SPIDER-GIRL(Earth-78227)
SPIDER-GIRL
(Earth-78227)
Real Name: Betty Brant
Identity/Class: Extradimensional (Earth-78227) human mutate
Occupation: Secretary;
former vigilante
Group Membership: Daily Bugle staff, Spider-Army (Arachnosaur of Earth-99476, Captain Universe/Peter Parker of Earth-13, Old Man Spider/Ezekiel Sims of Earth-4, Prince of Arachne/Peter Parker of Earth-71004, Scarlet Spider/Kaine of Earth-616, Silk/Cindy Moon of Earth-616, SP//dr/Peni Parker of an unidentified reality, Spider-Girl/Anya Corazon of Earth-616, Spider-Girl/May Parker of Earth-982, Spider-Ham/Peter Porker of Earth-25, Spider-Man/Bruce Banner of Earth-70105, Spider-Man/Max Borne of Earth-9500, Spider-Punk/Hobie Brown of Earth-138, Spider-Man/Miles Morales of Earth-1610, Superior Spider-Man/Otto Octavius of Earth-616, Spider-Man/Peter Parker of Earth-616, Spider-Man/Peter Parker of Earth-2301, Spider-Man/Peter Parker of Earth-8351, Spider-Man/Pavitr Prabhakar of Earth-50101, Spider-Man/Ben Reilly of Earth-94, Spider-Man/Takuya Yamashiro of Earth-51778, Spider-Man J/Sho Amano of Earth-7041 Spider-Man 2099/Miguel O'Hara of Earth-928, Spider-Monkey/Peter Parker of Earth-8101 Spider-UK/Billy Braddock of Earth-833, Spider-Woman/Ashley Barton of Earth-807128, Spider-Woman/Jessica Drew of Earth-616, Spider-Woman/Gwen Stacy of Earth-65)
Affiliations: Jonah Jameson, Peter Parker (later Spider-Man)
Enemies: Inheritors of Earth-001 (Jennix, Morlun, Solus, Verna), Verna's Hounds of Earth-001 (Rhino, Hammerhead, Ox), various unidentified non-powered criminals
Known Relatives: (Presumably the same as her Earth-616 counterpart): Eleonore Brant (mother), Bennett Brant (brother), Daniel (last name unrevealed, nephew)
Aliases: "Spider-Lady" (suggested by Peter Parker)
Base of Operations: Earth-8847 (place of death)
formerly Central Park, New York, Earth-13
formerly Queens, New York (mobile
throughout New York City, as least in Manhattan and Queens);
presumably born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (as her
Earth-616 counterpart was).
First Appearance: What If I#7 (February, 1978)
Powers/Abilities: Spider-Girl was superhumanly strong (presumably Class 10) and swift. She could cling to and scale walls and other surfaces, and she had a "spider sense," warning her of danger.
Height: 5'7"
Weight: 125 lbs. (per the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe;
but, seems a bit light given her height...maybe more like 135-140 lbs.?)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Brown
History:
(What If I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Betty was always queasy around spiders.
(What If I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Jonah Jameson promised a nice spread to "his close, personal friend" Dr. Eric Schwinner for his radiation presentation. Jameson brought his secretary, Betty Brant (see comments).
(What If I#7) - As Dr. Eric Schwinner of General Techtronics demonstrated a radiation controlling device, Jameson took Betty by the hand and pushed to the forefront of the crowd, shoving Peter Parker aside. Peter was intrigued by Betty, and their eye contact led Peter to edge his way behind Betty. When the irradiated spider dropped down, it landed on and bit Betty. She nearly fainted, and Peter caught her and grabbed the dying spider (which he kept to study at home). As she revived, Betty worried she had made a spectacle of herself. Peter suggested that maybe some coffee would help her since she was still shaken up. Jameson initially assumed Parker to be a masher, but after Parker suggested he give Betty the day off to recover (in front of a crowd of potential subscribers), he reluctantly agreed, though he quietly told her to come in to work the next day an hour early.
(What If I#7 - BTS) - Peter and Betty introduced themselves.
(What If I#7) - Betty happily accompanied Peter for coffee,
and each noticed a connection between themselves. They hit it off right away,
though Betty reacted negatively to both Peter's offer to protect her from
further spider bites and bringing up her publisher. Frustrated with Jameson as a
brash, feelingless, loudmouthed, boorish, slave-driver, she smacked the table,
shattering it. Peter rationalized this to those around by agreeing that she was
a karate expert, and then told the shop owner that Betty was part of a big
publicity campaign for the Daily Bugle and that he could send a bill to J. Jonah
Jameson himself.
