What If: Intro to MC2 and RLD

It's 2010. You stand before a building that seems to tower over you, with a bright banner sprawling across the front, blue bubbly letters on an orange and sunny background.

"Summer of Reading!" You aren't the biggest fan of reading, but luckily over the seven years of your life, your dad has been filling your head with tales, collectibles and (although I couldn't touch them yet with my unpredictable and oily wild child hands), comics of flashy superheroes doing their best to be good people, and inspire others to find the strength to keep on. You wonder if the library has any comic books.

Luckily, Marvel did this thing around 2006 where several smaller story arcs got hardcover reprints for library circulation. I'll never forget the taste of those hardcover corners... What? Sorry, got distracted... Where was I? Ah, right, "Marvel Age". These were usually modern retellings (or just a coat of new paint) of a couple of non-strictly related comics put in an order that can somewhat be considered its own arc, ranging from old Spidey stories, to Hulk, Wolverine, Captain America, The X-Men, or the Fantastic Four. There were a few short series of team-ups, and also a Mary Jane comic I might get into some day.

I, Rose "Starlight" Lynn Darling, found these Marvel Age books to be the perfect point to jump into comics, and in that way I guess they kinda did their job. Week after week, I would check the whole selection of comics to see if there were any new ones, eventually disregarding any color that wasn't the red spine of the strictly Spider-Man series.

One day however, I noticed on the very far end of the shelf, there were a handful of books in the same style, but they blended in with the shelf, because they were, like me, the color of the finest powdered sugar. White spines with black lettering in the middle that read “Legacy… In Black and White”. “Intriguing…”, I’m sure I didn’t think since I was seven years old and that’s a big word, but then I looked at the top of the spine, staring at one word that would change the course of my life.

Spider-Girl.

I pulled the book out. There, looking back at me with those big ‘ol bug eyes, was indeed, a spider themed girl. Thin figure, long legs, girly pose, and most damning of all… long fingers. Oh yeah she has boobs too, I guess.

But hey, that’s enough about my origin story. Let’s get into the real comic.

“What If…?” Vol 2, Issue #105, Published in February, 1998, hits you right in the face with a uniquely fully off-white background, the only pops of color coming from text and the titular red-and-blue clad gal with her legs crossed. Maybe “titular” isn’t the right word, since the title states that this issue stars… “Spider-Man?” Alternating black and purple words fill some of the empty space, asking “Who is she?” and “The next generation of Spidey excitement starts here!!!!”

For what it’s worth, she’s wearing The Sensational Spider-Man’s, Ben Reilly’s suit, the one with the large black spider emblem across the entire chest and back, along with the oversized and beautiful silver webshooters on the outside of her wrists. This is because this came one year after the infamous Clone Saga had officially wrapped up, and for some, this costume was now the de facto Spider-Man. The “New” Spider-Man, as it were. And since Ben Reilly… *cough* Stepped down from the mantle, his awesome design was going unused, and maybe, just maybe, there’ll be an in-universe explanation too. ;)

To hammer in this alternate conclusion of the Clone Saga, when this comic was reprinted as the "Zeroth "Issue to her own series, the cover added the tagline:

“The Daughter of The True Spider-Man!”

Oh yeah, if you’re wondering why the title says “Intro to MC2”, it’s because, as you can see in the above picture at the top-left, this alternate timeline was marketed as “Marvel Comics 2”, which means this was clearly one of the original multi-versal stories and is therefore "goated", don’t @ me. Anyways…

The first few pages don’t get us into the action right away, but instead explain the concept and consequences of being in a world similar to the one we’ve known throughout the main Marvel continuity up to this point, but with small changes that have a ripple effect and evolve into an entirely unique history. They explain that in this version of events, Totally Normal and Moral Dude “Norman Osborn” didn’t die after the fight between Spider-Man and The Green Goblin following The Death of Gwen Stacy, and instead of intercepting Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s baby all the way back in The Amazing Spider-Man #418, he just… decided not to go through with that in this timeline, I guess. No seriously, all they say is “What if Mary Jane had never lost the baby?”, which doesn’t really make sense when they show the panels that explain that she in fact did not lose the baby, that baby May had been kidnapped under Norman’s instruction…

Well, I’m sure that’ll get cleared up before roughly halfway through the first run of Spider-Girl comics, right? ... Right? ...oh.

