Spider-Girl (Vol. 1) #53

Background

May Parker has had it with her double life and quit her career as the sensational Spider-Girl. While people like Felicity Hardy wonder what happened to her, and her friends wonder what's wrong with her, who could possibly persuade May to return to the webs?

Story 'An Invisible Girl!'

"Her name is Meagyn Brady and she doesn't belong to any of the popular clubs or cliques. She has no real girlfriends and the boys have yet to discover her. Like far too many other lonely and ignored teenagers, Meagyn Brady is an invisible girl." But unlike many other high-schoolers, Meagyn can literally turn invisible when nobody pays attention to her, shoving her even deeper into her shell. She doesn't say hi to anybody in the hallway, she doesn't respond when she overhears someone critique her favorite book, and when Felicity Hardy--straight from a run-in with her mother--plows into her, she barely says anything. "You didn't see me. No one ever does."

May Parker, however, cannot help but be seen by her mother, Mary Jane. MJ wants to show her the latest sonograms of her baby brother, but May is still angry about her mother keeping secrets from her and blows MJ off. Leaving, May heads across town to the hospital to visit Courtney Duran. Their visit is shattered by the sudden appearace of "Quickwire." (Yes, all the good names were taken.) Quickwire, fresh from his robbery of the hospital pharmacy, bounces down the hall a la Speedball and smashes through a window. May suits up to give chase, but the supervillain is long gone. She realizes that she's going to need some help tracking him down.

Back at school, May corners Felicity Hardy, who reluctantly agrees to help her. Their conversation does not go unnoticed, and Meagyn Brady's curiosity is piqued. Thinking that the two are discussing some kind of role-playing game, she follows them into the library, and then shadows them as the leave school. May's spider sense kicks in, however, and she and Felicity successfully ditch Meagyn.

In the library, Felicity had discovered that the drug Quickwire stole was an experimental "super-steroid," and that there is a licensed supplier in the area. The two are heading off in that direction--May in costume, Felicity without--when who should come flying through the front window? Spider-Girl jumps into the fray, but Quickwire begins to pound her senseless after a few bantering comments. Felicity saves her life, suiting up as the Scarlet Spider and attacking Quickwire from the rear, but the villain realizes he has what he came for and turns to flee. He bounces straight into Meagyn Brady, who has heard the commotion and throws herself in his path. Quickwire ricochets onto a parked car, unconscious. Spider-Girl and SS quickly check to see if Meagyn's okay, then waste no time calling her a hero.

Afterwards, while May goes home to spend some time with her mother looking at sonograms--and while Felicity goes home to pick yet another fight with her mother--Meagyn comes running home to tell her mother what happened. Unfortunately, her recently-widowed mother pays no attention to her. Meagyn fades into invisibility yet again.

General Comments

Interesting concept for the "Invisible Girl." I wonder if her invisibility is something she can learn to control? I only ask because the story ended with a "...for now!" which leads me to believe her story might not be over. Not sure what more DeFalco can do with her, but I do like the character. We finally have a comic book character that anyone who went through Junior High can identify with. Stinks that her own mother won't pay attention to her, though.

May finally gets smart and uses Felicity as a resource. Unfortunately, May let Felicity tag along when it came time for the action, although she did save May's life this time out. Felicity has great potential as a character in general and as May's partner, but May has to be careful with her. Felicity can be an asset to Spider-Girl, but only if Spider-Girl can save her from herself. Miss Hardy has an devil-may-care attitude that could get her killed some day. (Remember "Untold Tales'" Sally Avril? Same thing.) May can't lose sight of that.

Quickwire? Don't go away mad, pal, just go away! Lame villain.

Not a bad issue. The May/Felicity saga seems to be the only big plot thread right now, but there's enough potential there for it to carry the book through another story or two. Will we see Meagyn Brody again? Time will tell. Should we? If Tom DeFalco can come up with a good story for her, by all means!

Overall Rating

Throwaway bad guy weighs down a pretty good story. Three and one half webs.