DeFalco and Frenz get away from the intricate, character-driven plotting and the over-the-top, fun action to focus on a more grounded issue, and given that this title targets a younger audience, I think it's a good idea. There's just one problem: it's far too heavy handed. The afterschool-special tone is overdone, and there's some redundancy in the storytelling as well. But what may be the most frustrating aspect of the book is the fact that the reader is led to believe a completely different -- and more important -- character is struck down, and it turns out to be a complete red herring that really serves no purpose save to lessen the impact of the real conflict.
May Parker's life as Spider-Girl is really beginning to take its toll. She's walking around with a cast on her arm (the result of the events of Last Hero Standing), and her grades are falling thanks to the distractions of super-hero life. May hasn't been able to spend as much time with her friends, and she discovers that a couple of them really needed her. As May visits them at a local hospital, her anger begins to boil over, as does her guilt for having failed them.
Frenz and Buscema's work certainly conveys the youth and energy of the title character incredibly well, and their cartoony, over-the-top styles drive home the emotions of the story effectively. But the exaggerated tone of the work really isn't a good fit for the subject matter. DeFalco's script explores the nature of domestic abuse, and a more grounded, quieter visual style is really what's needed. It's too bad Pat Olliffe didn't handle this issue. His softer style certainly would have been better suited to the task. I don't take issue with Frenz's and Buscema's skills as storytellers. It was just kind of like watching Ozzy Osbourne perform when the marquee has Tori Amos listed as the main act.
DeFalco offers a strong education on the nature and cycle of violence within relationships, and for those readers unfamiliar with the issue and its depth, this should really open their eyes. But the writer wields the information like a weapon. There's no subtlety here, and the convenient appearance of a counsellor from a transition house sucks a lot of emotion out of the story in favor of bombarding the reader with pure information.
What really bothered me about this issue, though, is the fact that the victim in the main plot looks exactly like the title character's mother. Anyone with a passing familiarity with this title or Spider-Man's corner of the Marvel Universe, upon seeing this cover, will believe that Spider-Girl is mourning the loss of her mother. The opening scene even had a tense sscene between May and Mary-Jane that reinforces that impression. And it's completely unnecessary. 5/10
