[Meeting…] The Green Spider

Spider-Man is, without a doubt, one of the superheroes who have achieved greater renown over the years. Also known as Spider-Man, he began his journey with Stan Lee and Steve Ditko in 1962. His red vigilante mask hid the secret identity of a very young Peter Parker who, however, already displayed unusual scientific knowledge for his age. This allowed him to add to his already extensive repertoire of superhuman powers associated with spiders (ability to adhere hands and feet to horizontal surfaces, enormous strength and agility, a “spider sense” that warned him of all danger, etc.) a technological background, of which his invaluable web launcher stands out, essential when jumping from one building to another and hunting down criminals.

In this section, colleague Martín has already told us about more than one of the characters in this series. A server, on the other hand, is going to go back a little further in time (about seven years before the creation of the American “Wall-Crawler”) to talk about a precursor of the same that saw the light of day in neighboring Mexico. I am referring to The Green Spider, a character created by Enrique Cuadra Abrego.

A pretty typical superhero

The Green Spider is a masked vigilante clad in a somewhat futuristic suit in which green is the predominant color. There are shoulder pads that form a downward curved line at chest level, on the end of which is stamped its arachnid emblem (red like the belt, where he carries the pistols), a pair of bracelets and boots, a kind of skirt or short skirt and a crest crowning the head, all of them yellow and apparently fixed with some kind of rivets. The set is completed with bulky glasses similar to those of a diver. Curiously, on the cover of the first volume the colorists decided to go against the rest of the comic and presented their blue uniform.

Beyond its distinctive appearance, little else is worth highlighting in this section, since the rest of the features are somewhat typical. At the level of physical abilities, we are faced with a hero without any extraordinary power that transcends some remarkable combat skills and agility, skill and inventiveness typical of the average vigilante. He does not hesitate to make the best use of these against all kinds of villains and criminal gangs, although, if necessary, he can use more drastic methods, ending the life of the enemy on occasion. To this is added, as on so many other occasions, a extraordinary deductive lucidity which will lead to the police headquarters of the fictional American city of Royal, with the Inspector Murdoc at the head, to request their help in the most difficult cases. That, and certain scientific skills that I will develop below.

The Mexican “Lanzarredes”

The secret identity of The Green Spider, which we will not know until the second chapter of the first volume, is Steve Harley, a chemist who acts as an inventor. His passion for science is only rivaled by that which he feels for the defense of law and order at all costs, which is why all his inventions are focused on this purpose. Inventions stand out such as a vibrating belt that notifies you when there is any communication from the police headquarters, a kind of aerocycle and, above all, a pair of guns that launch nets as resistant as steel, and that will be crucial for catch the villains. As we can see, this is a precedent for Spider-Man's webs, and one of the main reasons why it is worthy of mention.

As for his personal life, I will simply mention that, although everything seems to indicate that he lives alone, he has a girlfriend named Beth, and that, unlike the woman of Atom Kid, completely ignores his righteous identity.

Conclusion and recommendations

The Green Spider is, in reality, a fairly generic character in that he meets all the clichés of the protagonists of comics of this style. He is a superhero who lacks extraordinary powers, but is extremely skilled in combat and very insightful who uses his scientific knowledge for justice. If it stands out for something, it is for being a “Spider-Man” before el Hombre Araña de Stan Lee y cía.

La Araña Verde es una serie bastante corta. Publicada por la editorial López-Portillo, consta únicamente de ocho números (la mitad de los cuales salieron en gran formato o gigante), y de éstos, sólo los dos primeros son de dominio público de lectura online o descargas en las webs de “abandonware” del cómic, y no son demasiado comunes en el mercado de segunda mano.