"Spider-Island," Spider-Girl Swing Into "Secret Wars"

[Kevinroc]

The second sentence has that answer, spider-MJ.

We're not going to get Spider-Powered-Wife-MJ.

[Teek]

I'm all for more Spider-Girl, but I gotta admit I'm kinda disappointed that Spider-Verse is bleeding into MC2 continuity. It was pretty heavily implied by DeFalco and Frenz in "Spider-Verse Team-Up" that the Spider-Girl from Spider-Verse wasn't the MC2 version and that our Mayday Parker was "eating wheatcakes with her family."

Of course, I guess I could still consider that true and this is just a continuation of the other Mayday.

[Cmbmool]

I'm all for more Spider-Girl, but I gotta admit I'm kinda disappointed that Spider-Verse is bleeding into MC2 continuity. It was pretty heavily implied by DeFalco and Frenz in "Spider-Verse Team-Up" that the Spider-Girl from Spider-Verse wasn't the MC2 version and that our Mayday Parker was "eating wheatcakes with her family."

Of course, I guess I could still consider that true and this is just a continuation of the other Mayday.

I guess that's one way of looking at it.

I mean the MC-2 universe is just too good of a world to be rid of in the hearts and minds of it's fans.

[MarvelMaster616]

Spider-Island was the last Spider-Man event that I really, truly enjoyed on every level. It highlighted so many of the best qualities of Spider-Man and his supporting cast. I'm glad it's getting a part in Secret Wars. Same with Spider-Girl. I think she's one of those characters who will always struggle to gain relevance, but she never truly fades into obscurity.

[Pav]

I've really missed Mayday Spider-Girl and the world of MC2. In some ways, yeah, it was old school writing and a bit more all-ages but in another it felt a little more mature: superheroes were an active part of daily life for more than a generation and incorporated into society as the norm (similar reasons to why I liked pre-New 52 JSA, Astro City, and Top 10).

Considering the social media buzz that tries to pit Millennial values versus Baby Boomers, I can see Mayday's story being even more relevant today than when she debuted. So much of Peter Parker's heroism and anxiety still carries his Silver Age concerns, the kind of 1960s neurosis around guilt and him being a nerd against lunk-headed machismo. From her first adventure onward her heroism is based off of inclusion and empathy, someone that is best friends with the nerds and the jocks and sought to bring Normie Osborn back into a loving community. Like the real world millennials she deals with the good and bad legacies of her parents' generation and tries to establish that while she can honor the past but she's the one that's going to be shaping the future, not her dad.

So, yeah, picking this up for DeFalco's Spider-Girl/Spider-Woman. Voting with the pocketbook for more stories like this in the new Marvel Universe.

Semicyon, that's some interesting analysis. It'll be interesting to read these new stories about Mayday while also reading the new Spider-Gwen series, which is very much set in "the now."

YES!!!! GOD, YES!!!! This is exactly what I have been expecting!!! (At least the first part). Since the end of the original "Spider-Island", I expected to see a "What If?" issue where the good guys lost the battle and, between other things... MJ KEPT HER SPIDER-POWERS!!!! Now this is the perfect chance to see it!!! I really hope to see Mary Jane putting a Spider-Costume and fighting alongside Agent Venom to rescue Spider-Man!! Since she was quite inmune to the Spider-Virus because of "sharing Peter's toothbrush", I really want to see her as a Spider-Woman.

I think seeing Spider-MJ will be pretty neat, too. And in general, I think the solicit for this alt-Spider-Island sounds pretty intriguing.

Spider-powered MJ or Spider-Wife MJ?

Y'know, there's all that speculation that we might get the return of the Spider-Marriage and maybe even Baby May after Secret Wars, and people commenting on whether or not Peter would hang up the webs if he became a father...

How crazy would it be if we ended up with not just the marriage but a whole Spider-Family?!

It'd certainly be quite the shake-up and would, I imagine, get a lot of people interested in jumping back into Spidey comics.

-Pav, who wouldn't be opposed to Spider-Dad and Spider-Mom...

[boots]

It was pretty heavily implied by DeFalco and Frenz in "Spider-Verse Team-Up" that the Spider-Girl from Spider-Verse wasn't the MC2 version and that our Mayday Parker was "eating wheatcakes with her family"

was it though? i don't see it as defalco trying to create an alternate universe just to spite marvel proper. i see it as him offering suffering fans a gift, a "way out" if they would like to take it and run with it in their imaginations.

[Teek]

was it though? i don't see it as defalco trying to create an alternate universe just to spite marvel proper. i see it as him offering suffering fans a gift, a "way out" if they would like to take it and run with it in their imaginations.

Six to one, half a dozen to the other.



“One of the things that is a real continuity issue for me is that Pete apparently has a robot leg. In our stories, in the early days, the Fantastic Five give Pete a robot leg, but it was shattered on a cover by Kaine. It was established several times in Amazing that Pete has a standard plastic prosthetic leg.”

