Across the multiverse, several characters call themselves or have called themselves ‘Spider-Girl’. For example, Anya Corazon (reading order here) uses the codename since 2010. But one of the most famous ‘Spider-Girl’ is May “Mayday” Parker, from the MC2 (Marvel Comics 2) continuity — or Earth-982.
Created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, May Parker is the teenage daughter of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson. She has made her first appearance in a What if? #105 story published in February 1998 before becoming the star of her own ongoing title.
Marvel Comics 2 was then an imprint depicting the events taking place in the alternative timeline presented in the What If? issue. The events are the same as the main 616 continuity until the end of Clone Saga with the issue Spider-Man #75, in which Peter and Mary Jane’s baby daughter dies.
In the MC2, Peter and Mary Jane were reunited with their baby daughter by Kaine, who found the child living with Alison Mongraine, the con artist who had kidnapped the baby on instruction from the Green Goblin.
The Spider-Girl series picks up in the future when Mayday is a teenager. She began developing versions of her father’s spider-powers when she was 15, and she decides to take on crime-fighting.
To discover more about Spidey’s daughter from Earth-982, here is the May “Mayday” Parker Reading Order!
May “Mayday” Parker Reading Order
Spider-Girl (1998 – 2006)
Since 2018, Marvel re-releases the first Spider-Girl series (and maybe more after, who knows?) in the Complete Collection. The collection is for the moment incomplete, but this reading order will be updated with new releases in the future. In the meantime, you can enjoy the first Mayday Parker adventures in which, per Marvel, she faces “threats old and new – from the Venom symbiote and Kaine, to Crazy Eight and the Dragon King – and meet some of the incredible faces of the future Marvel Universe, like Darkdevil, Wild Thing, the Fantastic Five and the newest roster of the mighty Avengers!”.
- Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 1
Collects What If? (1989) #105, Spider-Girl (1998) #½, #1-15, Spider-Girl Annual #1 (1999) - Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 2
Collects Spider-Girl (1998) #16-32 - Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 3
Collects Spider-Girl (1998) #33-50. - Spider-Girl: The Complete Collection Vol. 4 (release date: April 2022)
Collects Spider-Girl (1998) #51-67 - Spider-Girl #68-100
Not collected yet in this Complete Collection. Waiting for more info.
During this series, Spider-Girl made a few optional appearances in other MC2 titles:
- After Spider-Girl #16: Fantastic Five (1999) #3
- After Spider-Girl #17 & 22: The Buzz #1 & The Buzz #2-3, collected in Spider-Girl Presents The Buzz & Darkdevil
- After Spider-Girl #88: Last Hero Standing #1-5 collected in Last Hero Standing
- After Spider-Girl #100: Last Planet Standing #1-5 collected in Last Planet Standing
The Amazing Spider-Girl (2006 – 2009)
Following the cancellation of Spider-Girl, the book was relaunched as The Amazing Spider-Girl, still written by Tom DeFalco and penciled by Ron Frenz. May tries to live a normal life after having to quit being Spider-Girl, but it all soon changes when the Hobgoblin poses a threat.
- The Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 1: Whatever Happened to the Daughter of Spider-Man?
Collects Amazing Spider-Girl #0-6. - The Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 2: Comes the Carnage!
Collects Amazing Spider-Girl #7-12 - The Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 3: Mind Games
Collects Amazing Spider-Girl #13-18 - The Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 4: Brand New May
Collects Amazing Spider-Girl #19-24 - The Amazing Spider-Girl Vol. 5: Maybreak
Collects Amazing Spider-Girl #25-30
During this series, Spider-Girl made a few optional appearances in:
- After The Amazing Spider-Girl #1 & #5: Avengers Next #1-2 & #3-5, collected in Avengers Next: Rebirth
- After The Amazing Spider-Girl #19: American Dream #4-5, collected in American Dream: Beyond Courage
The Spectacular Spider-Girl (2009 & 2010)
After 30 issues, Marvel canceled Amazing Spider-Girl but was still interested in telling stories with Mayday Parker. This period is a little bit complicated, in terms of publication.
To read about Mayday, you need to turn your attention towards the title (The Amazing) Spider-Man Family, then Web of Spider-Man.