Though Betty worried Jameson would fire for her with this,
Peter instead convinced her to let him come back to her apartment to test out
his theory that her strength had come from the spider bite. After she confirmed
her strength, as well as demonstrating leaping and wall-crawling abilities,
Peter announced his confirmed theory to Betty. Noting he planned to study the
spider further, he convinced Betty she now had a responsibility to help others,
even disguising herself as one of those "long underwear characters we used to
read about in comic books"; though Betty was initially reluctant, especially due
to her fear of hurting someone with her super-strength, Peter reminded her of
her other abilities besides strength, and also told her he could create some
gadgets she could use instead of her strength. He further added that he could
make them a small fortune on the side, taking exclusive photographs of the
"Amazing Spider-Lady."
(What If I#7) - While Peter designed a pair of web-shooters for Betty, Betty designed a costume and decided that "Spider-Lady" made her sound like a middle-aged woman. Realizing a mask could hide her blushing space, she decided to let loose a bit.
Soon, she was swinging on webs through the city as the Amazing Spider-Girl, and her appearance was soon familiar to law-breakers.
(What If I#7 - BTS) - Considering Spider-Girl a menace, Jonah Jameson started a campaign in the Daily Bugle to run "the Menacing Spider-Girl" out of town.
(What If I#7) - When a criminal taunted her that he wasn't worried because she was too scared to use her super-strength, she webbed up his gun/hand and feet and left him for the police, while Peter got pictures of her in action.
(What If I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Peter and Betty went out on a date.
(What If I#7) - While Jameson went off on a tirade about
Spider-Girl being both a menace and wearing an indecent costume, Betty took a
message from the mayor, telling him Jameson was in a conference. Peter and Betty
enjoyed their private secret until Jonah told them to dig up some dirt on that
Spider-Girl hussy. Though she had been inactive as of late, Jonah ordered them
to find her, "before I remember that broken table!"
Later, Spider-Girl demonstrated her powers as Peter took
pictures. Afterwards, as Peter suggested she get changed and they have a date, a
man ran past after having stolen a payroll. Spider-Girl tried to stop him with a
web, but found she was out. Afraid to use her super-strength against anyone,
Betty allowed him to run off; when the security guard chastised her, she
apologized, but Peter reminded the guard it was his job to have stopped the man.
He led Betty away.
(What If I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Betty got changed and then they headed to Peter's house, where his aunt was making roast beef.
(What If I#7) - As Peter and Betty approached his house, they saw a police car out front, and a policeman informed them that Peter's uncle had been fatally shot by a burglar, and that he was currently trapped in the old Acme Warehouse.
Changing into her costume, Spider-Girl traveled to the Acme Warehouse, where she confronted and overpowered the burglar, using just enough strength to knock him out without harming him. However, when she saw his face clearly, she realized it was the man she could have stopped before.
Guilt-ridden, Betty left the burglar webbed up for the police, and she ran to Peter and told her the truth. Overcome by the pain of knowing she could have done something, she decided to retire, because as Betty Brant, she wouldn't have to deal with any of that. She asked Peter to take her home.
(What If I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Returning home, Peter studied the irradiated spider he had kept, realizing it had been the source of Captain Spider's powers and eventually creating a formula from the last of the spider's venom. Empowered, Peter adopted the costume and alias of Spider-Man and created a pair of web-shooters and his webbing formula to complete the identity.
(Amazing Spider-Man III#9 - BTS) - Betty was one of many alternative Spider-Men contacted by Billy Braddock, the Spider-Man UK of Earth-833. Braddock explained that beings called the Inheritors were massacring and feeding on Spider-Totems throughout the multiverse. To counter this, he was gathering an army to defeat the Inheritors. Betty decided to join UK on Earth-13.
(Amazing Spider-Man III#9) - Dressed as Spider-Girl, Betty was present when several spiders reached Earth-13, also known as the safe zone as it was protected by a Spider-Man who possessed the Enigma Force.