“What they are doing is giving the readers, if they choose to, plenty of things to hang the idea that that's not our Mayday" - Ron Frenz on how Dan Slott handled Mayday's introduction to Spider-Verse.

[boots]

Six to one, half a dozen to the other.



“One of the things that is a real continuity issue for me is that Pete apparently has a robot leg. In our stories, in the early days, the Fantastic Five give Pete a robot leg, but it was shattered on a cover by Kaine. It was established several times in Amazing that Pete has a standard plastic prosthetic leg.”

“What they are doing is giving the readers, if they choose to, plenty of things to hang the idea that that's not our Mayday" - Ron Frenz on how Dan Slott handled Mayday's introduction to Spider-Verse.

yeah, fair enough. if that's the case, then i think it's a tad disingenuous of them to then write this "fake mayday" for marvel. but hey, you gotta eat.

[steve2275]

The outfit MJ is wearing on the cover is what she wore on one of the original Spider-Island's covers.



But that wasn't her outfit in-universe during that story.

yuuuummmmmmy
if she dressed like that in the issues id buy each one

[Teek]

yeah, fair enough. if that's the case, then i think it's a tad disingenuous of them to then write this "fake mayday" for marvel. but hey, you gotta eat.

Yeah. I'm sure that when given the choice between doing a Spider-Girl story based off the Spider-Verse storyline and not doing one at all, it's easy to say "Oh, yeah. Sure. We're totally revisiting MC2 universe we spent a decade building."

[Yvonmukluk]

So the sum total of pages Defalco & Frenz get to wrap up the MC2 universe? 30 pages as a backup in another book.

Wow, that was TOTALLY worth it! A whole issue-and-a-half! Everything that happened to Mayday in Spider-Verse (which was apparently a prerequisite for this to even happen), for 30 pages to wrap up an entire universe. Sure am glad this makes the whole thing worthwhile.

[Tuck]

So the sum total of pages Defalco & Frenz get to wrap up the MC2 universe? 30 pages as a backup in another book.

Wow, that was TOTALLY worth it! A whole issue-and-a-half! Everything that happened to Mayday in Spider-Verse (which was apparently a prerequisite for this to even happen), for 30 pages to wrap up an entire universe. Sure am glad this makes the whole thing worthwhile.

Or maybe getting Mayday into a book a lot of people are already going to be purchasing will get her in front of a large audience and perhaps, with fan feedback, you may see Mayday more in the future.

[Probalus]

Six to one, half a dozen to the other.



“One of the things that is a real continuity issue for me is that Pete apparently has a robot leg. In our stories, in the early days, the Fantastic Five give Pete a robot leg, but it was shattered on a cover by Kaine. It was established several times in Amazing that Pete has a standard plastic prosthetic leg.”

“What they are doing is giving the readers, if they choose to, plenty of things to hang the idea that that's not our Mayday" - Ron Frenz on how Dan Slott handled Mayday's introduction to Spider-Verse.

You can find much more glaring continuity errors in the 616 universe on any given comic on any given week.

Plus Ron Frenz has basically retracted his criticism since.

[Yvonmukluk]

Or maybe getting Mayday into a book a lot of people are already going to be purchasing will get her in front of a large audience and perhaps, with fan feedback, you may see Mayday more in the future.

So what, they have to trick people into reading MC2 stories? And let's be honest, they pretty much neglected the Spider-Girl fanbase for 5 years. It honestly feels like Marvel's only using her out of obligation at this point. An they have pretty much hogtied DeFalco & Frenz with the format and continuity coming out of Spider-Verse. That's a issue and a half of a regular issue to wrap up an entire universe (that lasted for over a decade-albeit on the basis of one book, but that's pretty much what Ultimate U's been doing the last few months) and close the book on a character that still has the longest consecutive run for a solo Supeheroine in Marvel's history. That's pretty unfair considering the wider significance. It feels like they churned this out to shut the fans up more than anything else.

You can find much more glaring continuity errors in the 616 universe on any given comic on any given week.

Plus Ron Frenz has basically retracted his criticism since.

Really? I could get them slipping up on MJ's highlights, or the leg...but Slott cocked up the narration that was consistent for 100+ issues! You'd think, considering he stated he read Mayday's old series, he might have picked up that little tidbit, if nothing else.

As for Frenz retracting his criticism-where? Hell, the underlying premise of the Spider-Girl/Uncle Ben (ANOTHER mandate-they were told to use Uncle Ben for that story) was 'this isn't the real Spider-Girl'. Just because Frenz & Defalco have diplomatically stated they hope readers will like future (not Slott-written) stories doesn't mean they're 100% on board with this, they're just trying to salvage something from the wreckage.

[cyberhubbs]

They really didn't have to use MC2 for anything. Definitely no obligation to use a line that ever only had one successful title to its name.