You can first read the short comic strip series Mr. and Mrs. Spider-Man, taking place shortly after Kaine rescued baby Mayday. It bridges the gap between DeFalco’s run on The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Girl (published in Amazin Spider-Man Family #1-4).
Then, Spectacular Spider-Girl Vol. 1 resumed Mayday’s story, for a time in The Amazing Spider-Man Family (#5-8), then in Web of Spider-Man. The title is then relaunched with a four limited series, Spectacular Spider-Girl (vol. 2), and one last Spider girl tale, Spider-Girl: The End.
All of these are collected in two trade paperbacks:
- Spectacular Spider-Girl: Who Killed Gwen Reilly?
Collects Spider-Girl #0 and material from Amazing Spider-Man Family #1-8 & Web Of Spider-Man #1-4. - Spectacular Spider-Girl: The Last Stand
Collects Spectacular Spider-Girl #1–4, Spider-Girl: The End, and material from Web of Spider-Man #5–7
Spider-Verse (2014-2015)
It’s been a few years without news about Mayday Parker, but she’s back in the big spidey event by Dan Slott, Spider-Verse! Maybe you watched the animated movie. It’s a bit different in the comic book, where all the Spider-Men were attacked by Morlun and his family, the Inheritors, who feed on Spider-men’s force. For more details about the story and how to read everything, go check out our Spider-Verse Reading order! (it’s a great story!)
For all the Mayday’s appearances during this event, you just have to read the main trade paperback:
- Spider-verse
Collects Amazing Spider-Man (2014) #7-15, Superior Spider-Man #32-33, Spider-Verse #1-2, Spider-Verse Team-Up #1-3, Scarlet Spiders #1-3, Spider-Woman (2014) #1-4, Spider-Man 2099 (2014) #6-8 And Material From Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Guardians Of The Galaxy) #1.- Also available in Spider-Verse/Spider-Geddon Omnibus
Spider-Woman and the Web-Warriors (2015-)
At the end of Spider-Verse (in Amazing Spider-Man Vol.3 #15), May decided to take on her father’s costume and rename herself Spider-Woman. this transition is explored in the Spider-Island miniseries, a part of the 2015 Secret Wars storyline (not to be confused with the 2011 event)
- Spider-Island: Warzones!
Collecting Spider-Island (2015) #1-5.
After, May joined the best spider-team ever in Web Warriors, which goes on protecting realities who had lost their Spiders after the restoration of the Multiverse.
- Web Warriors of the Spider-Verse Vol. 1: Electroverse
Collects Web Warriors #1-5, Amazing Spider-Man #1 (Web Warriors story). - Web Warriors of the Spider-Verse Vol. 2: Spiders Vs.
Collects Web Warriors #6-11.
May was also among the Warriors of the Great Web when the Inheritors found a way out of their prison world and wanted revenge on the Spider-Army. She teamed up with Anya Corazon, the Prime Universe Spider-Girl, and Annie May Parker, A.K.A. Spiderling during this event known as Spider-Geddon, a direct follow-up to Spider-Verse. See our Spider-Geddon reading order for more information!
- Spider-Geddon: Edge of Spider-Geddon
Collects Edge of Spider-Geddon #1-4, Superior Octopus #1. - Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Geddon
Collects Spider-Geddon #0-5, Spider-Geddon: Vault of Spiders #1-2. - Spider-Geddon: Covert Ops
Collects Spider-Force #1-3, Spider-Girls #1-3.
All the Spider-Geddon-related stories are also collected in the Spider-Verse/Spider-Geddon Omnibus
What to read after?
Why not turn your attention towards other members of the Spider-Verse?
- Anna-May “Annie” Parker is the daughter of Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson-Parker from the Renew Your Vows continuity, which sprung out of the 2015 Secret Wars event. She is known as Spiderling.
- Like said above, Anya Corazon is the Spider-Girl from Prime Earth since 2010. She was just called Araña before. You can discover more about her in Araña: Here comes the Spider-Girl.
- Still a young character, as she made her full first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #4, in July 2014, Silk has her own reading order.
- Likewise, Spider-Gwen first appeared with the first Spider-verse event.The Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 has also her own reading order.