Anyways, we finally open on Midtown High and narration, which introduces a quirk of this comic run. The narration addresses the viewer, but as Mayday. Personally, I like this, it makes it a lot easier to lose myself in the world of the fantastical, following along with Mayday on her adventures, growing, learning, and most importantly, making mistakes. The narration here details the closing moments of a close, but losing basketball game, with some hints of this being a turning point in her life. Mayday’s in the zone, leaning into this tingling sensation she feels at the back of her skull, dodging the opposite team without thinking twice. She jumps up to shoot, and apparently, we the reader are “feeling loose and slamming heat”, as the kids say. Don’t worry, I probably won’t go through every page of-

WAIT HEY THIS IS JUST DISCOVERING POWERS DURING A BASKETBALL MATCH!! THEY USED THIS IN THE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN COMICS AND 2012’S THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN FILM!!! SHE LITERALLY EVEN SMASHED THE BACKBOARD!!! MAYDAY IS THE BLUEPRINT!! JUSTICE FOR MY GIRL!!

The crowd goes wild! Mayday’s scored the win at the last moment in the most spectacularly dangerous way! Her parents are going wild, too! Mary Jane knows those signs as soon as she sees them, but an older, white hair-streaked Peter comforts her, saying that May hasn’t shown any signs of arachnid-proportionate strength at all yet. We’re given our first hints at some other changes in this timeline, as Mayday’s thoughts detail how her father has a chronic limp, and he’s pictured with a cane. They congratulate their child, but something strange happens as the tingling sensation comes back into May’s mind… And Peter’s! Unbeknownst to them, some hooded figure is waiting outside a window. Peter knows immediately that this is his Spider-sense, but when he sees May’s confused face, he wonders if she felt it too. Then we’re introduced to some of May’s friends, but come on true believer, this issue already has so much packed into it! We’ll talk about them next time, promise. May sticks to her plans to hang out with her science friends, and her parents walk home alone.

Peter details to Mary Jane about his past, which is great for us since this isn’t the timeline we know. Apparently, when May was two years old, Spider-Man had his greatest battle with his worst foe yet. Spider-Man vs. The Green Goblin. Norman lost his life, and Peter lost the will to continue on being the webslinger. He needed to be there for and take care of his young child. And since the legendary wall-crawler was gone, what point was there in telling May about his secretive past?

We catch up with May, still hanging out with her science friends, who don’t seem to like her sports friends. I like this dynamic, but again, we’ll explore that more at a later date. Right now… PUMPKIN BOMB!!!!

Mayday’s Spider-sense warns her again and she springs into action, pushing her friends out of the way and nearly dodging the blast herself.

The cloaked and purple/green-clad figure descends from the sky, his cape almost acting as the classic glider, to deliver a message to “the Parker girl”. Without skipping a beat or answering any questions, he tells May that he and her father have unfinished business, and to face “The Green Goblin” at “the bridge tomorrow night”. You know. The bridge. The only one in New York. Ever. Mayday also realizes how stupid that sounds, and asks for clarification, but the figure floats away into the night cackling, stating that “He’ll know!”... So like… The Gwen bridge? Anyone else getting those vibes? Just me? Cool.

A frightened May runs all the way home, detailing what happened to her father, who, aside from yelling out “The Green Goblin?!”, does a pretty good job of seeming calm under the threat. He tells May to go upstairs while he tries to figure out the identity of this new Gobby. He suspects Normie, the son of the late Harry Osborn. Mary Jane tries to comfort him, but he blames himself for the never-ending evil of the Osborn bloodline. He worries that maybe keeping his past from May will end up harming her, and MJ believes that she can handle learning that she’s the daughter of Spider-Man now. But what’s that? May was listening on the stairs the whole time!

We cut to an abandoned Osborn warehouse, where Peter’s suspicions are confirmed by this goofy lookin’ “Normie” Osborn, With “Revenge” tattooed on his chest, and “Honor thy father, Kill the spider” on his back, along with a skull and wings. You’re so cool, Normie. You’re such a big strong powerful man that doesn’t look or sound stupid at all. To top it off, as if the white Osborns having cornrows wasn’t bad enough, I’m pretty sure Normie has dreads here?

