Spider-Girl (Vol. 2) #5

Background

Anya Corazon, Spider-Girl, has little time to mourn the death of her father when Ana Kravinoff returns to New York to hunt her!

With the mysterious group called RAVEN behind Anya's father's death spying on her, inviting her friend Rocky to move in with her and an uneasy alliance with Red Hulk, Anya's life couldn't be more complicated!

Good job she's lured Ana out in the open to take her frustrations out on then!

Story 'Her Father's Daughter...'

Spider-Girl (Anya Corazon) and Ana Kravinoff square off! Ana is out to kill and isn’t pulling her punches! When Spider-Girl manages to disarm her of her hunting knife, Ana quickly gets it back and starts using it properly! Spider-Girl flees so Ana grabs an innocent bystander and drops him from a balcony! Spider-Girl is forced to swing back onto the scene to catch the man and they crash through an office window! Ana stalks in through the broken window and starts threatening the workers who stand in her way! Spider-Girl throws a laptop at her and realises that Ana isn’t comfortable with unfamiliar weapons… New York can be a weapon… so time for the grand tour!

Elsewhere in a RAVEN Society Outpost, Spider-Girl’s creepy neighbour, Curt Godwin, is revealed as a RAVEN Agent! He knows that Anya Corazon is Spider-Girl and plans to use that, and the recent emotional trauma of losing her father, to recruit her as a RAVEN Agent!

Spider-Girl leads Ana across town to The Baxter Building. The external defences kick in and swarm Ana, forcing her to retreat. Spider-Girl pursues her but Ana realises that she has underestimated her opponent and decides, after threatening Spider-Girl’s entire family with an ongoing hunt, to flee for good. Spider-Girl has other ideas!

At St Mark’s Place, Rocky (Anya’s roommate) and Chat (her friend) visit their friend Kevin who has finished a painting of Rocky’s late mother. Rocky loves it and is overwhelmed. Chat and Kevin follow the Spider-Girl fight on-line. Somehow the cameraman is able to get some amazing shots!

The fight picks up a gear and Spider-Girl continues to wind Ana up about her father. Furious, Ana pursues Spider-Girl as she begins running across the roofs of moving cars! Putting Ana out of her comfort zone, Spider-Girl is able to lasso Ana’s feet and attach her to a van! Ana is dragged across the busy road and gets knocked out when she hits another car! As she is apprehended by the police, Spider-Girl recognises that her methods were dangerous… but Ana deserved it!

Rocky, Chat and Kevin watch the fight conclude, still wondering how the cameraman, Phil Urich, gets these amazing shots…

On the scene, The Hobgoblin and his mobile cameras watch!

General Comments

With Kraven’s Next Hunt over I remain convinced that Paul Tobin didn’t utilise Ana enough. She should have been more dangerous, have inflicted lots more (Grim Hunt level) damage on Spider-Girl and it should have taken more to wind her up.

The way Spider-Girl’s win comes about fits the character perfectly. It isn’t luck, it’s gritty, real ingenuity which is a trait I like in Spider-Girl. Using the streets and city continues the theme of Spider-Girl taking on street crime and being unmatched against bigger foes (Red Hulk). Combining this with her knowledge of The FF and Baxter Building indicate that Tobin has an overall plan and tone for this book that he is sticking to.

We even get, breaking the fight sequence up nicely, to spy on RAVEN and the supporting cast, who are used to deliver a believable and logical link into Hobgoblin’s appearance next issue.

Matthew Southworth’s art is assisted by Sergio Cariello and I have to be honest and say that the nightfall helps the art greatly as it masks the inconsistencies of last issue slightly. The heavy lines continue to do both female characters no favours; delicate features and expressions are not present. On the up side, I can’t see where Southworth meets Cariello and the variation of settings is handled well.

Overall Rating

Giving Spider-Girl a clever advantage allows Tobin to deliver a true mini-arc with a win. The important supporting cast still bubbles away and there's more intrigue regarding RAVEN and Hobgoblin.

With slightly better art and a return of Clayton Henry, I continue to be interested.