The all-new, sensational Spider-Girl is swinging into her first solo series. Created by writer Dan Slott and designer Michael Cho, Makawalu “Maka” Akana made her debut in Spider-Boy #12 as the secret protégé of the Daredevil villain Bullseye. A Hawaiian mutant with the ability to absorb and replicate powers, the pint-sized, pig-tailed Spider-Girl started out as Bullseye’s sidekick Funhouse before adopting her spider-sona. When Bullseye sent his kid sidekick to copy the powers of a Spider-person, they targeted the Daredevil-trained Spider-Boy, a.k.a. Bailey Briggs.
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While her powers copy abilities and thoughts, Maka makes distorted reflections of people — like a funhouse mirror — and so Bullseye, the world’s deadliest assassin, taught her to master her abilities. But when Bullseye betrayed his apprentice during a fighting contest in Madripoor, he abandoned his “spider-kid,” who found an ally in fellow super-tween Bailey.
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And now Maka is copying Spider-Boy once again with her own ongoing series. Spider-Girl #1, from writer Torunn Grønbekk (Venom) and newcomer Marvel artist André Risso, spins out of the pages of Slott and Paco Medina’s Spider-Boy when it hits stands on June 11.
Per Marvel, “The new series will shed light on the character’s backstory, reveal the full extent of her mutant abilities, and reveal whether she can truly leave behind her villainous ways to stand as a hero. After Bullseye’s betrayal, Spider-Girl is trying her hand at being a hero. But when a clash with Vermin reveals that a major Spider-Nemesis is tracking her, Spider-Girl will have to figure out what this villain wants – and which of their allies will try to kill her next.”
“Spider-Girl is a blast — joyful, irreverent, mischievous, and righteous. Leaving Bullseye behind, she’s starting fresh in New York, exploring her new home and embracing her Spider-Girl powers with fearlessness and a touch of innocence,” Grønbekk said in a statement. “She eagerly jumps into fights others would think better of (often against some of our favorite Spidey villains!), and her arrival has definitely caught the attention of the criminal underworld — but maybe not for the reason one would think.”
She added, “André Risso’s stunning pages are bursting with energy and action, bringing this story to life in a way only comics can.”
The just-announced ongoing marks the first Spider-Girl title since Anya Corazón’s Spider-Girl led an eight-issue run in 2010-2011. The original Spider-Girl, launched in 1998 under Marvel’s MC2 imprint, starred Mayday Parker, the daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson-Parker from an alternate, possible future. Penned by Tom DeFalco and drawn by Pat Olliffe and Ron Frenz, that series spanned 100 issues between 1998 and 2006 before being relaunched as the 30-issue Amazing Spider-Girl in 2006.
Mayday last headlined two volumes of Spectacular Spider-Girl between 2009 and 2011, and she’s since appeared in Slott’s Spider-Verse crossovers and Edge of Spider-Verse as part of the multiversal Spider-Society.
The Adolescent Arachnid makes her solo series debut when Spider-Girl #1 goes on sale June 11 from Marvel Comics.