The next morning, Peter limps and canes his way to the headquarters of the Fantastic Five to ask for Johnny Storm’s backup later that night, but dude’s out in space. Womp womp. Guess the plot has to progress some other way. Maybe try asking the Avengers? Or go it alone?

Meanwhile, in an empty gymnasium, Mayday grapples with learning the truth about herself, wondering how it affects her, asking out loud to herself “Exactly how freaky am I?”. I also do this, but I don’t have the longest running female-led comic of the early 2000’s, so it doesn’t matter. She tests out her powers, being much more athletic than she technically should be at this point in her spider-journey. She's bouncing off the walls just like they say in the Broadway musical! However, she almost gets a little too caught-up when her Spider-sense warns her that someone’s coming into the gym. It’s another one of May’s friends, but right now she’s gotta bounce! She’s got a mom to go yell at!

Peter then heads to Avengers Mansion, and there’s a lot to unpack here, but this review and summary is getting long enough! All of the Avengers are so new to him, not to mention how young they are, and that revelation almost sends Peter into an existential crisis on the spot. He realizes that he is alone in this venture, and that ultimately, it’s his responsibility, and his alone, to face Normie.

Back home, May… wins an argument with her mother? That’s not realistic! Zero out of ten!

MJ spills all the beans! Apparently being Spider-Man is how dear ol’ Peter lost his leg! God dayum! May is also told off-screen that Normie seems to be the new Goblin, and upon seeing Peter’s old costume in the attic, she… gives her version of the “great power, great responsibility” speech… to herself? She states “You can’t save someone from who she is, or from the responsibility she shares.”

Then, she notices something else in this attic-chest, and holds up another Spider-suit, asking her mom why there’s two different costumes. MJ reveals that this one belonged to her Uncle Ben (god DAMMIT WHY IS MAYDAY NOT IN 616 THAT’S SO THEMATIC AND AMAZING), and May recalls how she was told her Uncle Ben was a hero.

With that tease of the future, MJ and Mayday worry about the impending night, and what Peter’ll do as the sun sets.

A silent night on a silent bridge. Peter, illuminated by the lights of the city, looks out at... presumably New Jersey, but that’s me being a nerd. (I looked it up and yes, if this is the George Washington Bridge, where Gwen Stacy died, he is indeed unfortunately looking towards Jersey.)

Suddenly, Peter’s Spider-sense warns him of incoming danger behind him, and he barely has time to get out of the way of a small explosion, greeting the figure floating down in front of him. Normie, however, is upset that he didn’t get to have his playdate with Spider-Man, instead of this plainclothes “Uncle Pete”. He then gets pissy, as all good Goblins do, about how Spider-Man is still alive, grabbing Peter and slowly raising him into the air. I am not kidding when I say this next bit, Peter’s pants sag with his police gun (Yeah, Pete’s an officer of the law in this timeline), and Normie says “Is that a police special you’re packing… Or are you just happy to see me?!” His lewd joke goes unanswered as a voice calls to Normie to put Peter down. Mary Jane has arrived on the scene, and begins trying to talk the crazed Gobby down. It works in some small way, as he throws Peter to the ground and instead grabs MJ by the face, telling Peter to don the spandex, or else “Auntie M” gets the ol’ heat glove face-cooking treatment they keep denying me at the spa.

A voice calls out from above, steadily growing louder.

“You want a Spider-person, Normie? Face it, tiger… you just hit the jackpot!”

Blammo! Heel to the face! Take that, Gobby! 10/10 Introduction, 10 for style points, 10 for form, 10 for quippage!

Genuinely, this is such a cool introduction to Mayday’s super-hero identity. Her first genuinely heroic act, not just acting on instincts, is to kick The Green Goblin straight in his stupid face. We love that for her. Hashtag Mayday Sweep. Not to mention the fact she uses her mom’s iconic catchphrase in a way that is somehow less self aggrandizing.

She doesn’t stop there, she shows off her athleticism as Ol’ Gobby fails to land a single… “zap-blast”, while being taunted that Peter’s off the hook. Mayday webs up Gobby’s hand to stop him from going all “alakazam” on her, and we spend two panels to learn that his glove can simply melt through her webbing. Which first of all, has to be on its last legs, right? That web-serum’s over a decade old! I'm surprised it doesn’t just come out of the web-shooters like a thick chicken noodle soup! Anyways, I may not know that much about Chekhov, but I’ve sure heard about his gun!

