It’s not unusual for mainstream newspapers to get some of the facts wrong when they write about comics. “Anime” and “manga” are often used interchangeably, characters are credited to the wrong creator or publisher, and publication dates get messed up.
But London’s Evening Standard charts new territory today: It introduces an eight-year-old character as a brand-new concept. Apparently, the newspaper thinks the (re)launch of Amazing Spider-Girl #1 means the debut of a new character.
“Fans who pick up the next Spidey comic book will find the wall-crawling crimefighter has been given a helping hand in the form of Spider-Girl,” the newspaper writes. “May Parker, Spider-Girl’s alter ego, is actually the secret daughter of Peter Parker who became Spider-Man after he was bitten by a radioactive spider.”
“Secret daughter”? That sounds so seedy, like that “Sins Past” storyline.
But the Evening Standard thinks Marvel may be onto something with this whole “girl superhero” thing: “With Tomb Raider star Lara Croft currently leading the way in the female hero stakes, bosses at Marvel are predicting that Spider-Girl can be an equally big hit with Spidey readers.”
July 24th, 2006 at 2:21 pm
Wonder what the newspaper would do with the black costumed May Paker? would they think it was a new suit??
July 24th, 2006 at 2:30 pm
At least they don’t think it’s spider-man with a sex-change operation. Although that would make an interesting comic…
July 24th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
I read comics and I didn’t know there was such a character as Spider-Girl…
July 24th, 2006 at 5:05 pm
But you’re not writing a story in your paper about her, nor did you interview a “Marvel spokesman” about the character within the last week or so.
One wonders how much of a “comic book expert” Elliot James really is, considering he also calls Batwoman the “first ever lesbian superhero” and thinks Spider-Girl is designed to be sexy when really all she’s doing is wearing her dad’s clothes.
Though Spider-Man is kind of sexy, now that you think about it.
July 24th, 2006 at 5:48 pm
“Lara Croft” is “leading the charge” of a group of hot new heroines? Hey, maybe he’s not out of date… maybe this is just an 8-year old story…
July 25th, 2006 at 2:55 am
Well, you guys were wrong about the newspaper. It wasn’t the Evening Standard, it was the London edition of Metro. It says as much in the article.
I think that makes it quits.
July 25th, 2006 at 6:07 am
Well, you guys were wrong about the newspaper. It wasn’t the Evening Standard, it was the London edition of Metro. It says as much in the article.
I think that makes it quits.
I’m not following…the original article is from the London Metro, yes, but it’s being shown in the Evening Standard.
I admit I don’t know much, anything really, about the journalistic world, but I’d imagine that when a publication, in this case the Evening Standard, displays an article (regardless of the original source), it is accepting accountability for the accuracy and content of the article.
So I fail to see how that “makes it quits”.
July 25th, 2006 at 7:15 am
Dear Americans,
Please check your cultural misconceptions at the door. The Evening Standard is an English tabloid and Metro is a free rag. Readers don’t expect either of them to be accurate sources of news even about London,
Yours sincerely,
A Brit
July 25th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Ha!
July 25th, 2006 at 9:52 am
Metro is a free sheet that clips its news from press releases. It doesn’t do a great deal of investigative reporting beyond that. If they’re saying that Spidergirl’s new, that’s probably because Marvel are telling them that she is.
And, to be frank, the chances are that nobody on their staff has ever heard of her before. Spidergirl must sell, what, 1,000 copies per issue in the UK?
July 25th, 2006 at 10:02 am
Metro was the “newspaper” that stirred the Batwoman press release into hate quotes from a pro-gay group and illustrated with fan porn. They are not just copying down press releases; they actively rewrite the facts to give the story more punch.