Spider-girl, Mayday Parker, is probably most known for her fan base. Many people have said in the past that the fan base is the most active and vocal when it comes to the character than any other fan base is for a superhero. The one place where all Spider-girl fans unite to talk about their favorite character and on many occasions saved Spider-girl from cancellation is on the Spider-girl Boards. But a lot of people may ask, “Why are we so dedicated to this character?” The answers starts all the way back in 1998 when What if? #105 came out.
What If? #105 was the first appearance of Spider-girl, which was written by Tom Defalco. In this story of What If #105 Peter quits being Spider-man after a final battle with Green Goblin when May was a little girl. Mary Jane and Peter Parker lived a normal life for many years after Peter retired until May finds out when she is 15 that Peter was Spider-man and she inherits his spider powers. In this issue May finds out more about her father’s past and has to go up against Norman Osborn’s grandson, Normie Osborn.
This issue was only going to be a one shot story. We were never suppose to see Spider-girl again. But too many people loved the story. They wanted to find out what happened to May after What If #105. So, Marvel gave Spider-girl her own series called Spider-girl created by Tom Defalco and Ron Frenz. At first the series was only supposed to be a 12 issue mini series, but because of the fans 
it became an ongoing series. After that there were many times that the series was in danger of getting cancelled, but every single time the fans pulled together and saved Spider-girl from cancellation. In 2006 Spider-girl became in danger of getting cancelled again, but this time the fans were not able to save the series. The series got cancelled with Spider-girl’s 100th issue, which made the series the longest running female solo series for Marvel Comics. Even though the series got cancelled the fans were still determined to bring Spidey back. That is exactly what they did. Marvel decided to bring Spider-girl back in a new series called the Amazing Spider-girl that came out in 2006. The series lasted 30 issues before it got cancelled once again, but Spider-girl still had a chance to say her last “Hoo-Ha” (one of Spider-girl’s most common sayings) when she had some stories in digital comics, a mini series, than in one last issue to say the end…for now.
You guys are probably asking, "Why would fans go to such lengths to save this character?” Some didn’t understand why people were such big fans of a character that didn’t even affect the 616-universe. Spider-girl was a realistic character you can relate to, and with every issue you saw the real challenges of being a hero. We saw many themes in this comic that everyone could relate to like friendship, family, redemption, and salvation. All these things were so important to Spider-girl and she would fight to the death for her friends and family to be safe. She always said that no one dies, and 
she kept to her word. She was a hero unlike any other. With every issue you wanted to know what would happen next in May’s life. We cared about this character and all of the supporting characters that were in the series. The fans not only loved May, but the spporting characters that were in the series also loved her. This was the one series where we could see Mary Jane and Peter get their happily ever after that they deserved. We also saw new supporting characters like Normie Osborn turn from bad to good with the help of May. He now didn’t have to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps and he could make a life for himself. We saw redemption in Kaine, and even though he was a little rough around the edges he still cared and wanted to be a hero. In the last issue of Spider-girl we saw redemption in May’s clone, Mayhem. Mayhem was the total opposite of May. She believed that if killing got the job done, that was exactly what she was going to do. It took Mayhem a lifetime to realize that May was right, that killing was not always the best solution. Spider-girl was always in danger of being cancelled; however, the fans saw all the story possibilities and cared too much to let it get cancelled without putting up a fight.
Even though Spider-girl is officially cancelled I still hope that Spider-girl comes back one day to continue the stories where she left off. Spider-girl would never have been possible without the works of Ron Frenz and Tom Defalco, and their amazing work that they did on the character for 12 years. I believe that this is only the end….for now. 
