#10 Spider-Girl#89: Sandra Healy Put in the Hospital In one of the series best moments in addressing real world issues, May dealt with her classmate Sandra, whose boyfriend was clearly abusing her. May tried to intervene and help, but Sandra wasn't look for aid and brushed her off. A few issues later, things get dark as May's best friend Courtney gets beaten up by Sandra's boyfriend for defending her; but that's nothing compared to the beating poor Sandra endures.
The good news: Sandra does ultimately get out of her destructive relationship and becomes decently-adjusted in later appearances.
#9 Last Hero Standing#5: Captain America is the Last Hero Standing The titular Last Hero Standing of this event mini-series turned out to be Captain America himself. Tom DeFalco understood Cap's fighting spirit and he was the obvious hero to give it all for his world; Cap stands up against Loki and a brainwashed Hulk to save the Earth, then passes on, assured that his allies will carry on the good fight.
#8 Spider-Girl#81: Spider-Man Visits the Avengers When Electro asks the Avengers to bring Spider-Man to him for his help, Spider-Girl delivers the message. Visiting Avengers Mansion with her father, May is shocked to see the way the Avengers fawn over him. From her friends' reaction, May finally begins to see the impact Spider-Man had on the world; she couldn't see it because to her, Peter Parker isn't Spider-Man, the legendary heroic crimefighter; he's her stodgy old goofy dad.
#7 Spider-Girl#53: Meagyn Brady Disappears Using a plot similar to a well-known episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Meagyn is an unexceptional classmate of May's who turns invisible when people ignore her. It begins after her father's death when her mother's grief causes her to slight Meagyn. Meagyn finally gets to make something of herself when, by chance, she helps Spider-Girl against one of her enemies. But back home with her mother, she finds the story of her exploits runs up against the same blank wall.
#6 Spider-Girl#27: May talks down Normie Osborn I already mentioned this on Tuesday, but it bears repeating. Using compassion, May reaches Normie through his manic behaviour, convincing him to give up being the Green Goblin. She only resorts to this because she lacks the power to fight back, but it turns out to be the right move; losing her super powers brings May closer to the normal people around her, making her better able to see Normie's real issues.
#5 Spider-Girl#17: Peter Parker Returns to the Webs This made Tuesday's discussion too; in what was definitely the series' most awesome moment, Peter Parker takes up his costume to try and save a man's life, in spite of his missing leg. Peter would make brief returns to his costume throughout the series (as seen above), but this was the first time and it had a real impact; Peter was so against May's costumed career that he seemed to be against super heroes altogether. This moment was the reminder that at his core, Peter Parker was still a hero.
#4 Also in Spider-Girl#17: Darkdevil is Mysterious As mentioned on Wednesday, Darkdevil's backstory isn't that great. But this moment with the first real hint of who he is was electrifying when it first came out; all he did was call Spider-Man by name, and immediately the rumour mill started running.
#3 A-Next#11: Thunderstrike Meets Stormtrooper Battling Nazi counterparts of the Avengers on an alternate Earth, A-Next's Thunderstrike faces Stormtrooper, a twisted version of his father, the original Thunderstrike. Young Kevin defeats Stormtrooper, but it's too much for him; no matter what this man might have done, it's still the father that he lost as a child restored to him.
#2 A-Next#7: The Last Days of the Avengers In a dramatic flashback scene, Jarvis describes how the Avengers were disbanded. He relates how all of the Avengers journeyed to an alternate Earth, but only six returned. Quietly, Iron Man offers this recompense: they won.
#1 A-Next#3: J2 Runs From Battle After seeing his ally Mainframe torn in half by the Hulk and Sub-Mariner, J2 is in no mood to stick around! Despite having the power of the Juggernaut rendering him invulnerable, beneath it all Zane Yama is a scared kid. He's just seen his teammate killed by the Hulk! It's too much for him and he bolts from the fight, abandoning his teammates. This was a great moment, giving J2 a normal human reaction, albeit one you seldom see from heroes.
Mainframe turns out to be okay, for reasons explained when his origin finally gets out; J2 does eventually return to the fight and holds his own against the Hulk.
Finally, some final kudos to the MC2 creators: Tom DeFalco, Larry Hama, Sean McKeever, Ron Frenz, Pat Olliffe, Ron Lim, Chris Batista, Casey Jones, Al Williamson, Sal Buscema, Todd Nauck, Colleen Coover, Paul Ryan and all of the rest; together, for 12 years, you've entertained me with quality super hero stories. Thank you all!
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