Death Be Not Proud…

Spider-Girl has arrived at City College where the Fantastic Four are in the middle of a battle with the Red Hulk. In the library, Anya has come across a horrific site, her father has been seriously injured by falling debris. The Invisible Woman warns Spider-Girl that the Hulk is not in control of himself but she doesn’t care and tries to attack him. Luckily, the Invisible Woman pulls Spider-Girl away with an invisible force field before the Hulk can seriously hurt her.

Anya instead returns to her father’s side, unaware that a mysterious man is watching the battle. The Fantastic Four continue to attack the Red Hulk, who is spouting nonsense about ravens. That’s when Mister Fantastic orders Spider-Girl to get people to safety. However, the Red Hulk quickly knocks out the Thing and begins following Spider-Girl.

At first, Spider-Girl tries to get away from the Red Hulk. However, when she can’t shake him she decides to stand her ground. Her attacks have no effect on the Hulk who responds by picking up a car to throw at her. He is unaware that there is a driver still inside, but the screams from the man’s daughter prompt him to put the car down. While the Hulk is confused, Spider-Girl throws rocks at him until he starts chasing her again. She lures the Red Hulk out to the pier and when the Hulk lands in the water he disappears from sight.

That’s when the Fantastic Four catch up with Spider-Girl, and they tell her that they will follow the Red Hulk from here. That’s when the reality of the situation hits Spider-Girl and she walks off without another word. The Fantastic Four, however, are too busy dealing with their continued hunt for the Red Hulk to figure out why. Anya then heads back to City College just in time to see her father being loaded into an ambulance. An ETM on the scene doesn’t have a very good prognosis, saying that Gil Corazón is suffering from severe internal bleeding. Anya rushes to the hospital where she changes into her street clothes and checks in. By this time her father has died and she has to identify the body.

Anya returns home, unsure if she is ever going to be Spider-Girl again. Her teammate, Rikki Barnes, tries to contact her by phone but she doesn’t answer. She is then visited by Susan Richards, but Anya ignores her knocks. Retreating to her bedroom, Anya then packs away her Spider-Girl costume. Later, at the funeral, Anya is comforted by Rikkie and her other friend Rocky Flint. However, their attempts to empathize fall on deaf ears, as Anya believes nobody can know how she feels.

Later, as Spider-Girl, Anya comes across a romantic dinner set up on a rooftop and in a fit of rage trashes it. When the couple who set this up comes upstairs, Anya apologies blaming the damage on a super-villain battle. She then returns to her apartment where she puts away her costume again. That’s when Rocky Flint comes over to make Anya some food. She also has come to talk about how she lost her mother. The tragedy happened three years ago.[2] At the time, Rocky’s mother was working as a bike courier. While on a delivery she was caught in the middle of a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin. During the battle, some of the Goblin’s pumpkin bombs went wild and her mother sacrificed her own life shoving a mother and her young child out of harm’s way.

Rocky concludes her tale by saying that after her mother died she didn’t eat for days, lost a dangerous amount of weight, and ended up in the hospital. Still, she views Spider-Man as a hero because he saved lots of people that day, just not her mother. Rocky then tells Anya that she is not alone and they hug. Neither of them are aware that Anya’s apartment has been bugged and a man is watching them from his computer. Speaking to nobody in particular, this man assures Spider-Girl that she is most certainly not alone.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Girl, Red Hulk, Fantastic Four (Mister Fantastic, Invisible Woman, Human Torch, Thing), Rocky Flint, Rikki Barnes. Raven Society (Kurt Godwin), Gil Corazón (corpse), (in flashback) Spider-Man, Green Goblin

Continuity Notes

1. The Marvel Chronology Project places this flashback as happening during the events of Amazing Spider-Man #97. However, this doesn’t gel with the Sliding Timescale. Spider-Fan.org however, places this flashback as happening during the events of Spider-Man #98. It’s my opinion that this is a more accurate assessment. See below.

Flashback Chronology

As stated above, the MCP believes Rocky’s flashback takes place circa Amazing Spider-Man #97. However, she states that the battle took place three years ago. Per the Sliding Timescale, Spider-Girl (vol. 2) #2 takes place during “year thirteen” of the Modern Age. Amazing Spider-Man #97 took place during “year three”.

Per the Sliding Timescale “three years” prior to Spider-Girl (vol. 2) #2 would be “year ten” which includes comics published between November 1997 through October 2001.

Spider-Fan on the other hand places this flashback as happening circa Spider-Man #98. This actually fits the Sliding Timescale.