Spider-Girl #90

 



Writer: Tom DeFalco
Penciller: Ron Frenz

Synopsis: Spider-Girl finds herself trapped in alternate Silver Age comic book realities. 

Comments: The cover is a reference to Superdickery, where usually Superman in the Silver Age comics would do something cruel on the cover involving his powers. 



May transforming into a turtle is probably a reference to bizarre transformations that would happen to Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane during the Silver Age. Jimmy transformed in to a Turtle Man in one issue. It was even parodied in Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual '97. 


   


The title of the comic "Spider-Girl Interrupted", is a reference to the memoir, Girl, Interrupted,  by Susanna Kaysen and the movie starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie. 




You can see the scrap of newspaper on the ground announcing Misery's escape. 




May's paper doll transformation, the way she runs, and the overall art style is like Millie the Model. Stan Goldberg and Dan DeCarlo were the artists associated with that comic and later the Archie comics. The art style was also parodied in Untold Tales of Spider-Man Annual '97. 










It almost goes without saying May's transformation is a parody of the Road Runner. The Gold Key Road Runner comics would have been popular when Tom DeFalco was a kid. 



Mary Jane saying *choke* is a reference the Silver Age DC stories, this page from Otto Binder: The Life and Work of a Comic Book and Science Fiction Visionary by William Schelly mentions it. 



The spirit of Aunt May will return to help Mayday in the "Brand New May" storyline in Amazing Spider-Girl. 

  


Spider-Girl breaking out of the manufactured out of the manufactured reality is just like the panels in Spider-Girl Annual '99. 










Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Randall Frenz Interview

Image
  Superman #149, brothers Randall and Ron Frenz credited on the cover. The Randall Frenz Interview When I first read the issues of Thor #400 and #401 back in high school (this would have been in the early 2000s, years after they were first published in 1989), I saw the name of Randall Frenz. I was familiar with Ron Frenz, the penciler of Thor , The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Girl , but who was Randall Frenz? Was it Ron's real name? Was it his alter ego? I even admitted as much when Ron wished Randall a happy birthday on Facebook.  However, I saw that there was confusion from others online as to who Randall Frenz is. The above commenter is correct, but they should have written  is, not was.  Years later, with the advent of YouTube and a book written by Tom DeFalco titled  Comics Creators on Spider-Man , I also learned that Randall Frenz is Ron's older brother through various interviews that Ron has conducted.  Randall wrote 13 published comic book stor...
Read more

DeFalco/Frenz Retrospective: Krrish: Menace of the Monkey Men

Image
  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciler: Ron Frenz Synopsis: A story featuring Krrish, India's superhero.  Comments: Ron wrote on his Facebook page that editor Scott Peterson contacted him when the movie company, FilmKRAFT, behind the Bollywood blockbusters featuring Krrish wanted an old fashioned Marvel comic book, Peterson knew that DeFalco and Frenz's style would play into their sensibilities. I first read this on Hoopla, a library app, and I remember asking Ron about it when I met him in Akron, OH in 2017.  When the project was announced it got a warm write up in Indian edition of Business Insider.    This story is kind a change of pace for DeFalco and Frenz in that it's set in a different country. If go through their body of work, DeFalco and Frenz stay usually in New York City. If one of their heroes travels, they go to a fictional countries like Belgruin and Latveria or other dimensions.  All that talk about powers and responsibility, where have I heard that ...
Read more

Spider-Girl #88

Image
  Writer: Tom DeFalco Penciller: Ron Frenz Synopsis: In the Negative Zone, the full force of the Fantastic Five meet the threat of Apox.  Comments: Fastball Special.  For some reason, this page with Howard, Sandra and Courtney was not in the digital issue of Marvel Unlimited. I had to get it elsewhere.  A nice resolution to the hanging plot threat from Fantastic Five.  I wouldn't violate that NDA. That guy's scary. 
Read more