from the Avengers office), Anya's already been moved, and then moved back again. Don't forget, Spider-Woman (both Jessica and Julia) was Avengers office prior to Spider-Verse.

[Spider-Chan]

From what I can recall, they did tried to merge the Ms. Marvel under the same editorial team of Spider-Man, although Anya's inclusion in the series was irrelevant to that. Brian Reed requested for a teen hero to be part of the series and gave a list 10 characters. They told him that 5 of those where being used somewhere else, but was free to do whatever he wanted with the other 5, Anya being his favorite.

[Digifiend]

You know, I'm having trouble thinking of nine other characters he might have wanted. The teen books back then were Young Avengers, Runaways (who we can safely rule out), New X-Men, New Warriors (the original lineup of which was either being used - there was a plot where Hindsight Lad outed all of their secret identities - or dead), and Avengers: The Initiative. But Initiative used a mostly new cast, and apart from Night Thrasher, who was Bandit from the original New Warriors run, the rest of that team was depowered mutants (thus, characters he wouldn't have considered). Most of the Champions didn't yet exist (I think only Amadeus Cho did - he debuted in the same Amazing Fantasy series Anya did).

Of course, if Anya hadn't been used in Ms. Marvel, she probably would've just fallen into limbo, and never become Spider-Girl. There's a good chance she wouldn't have appeared again until Spider-Verse.

[Lukmendes]

You know, I'm having trouble thinking of nine other characters he might have wanted. The teen books back then were Young Avengers, Runaways (who we can safely rule out), New X-Men, New Warriors (the original lineup of which was either being used - there was a plot where Hindsight Lad outed all of their secret identities - or dead), and Avengers: The Initiative. But Initiative used a mostly new cast, and apart from Night Thrasher, who was Bandit from the original New Warriors run, the rest of that team was depowered mutants (thus, characters he wouldn't have considered). Most of the Champions didn't yet exist (I think only Amadeus Cho did - he debuted in the same Amazing Fantasy series Anya did).

Well, I can think of Mattie (Keep in mind, despite calling herself "Spider-Woman", she's the same age as Anya) and that Scorpion chick.

Maybe there are some other teenage heroes who were in limbo?

Of course, if Anya hadn't been used in Ms. Marvel, she probably would've just fallen into limbo, and never become Spider-Girl. There's a good chance she wouldn't have appeared again until Spider-Verse.

She probably would still have showed up in Grim Hunt, since every most Spider-Women showed up there, even the ones in limbo, Jessica and Charlotte were the exceptions, and Jessica was supposed to be there (As ASM#600 shows), but probably wasn't included because of the Avengers, and Charlotte was still in that coma, but the real reason is probably just that nobody cares about her lol.

And considering that, for better or worse, Grim Hunt is what "developed" Anya to what she is now, perhaps, those appearances in Ms. Marvel and Captain America could've been what spared her, and made Marvel decide to make her 616's Spider-Girl, because maybe she could be the one who got killed instead of Mattie, of course, this is just speculation, maybe whoever wrote Grim Hunt had a hate boner for Mattie and just wanted an excuse to kill her off and it'd have happened regardless, or they just flipped a coin and Mattie was the one chosen to be killed, could be a lot of things lol.