Spider-Girl #2 // Review
It’s a few days after the super-powered threat of Vermin attacked the Red Snow Dojo. Maka Akana is just getting settled-into life in and out of the mask as New York’s latest web-slinging crimefighter. Things seem to be going pretty well for her and her family. Her mom just got her curtains that allow for some privacy upstairs in her bed...which will also allow her the privacy of NOT being upstairs in her bed. She’s planning on go out without her family knowing. It happens a bit more quickly than she might have expected in Spider-Girl #2. Writer Torunn Grønbekk continues to open a whole new spider series with artist André Risso and colorist Java Tartaglia.
Maka is ready. The evening awaits. It’s not exactly waiting patiently, though. There’s a dagger that’s thrown into her room from a window outside. Had she not just sat down on her bed, she would have been seriously injured. Naturally, Maka is going to have to rush out the window to see who threw it. The bad news is that it’s Bullseye. The good news is that it’s not the Bullseye who had manipulated her and messed with her mind a while back. This one’s a woman. She’s attacking Spider-Girl but she’s holding-back. It’s almost as though she’s attacking...only to find out what she’s capably of...
Grønbekk manages an impressively deft moral ambiguity in and amidst a very fast-paced energy. With Peter Parker back in the 1960s, Ditko had managed a lot of what Spider-Girl is encountering non in 2025. Grønbekk has streamlined the moral ambiguity of the web-slinging, crime-fighting kid premise to create a sleeker narrative package that moves accross the page with ferocity and velocity. It’s a fun ride.
Risso navigates Grønbekk’s sleek speed with quick wit. Once again--the pigtailed Spider-Girl makes quite an impression on the page with her own distinct fighting style. The Ditko-inspired mask is as expressive as ever. It cleverly amplifies the emotions of the hero. The Lady Bullseye has a sleek and deadly black-and-white look about her that contrasts against the colorful expressiveness of the hero. Tartaglia nails the color contrast in a moody Manhattan night. Lady Bullseye has a sharp sense of emotional intensity. Risso is remarkably good at sudden close-ups that amplify the drama of the action as it shoots across the page.
The series hits another remarkably well-modulated issue as Maka is allowed some time in her personal life before being launched out into the evening chasing a villain. The moral complexity hits right at the end of the issue. From personal life to life under the mask to the messiness of crime on the streets of Marvel Manhattan, Grønbekk directs the flow of action with a smart narrative flair. Maka has made quite an impression her first couple of trips through her own book. It’ll be fun to see where she’s going with it in future issues.