Through her inexperience, Mayday does “a good job, keeping him talking and off-balance” says Peter, but as MJ puts it, “She’s too young! Too inexperienced! She’ll be killed!” Managing in disbelief to climb up the side of a bridge arch, Mayday aggravates Normie, who wants to stop being called Normie. He lashes out, spewing hatred over losing his family, and a few razor bats to boot. May pushes off the wall, letting herself fall to dodge the razor bats. Unfortunately, this means she has to “lock in”, as the kids say today, I think. She aims for the ceiling above her with her arm, and taps her middle and ring finger to her palm twice.

Saaa-wishhh!

No seriously, that’s what the comic says! If you say it out loud with a little bit of a hiss, it sounds like the sound the webshooters made in the animated 90’s show. Wonder if that was the intent.

Mayday feels a rush of excitement and adrenaline, realizing she’s never felt this alive playing basketball, but she hasn’t felt so in-danger shooting hoops, either. She uses that adrenaline to give one good swing, and kicks The Green Goblin in the back, while trying to make a personal connection back to Normie’s mom, whom Grandpa Norman apparently never liked. May immediately retorts with a joke, telling Normie how stupid he is for trying to emulate the man who disregarded his mother, which riles Gobby up in true Spider-person fashion!

He yells at Mayday to shut up, because who even cares about loving caring mothers? He reels back to throw a pumpkin bomb, giving Mayday exactly what she wants. She thwips his hand to the bomb, and Normie thinks she’s dumb, because in reality, he’s dumb. He can’t burn off the webbing on his hand without setting off the bomb. He notices this a little too late and foreshadows the famous Willem Dafoe “Oh.” in a truly hilarious set of panels.

Unfortunately, this didn’t outright kill him, or even blow his hand off somehow, instead just destroyed the glove and left his costume in tatters. He falls to the lower section of the bridge and looks like a deer in headlights before almost getting hit by a Bergentruck (IYKYK). Lucky for him, Mayday has a great power, and an even greater sense of responsibility, and thwips him out of the way. Lucky for us, Mayday has reeled him into her fist, and Spider-Girl’s feeling loose and slamming goblins!

Normie is dragged into a police van singing a lullaby about his new arch-enemy, and May swaps back into civilian clothes, looking like a Ditko-era Peter to watch as he’s taken away. May and her parents are left with the hope that things will get better, the knowledge that all we have is hope… and family.

With that, we end this origin story with the burning of the sensational spider-costume and webshooters, as well as a tease that May might not give up being a hero.

Little did they know at the time of writing this that Mayday would become very popular with audiences, garnering enough attention for this one-off to become its very own comic run!

So, after all that summary, what do I think of Spider-Girl’s origin? I’m gonna go ahead and give it a tentative 8.5/10.

If you think that’s a little low for someone running a Twitter account called "MaydayPosting", one, I’d like to save some room for future comics to blow my socks off, and two, the fast pacing and constant infodumping for just a one-off is wild. They definitely fit a lot of the world-building in, sure, but some of it was a little unnecessary. One the second to last page, we get the random loredump that Daredevil has died. Why? No reason. Not followed up on. He just dead. I think we also spend a lil too much time focusing on May’s friends for a one-off. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s an interesting and fun dynamic that she’s popular with both the nerds and jocks, but we learn a little too much about these friends that we theoretically wouldn't get to spend much time with if this had stayed a one-off. The “Spider-Girl” comic spends almost as much time being Spider-Girl as it does with her friends, 6 and 4 pages respectively. I want more Spider-Girl. Sue me.

Granted that anyone’s interested, we’ll dive a little deeper into the history of and fan-reception to May “Mayday” Parker and the titular superheroine Spider-Girl in the future! Thanks for having me, reader of this blog! It’s been an honor! Remember to be good people, stay hydrated, and never listen if a strange man in a cloak tells you he wants to finish your father off! …Wait.

Until next time, true believers!

~ Rose "Starlight" Lynn Darling (with the help of some people in her brain), AKA MaydayPosting