Spider-Girl

Spider-Girl 14, 17-19, 21-23, 26, 37, 51

The rest of the DeFalco issues read the same as yesterday’s - Perfectly serviceable and entire forgettable.  There’s nothing there that I can’t get anywhere else for a decent superhero fix. I’m cutting the whole collection, with the exception of issue 51.  Sean McKeever writes that issue, and it showcases the sensibility that he’ll go on to provide for the Mary Jane titles a couple of years later.

Issue 51 speaks way too closely to my own experiences growing up.  I was that same shy kid, in love with a girl and ill-equipped to properly handle my feelings.  I, too, utilized the method of writing multiple letters that I would never send to her. At least that was better than the times I actually delivered them, I suppose - There are fewer things more horrifying in retrospect than the 3 AM email where you actually hit the Send button.

Which isn’t to say that I regret that time of my life.  I needed to get through that phase in order to reach the next, the one where I learned that self-confidence is a lot more attractive than the lovelorn mooning that looks so romantic in the movies.  The one where you should make sure there’s some sort of mutual attraction before devoting your every waking moment to winning her love. The one where you should leave her alone after she tells you she’s not interested.  Persistent grand gestures is a lot more creepy in real life.

Yet even as I recognize the futility of the boy’s letter, I also see the purity of his feelings.  As foolish as his love may be, his heart is good and his intent is true. Love Actually got a lot of stuff wrong, but I firmly believe that it nailed this one:

Ahem.  Clearly McKeever tapped into something with this issue.  It’s definitely something that I haven’t gotten in any other comic book, and for that, it gets my highest appreciation.    

Regret buying? Yes

Would buy again? No

Would read again? No

Rating: Fine (Cutting everything but 51)

For Issue 51:

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Major Feels

Spider-Girl, Invincible Iron Man

Invincible Iron Man 600

What a mess.  Bendis crams a bunch of random events together into his final issue, none of which are very interesting.  There’s no closure, but he never made me care enough about anything these threads to really want any. He does himself no favors by having AI Tony Stark call it out:  “I love the chaos. I love knowing as much as I know...and not knowing what is going to happen next.” Mission accomplished, you left this title in chaos.

But let’s not forget that Bendis gave us Riri.  That’s enough for me out of this title.

Thank you for her, Bendis.

Spider-Girl 2-5, 9, 11-13

I really have zero idea why I bought such a huge chunk of this title.  I must have gotten an amazing deal on them. I haven’t even read any of these issues ever, so this won’t technically be a re-read.  

Like Spider-Gwen, this title spun out of a one-shot appearance (What If?, in this case).  Like Spider-Gwen, it’s a take on a teen-aged, female Spidey. And like Spider-Gwen (which I’ll be reading immediately after Spider-Girl), it’s okay.  It’s very much of a bygone era, when even the complicated life of a budding hero (parents, school drama, homework, and villains of the month) can be sorted out in 22 pages.  It feels almost quaint, like an all-ages title. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Tom DeFalco’s execution is spot on. He’s painting by the numbers, but it’s still a fine looking work at the end of the day.  And the actual art by Pat Olliffe hearkens back to that earlier time as well, very Marvel house style.

DeFalco makes the very interesting choice of writing his narration in omniscient second person.  I can’t recall another instance of it in comic books, and it really stands out.

The time travel story in issue 11 where May meets her teen-aged parents is cliche, but makes for some really nice moments nonetheless.

Ratings after I finish reading all the DeFalco issues, I don’t expect the quality to shift from issue to issue.