(Amazing Spider-Man III#10) - Betty was present when Spider-UK proposed the Peter Parker from Earth-616 should lead the Spider-Army. After accepting, Peter Parker took three teams to confront a second team of Spiders (that of Otto Octavius the Superior Spider-Man), Betty stayed behind at Earth-13. Sometime later she witnessed the arrival of Superior Spider-Man (Otto Octavius) who had agreed to join the Spider-Army along with his former Superior Spider-Army.
(Amazing Spider-Man III#11) - When Earth-616's Peter Parker and Otto Octavius fought over leadership of the Spider-Army, Betty watched the fight. Eventually, Parker won and sent several teams on a mission, severely depleting the number of Spiders in the Safe Zone. Moments after the teams departed, the Zone was attacked by the Inheritors; Jennix, Morlun and Solus. Before any Betty could act, Morlun lunged towards Captain Spider's neck, draining his energy and killing him. In the following battle, not even the Cosmic Spider-Man's power proved sufficient to defeat Solus who killed him, along with Spider-Monkey of Earth-8101.
(Amazing Spider-Man III#12) - Betty continued to fight Solus who still succeeded in killing the Prince of Arachne (of Earth-71004) and Arachnosaur (of Earth-99476). When things seemed at their worst the Spider-Army was joined by three new alternate Earth Spider-Men, all recruited from Japan. Takuya Yamashiro (of Earth-51778) used his giant robot Leopardon to attack Solus. Betty was tossed aside by the sheer force of the machine's assault. Sadly, Leopardon was ripped apart by Solus, forcing the Spiders to flee to Earth-8847, an Earth inhabited by dinosaurs. The place didn't prove safe for too long. The Inheritor Verna and her hounds located the Spiders and moved in. During the fight Verna killed Betty, SP//dr (Peni Parker of Earth-TRN451) grabbed Betty's lifeless body while the Spiders escaped to the one reality the Inheritors couldn't follow them.
Comments: Created by Don Glut, Rick Hoberg, and Sam Grainger.
I didn't list others in attendance at the Science Exhibit that Betty didn't encounter. We know the Thousand (Carl King) was there, and also Jessica Jones/Cambell and Silk (Cindy Moon).
In Reality-616, Betty Brant did not become
Jameson's secretary until after Amazing Spider-Man#2, which was well after Peter
got bitten by the spider. Perhaps in this reality, Eleonore was out sick or
otherwise incapacitated, and/or Betty took her place earlier. In Reality-616, Eleonore Brant died in the
first couple years of Spider-Man's career; she may have died during the same
time in Reality-78227, but all we know about this timeline is up to the point of
Betty's retirement and Peter Parker taking up the Spider-Man role.
I always thought it odd that pretty much no
one remembered Peter (or Betty, or whoever) getting bitten by a spider at the
radiation exhibit just days to weeks before Spider-Man (or Spider-Girl or
whoever) started showing up.
So, feeling guilty about not acting when she could have, she chose to never help again...not the best logic, but it seemed more like she just couldn't handle the stress. Regardless, Betty never lost her powers, so she could have used them again if she felt she need to do so...
Unless otherwise stated, everyone mentioned in this profile is the counterpart native to Reality-78227.
Profile by Snood & MarvellousLuke
CLARIFICATIONS:
Spider-Girl should be distinguished from:
images: (without ads)
What If I#7, p19, pan1 (main image)
What If I#7, p14, pan4 (bitten)
What If I#7, p17, pan1 (testing her powers)
Amazing Spider-Man III#9, p18, pan1 (Spider-Army)
Amazing Spider-Man III#12, p15, pan1 (death)
Appearances:
What If I#7 (February, 1978) - Don Glut (writer), Rick Hoberg
(penciler), Sam Grainger (inker), Roy Thomas (editor and concept
designer)
Amazing Spider-Man III#9 (January, 2015) - Dan Slott (writer), Olivier Coipel (pencils, inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man III#10 (February, 2015) - Dan Slott (writer),
Olivier Coipel (pencils), Wade von Grawbadger (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man III#11 (February, 2015) - Dan Slott (writer),
Olivier Coipel (pencils, inks), Wade von Grawbadger, John Livesay,
Victor Olazaba, Mark Morales (inkers), Nick Lowe (editor)
Amazing Spider-Man III#12 (March, 2015) - Dan Slott (writer), Giuseppe Camuncoli (pencils), Cam Smith (inks), Nick Lowe (editor)
Last updated: 02/01/15
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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