Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #4

Jun 23

Jun 23 Amazing Fantasy (vol. 2) #4

The Sting of Defeat

Anya Corozoan and her new allies at Webcorps have just saved her trainer, Miguel Legar from an army of men representing the Sisterhood of thE Wasp. However, as they pull away from the scene, their foes fire a missile at the unmarked black helicopter. Although they evade the missile, the explosion catches the rear-rotor of the helicopter on fire forcing them to make a crash landing. Everyone survives the crash and Miguel orders Ted Manowski and Nina Smith to get Anya to cover and make sure nothing happens to her. After Miguel leaves, a group of Wasps comes flying around the corner and begins descending down on Ted. Anya ignores Nina when she tells her that Ted is expendable and races to his aid. As Ted gets away, Anya prepares to face the approaching Wasps when suddenly the tattoo on her arm begins causing her so much pain she falls to the ground. Thankfully, Miguel comes back and rescues Anya, telling her that she shouldn’t have made such a stupid risk, because if she dies, then Webcorps fails in their mission. Once they are safely on a nearby rooftop, Miguel casts a spell that makes Anya fall asleep.

That next day, at Milton Summers High School, Anya cannot focus on her classes because of everything she learned the night before and wonders what she is getting into. When her friend Lynn asks Anya if she studied for the test they are going to have, Anya’s arm suddenly gives her more pain. Pulling up her sleeve to look at the tattoo, she is certain that it has shifted somehow. At that same moment, Miguel examines his wounds and wonders when things fell apart last night. Casting a spell to replay the incident on the surface of a mirror, Miguel notices Anya screaming in pain and grabbing for her arm and wonders if Anya has awoken.

That afternoon, Anya is playing field hockey and is using a black armband to cover up her tattoo. However, it starts giving her pain again while shouldering another player in the face. This causes the girl’s nose to bleed and she accuses Anya of having metal under the armband. To prove that she wasn’t cheating, Anya takes off the armband revealing what appears to be a normal tattoo. The team captain, Julie Targeton likes the tattoo and the way that Anya plays on the field. After the game, Julie compliments Anya’s skills and tells her that she’ll see her later because she has study hall. By this point, Anya discovers that a strange armor is growing out of the tattoo and covers up and runs to the locker room. There she discovers that the armor has covered her entire right arm. She closes her eyes while trying to focus on making this armor go away when suddenly the phone that was given to her by Webcorps begins to ring. When she goes to answer it, Anya is surprised to see that her arm is now back to normal. It’s Miguel who tells her to meet him after school at Webcorps. When she tells him she needs answers, he tells her he is about to enter an inquiry and that when she arrives he’ll tell her everything. After getting off the phone, he tells Ted to keep the board of directors busy until Anya arrives.

When Anya finally arrives, Miguel brings her into the meeting and before Simon Sanderson can begin, Anya interjects and asks them to explain everything from the beginning as she has no idea what any of this is all about. They explain that Anya is a hunter and the chose partner of Miguel. They, the Spider-Society, have their hunter track down and defeat members of the Sisterhood of the Wasp, enemies to law and order. When she asks why she was chosen, Miguel says that she was born with her powers and that the symbol he tattooed on her arm started activating them. When she asks why she was chosen, Simon Sanderson also has the same question. Miguel tells Anya to wait outside while he deals with the board of directors and their inquiry, promising her that he will provide more answers later. As she leaves, Anya overhears Simon complaining about her age and the fact that they didn’t approve of her being activated. Outside, Anya looks at a row of photos of former members of Webcorps as Miguel pleads his case.[1] He tells them that the selection of the initiate is not a choice they have to make and tells them that now that the latent powers in Anya are being awakened they need to keep her in the fold and train her how to control these powers. The alternative is leaving her to deal with them alone which comes with the risk of her father taking her to a hospital and the authorities poking around their organization looking for answers they’d rather keep secret. With no means of protest, Simon and the other directors have no other choice but to accept Anya into the fold and train her.[2]

Emerging from the meeting, Miguel tells Anya that he convinced the board to allow her to stay. He then tells her that she is to undergo the proper training, telling her to inform her father she’ll be gone for the entire weekend. He tells Anya that her body is polluted and only a difficult training regiment to cleanse her and allow her to utilize her full powers.

Recurring Characters

Araña, Webcorps (Miguel Legar, Nina Smith, Ted Mankowski, Simon Sanderson), Sisterhood of the Wasp, Lynn

Continuity Notes

One of the portraits on the wall depicts a woman wearing the Spider-Woman costume worn by Jessica Drew. Unfortunately, a narrative text box obscures the plaque that identifies the individual’s name. A review of entries in Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Women of Marvel 2005 and Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A-Z #11 confirm that this is Jessica Drew, however her connection to the Spider-Society and what she may have done working for them is yet to be explored.
One of the portraits is of Ezekiel Sims, with a plaque underneath it listing the years 1982-2004. This is to denote that Ezekiel died in Amazing Spider-Man #508. The dates on display here should be considered topical. The year 2004 is the year Amazing Spider-Man #508 was published. Modern readers should interpret this to mean that Ezekiel had been at Webcorps for 22 years prior to his death as he is a character with a normal life span that exists was alive during the Modern Age of the Earth-616 universe.