Can You Do It Alone?!
When you’ve only got three issues to make your mark, you really can’t waste one lollygagging about. Spider-Girl #1 did not take advantage of its opportunity. Instead of working on this teamwork story that Tobin started pushing to the forefront in the last few pages of #1, he spent most of that book focused on fancy fighting and action spreads. Story focus returns in issue #2, but the promise has only got one more issue to play out and I have a feeling it could get crowded.
I should really talk about this book, though. Hobgoblin’s Wizard of Oz reference is entirely apropos of the issue’s story as Dorothy’s efforts in Oz would be impossible without her friends. Without Hobgoblin (who shows a distinct lack of brains, so I’ll say Scarecrow) and Kingpin (who has no heart, but intense strength Tin Man) she must now regroup and face the Queen of the Wasps.
The writing isn’t really that complicated and most of what happens in this book is pretty straightforward. I do think it’s worth mentioning that, while it’s fun to lampshade and point out the weakness of your jokes/quips like Hobgoblin did, it’s a joke whose maximum potential is far lower than a good quip, even if you keep the 4th wall breaking comment in there. Also, Anya’s a cool character, but Tobin doesn’t seem to know how to show it. She comes off as kind of bland and uninteresting and it leaves me feeling unsurprised that her book was canceled.
Larraz’ art continues to be the best part of the book, even if it’s nothing groundbreaking. There’s always room for solid action in comics.
I find it difficult to be too hard on Spider-Girl. The character is really cool and the premise, Kingpin, Hobgoblin, and Spider-Girl team up, should be awesome. Something about the execution is holding it back. I blame pacing and writing.