HONOLULU (KHON2) — Look out New York — and Hawaii. There’s a new Spider-Hero in town. Just released this week, Marvel Comic’s latest character. Her name? Spider-Girl. And she’s complicated, powerful and better yet, she’s Hawaii-born.
She’s fierce. She’s fearless and bringing a fresh twist on classic Spidey vibes. Marvel’s new Spider-Girl is officially here and she’s creating a buzz.
“It’s cool because it does bring awareness to the Hawaiian culture itself,” said Stig Lapoint, a comic book fan.
This Next-Gen web slinger has roots in Hawaii. Her secret identity is Makawalu Akana and has a dark past that’s unlike any Spider hero before her.
“She’s a protege of a famous Daredevil villain called ‘Bullseye,’ and she’s breaking away from that in the series and trying to become a proper hero,” said David Nakayama, a veteran cover artist who created the cover art for the debut issue.
That’s right, Spider-Girl didn’t start out trying to save the day. Her superpower is being able to copy other superpowers.
“I mean, that’s literally the reason I signed on to do the project in the first place. They told me, Spider-Girl, she’s Hawaiian. I’m like, Yes, you got me. I’m in,” Nakayama said.
David says the challenge was to capture both power and personality in a single image.
“She’s of two worlds, right? Like she’s from Hawaii, but she’s now fighting crime in New York, like a proper Spider person. So we wanted to capture that duality, right?” Nakayama said. “She’s also a youthful spider character, right? She’s not Spider-Man, she’s Spider-Girl. So, you know, putting in things like little plushies and tassels in her hair is something my daughter would wear. That’s kind of the youthful energy we wanted to communicate,”
The new ongoing Spider-Girl series is written by Torunn Gronbekk, known for her work with Thor and Venom.
In a statement from Marvel, Spider-Girl she said “eagerly jumps into fights others would think better of” and “her arrival has definitely caught the attention of the criminal underworld… but maybe for the not the reason one would think.”
“You know, superhero women who are superheroes, has become much more popular in the last, you know, 20-25, years. And I think that’s great. So that that hopefully will be a new crowd younger female readers who will get into comics,” said Charlie Whitesell, owner of Other Realms comic book store.
Can Spider-Girl truly leave her villainous past behind and make it as a hero? You’ll have to read it to see. The debut issue is on shelves now.
David Nakayama will be signing copies of the debut issue on June 14 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Other Realms located on Nimitz Hwy in Iwilei.