I’m always happy to see a new member of the Spider family spin off into their own title. Like others, I was a huge fan of Spider-Boy, and I was a huge fan of Spider-Girl when she first debuted in that story. I’m happy to report that Spider-Girl Breathe Through the Fire carries the fun, youthful energy you hope for in a book like this, without being too cameo-heavy. The only real bummer about this collection is that it ends just as things were getting interesting.
If you haven’t been keeping up with the greater family of Spider titles, this Spider-Girl is not Mayday Parker, or Anya Corazon, or Spider-Gwen, or Silk. This is Maka Akana, a relatively new character from the past few years. She’s a mutant with the power to mimic the knowledge and skillsets of anyone she makes eye contact with. She was later trained by Bullseye to be a villain of sorts, but after he betrays her she decides to be a hero.
Marvel
This collection picks up right when she gets back to a more normal life, living with her mother, aunt, and grandmother in New York City. She joins one of the best dojos in the city to train and, hopefully, make some friends. It’s not long though before she’s visited by Vermin clones and later Lady Bullseye at the behest of a Spider-Man, Tombstone.
Tombstone has kidnapped another mutant named Hijack, hoping to use him and his electrical powers to, well, hijack a piece of advanced military equipment. Hijack, however, is not cooperating with his captors, and Spider-Girl, with her mimetic powers is looking like a pretty solid Plan B. She knows something is up though, because every test Tombstone and Co. run on Hijack puts a little bit more of him out there for Spider-Girl to pick up on with her own powers. Before long, she’s teaming up with Spider-Man to take down Tombstone’s whole operation from stem to stern.
The other story collected here is a short and sweet two parter about Maka visiting Hawaii and getting to see her father, who’s wrapped up in a conspiracy at his genetics lab. It’s up to Spider-Girl to expose a criminal enterprise that’s been unlawfully cloning and enhancing animals as well as disappearing whistleblowers. It’s short but it sets up a change for Spider-Girl that I was looking forward to. Unfortunately…
Marvel
Not even getting the 10 issue treatment that seems to be Marvel’s preferred method of enraging its fanbase these days, Spider-Girl ends at issue #7, and you can absolutely tell that the creative team had so many more stories to tell. Writer Torunn Grønbekk and artists Andre Risso and Diogenes Neves created a fun and energetic book that thrust the power/responsibility trope into the spotlight without feeling like a retread of Peter’s story.
Maka is such an interesting character because she wants to do good but she’s kind of a jerk, except she’s really sweet? She’s complicated. She’s a teenager, of course she’s complicated. She says the wrong thing, does the wrong thing, and has no problem cavorting with people of questionable moral fiber because she doesn’t know any better – and she’s not supposed to.
That’s what makes her run-ins with Lady Bullseye so much fun; that relationship was easily a highlight of the book for me. The drama of a villain related to the mentor that betrayed her, while she’s still trying to figure out what kind of person she wants to be was so much fun to watch.
I really liked that Paper Doll popped back up again. She was made into a credible and terrifying villain, and most importantly, I actually felt like Spider-Girl was genuinely scared of her and what she’s capable of. It feels like there was a lot of meat left on the bone with that character so I assume she would make other appearances had the series continued.
Marvel
While the first, longer arc is way more interesting and entertaining from a spectacle standpoint, the second, shorter arc that sees Maka back in Hawaii felt incredibly personal and intimate (plus, it’s always fun when you’re watching a show or reading something and the characters go on vacation). My only problem with this book is it just ends with such little fanfare. All these plates started spinning in these seven issues that are just going to go on unaddressed because Marvel pulled the plug and I don’t get it.
I like Maka as a character. I think she adds something new to the Spider-fam in terms of personality and power set and much like Spider-Boy, I like that there’s no relation to Peter Parker at all. The seven issues collected here do a good job of establishing her place in the greater Marvel 616 Universe and the fact that the cameos feel so natural is proof that this character fits seamlessly into the world.
The only true shame about this collection is that the series was cut short. You can feel that the creators had more to say, and it’s a huge bummer that they may not get the opportunity. This was a wonderful ongoing debut that should’ve had more support from Marvel. At $19.99, it feels a little expensive for a book that Marvel didn’t believe in, but there’s entertainment through and through here.
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