Broken Frontier

May Parker is finally enjoying life as a normal teenager, but will she come to regret giving up being Spider-Girl after a new threat arises in the city?

There was so much speculation brewing regarding the shelf-life of Spider-Girl, and after much hullabaloo the title was indeed cancelled shortly after the release of the historic 100th issue. The internet was all abuzz with fans lobbying the company to reconsider this decision, and in a typical miraculous fashion the title was given a second lease on life and has now returned in a brand new series.

Now being dubbed "the Amazing Spider-Girl," the daughter of Peter Parker picks up again months later as May decides to quit being a super heroine. Now she seems to be enjoying life as a normal girl and this is reflected in an increase with her grades and spending more time with her friends. She’s even gone so far as to develop a budding relationship with Gene Thompson (son of Flash Thompson), much to the chagrin of her father. Everything seems to be coming up smelling like roses, but that doesn’t change the fact that trouble is still brewing in the city. In fact May inadvertently gets herself pressed into action once more to come to the aid of Charlie, but in doing so sets off a chain reaction that will probably force her to regret giving up being Spider-Girl.

The prevailing theme of regret is one aspect of the story that I really liked here, and writer Tom DeFalco never seems to miss a beat with this concept. His plotting was strong as far as first issues go, and the characters are all written extremely well. Even after I read this issue I still wondered though about the need of restarting the series over with a new number one, and I am thinking that this could in fact be a deliberate cash-grab for Marvel. Even if that is true though, you shouldn’t let that deter you from picking this new series up. There’s more than enough intrigue built into the plotting, and from the looks of the end to this opening issue a few old friends have returned again to make this an eventful experience for May Parker and the gang.

I was also impressed with the artwork of artists Ron Frenz and Sal Buscema. Both of these creative talents have been employed in the Marvel stable for many years and it was nice to see them breath new life into this title. I remember reading The Amazing Spider-Man throughout the 80’s when Ron was the artist on the book, so it felt like old times again as I read through the issue. This pair of old time creators handled the art chores as expertly as they could given their penchant for producing an older sequential style, and I never once thought their work to be out of place. The action and dramatic tension on every page never missed a beat and that’s another aspect of their storytelling I’m completely in favor of seeing more of.

This first issue of Spider-Girl is certainly a step into the right direction. It’s seldom that you find a good story with quality art that go hand in hand, and I see no reason why this series can’t go another 100 issues like the previous one. My only hope is that May Parker as a character gets the proper treatment she deserves and in doing so is developed further than what has already been established, but judging upon what I have read here that shouldn’t be a problem.