Spinnerette is a webcomic produced by Krakow Studios that updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It's written by Krazy Krow note Real name:Sean Lindsay and, unusually, has three artists — Walter Gustavo Gomez, who's done the bulk of the work, Fernando Furukawa, who's done two chapters, and Rocio Zucchi, who has done two chapters as well.Mild-mannered lab assistant Heather Brown was forced to clean up the lab by her boss one night when, due to a Freak Lab Accident with a genetic infusion chamber, Heather gained the powers of a spider, including superstrength, shooting web out of her lower back (not her butt), and most prominently four extra arms. With these powers Heather decides to fight the forces of evil as the costumed superhero Spinnerette, while hiding her secret identity (and extra arms) from the citizens of Columbus, Ohio.Spinnerette is not alone in her endeavors. Helping her out is her roommate Sahira, who acts as her Secret Keeper, seamstress, and voice of reason. There is also the local superhero team of Tiger, a huge superstrong man, and Mecha Maid, a power-armour maid.Spinnerette is largely an Affectionate Parody of Superhero stories (most prominently Spider-Man, of course), showing Heather's forays into the world of superheroism and the many problems that can come with it. Humor is largely derived from Heather jumping headfirst into superheroics without any forethought, and the problems that causes. But it's an upbeat comic— Heather's many troubles never get her down.
Adult Fear: After Tiger's wife had made him promise not to be a superhero a gunman attacked the school his daughters attended — and his wife wasn't able to contact them. While they turned out to be safe, for one gut-wrenching moment Tiger faced a parent's worst nightmare.
Affably Evil: Dr. Universe appears to be a fairly reasonable and civil fellow when he's not actively antagonizing our heroes.
Alexis (AKA Evil Spinnerette) is also pretty friendly while in her civilian identity. Or not.
Aliens in Cardiff: The series takes place in Columbus, Ohio. One of their backups is "The Werewolf of London... Ontario".
All There in the Manual: Chapter 5, a plot-relevant side story, is an exclusive to the first Spinnerette print collection; online, the story hops straight from Chapter 4 to Chapter 6 with no break in continuity. Chapter 9 is a similar exclusive for Book 2.
Alternate Universe: As noted in the Celebrity Paradox entry, Spinnerette takes place in a universe where both superheroes and the comics companies that chronicle their deeds are real. Furthermore, magic is also real - the first edition of Dungeons & Dragons was banned by the Carter Administration because it contained actual magic spells.
Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Evil Spinnerette's parents show up at her bail hearing, causing her to complain they're embarrassing her in front of her arch-enemy.
Amazonian Beauty: Heather with her post-transformation "girl abs" and especially Sahira when she temporarily gains Tiger's powers.
Applied Phlebotinum: The source behind most superpowers in the Spinnerette universe is a nuclear-powered phenomenon called the Cherenkov-Kirby Reaction.
Which is an example of Human Resources. Aparently all Cherenkov-Kirby reactors are made from the pineal gland of Ultra, who was killed by his government to make them. Or so claims the supervillain.
Art Shift: Issues 7 and 11 are drawn by Fernando Furukawa, and look significantly different to the issues illustrated by Walter Gustavo Gomez.
Attempted Rape: Heather beats up a pair of drunken frat boys imposing on her shortly after acquiring her powers, but they claim they were just messing around.
Author Appeal: At the least, the author is fond of multi-armed people/extra independently-minded body parts in general (see the Cerberus girl and Katt O'Nine Tails), as well as the Most Common Superpower (up to Gag Boobs levels, with a slice of BBW on the side).
Also: Animal-people. The werewolf, the aforementioned Cerberus girl and Katt (despite her insistent denials...), Evil Spinnerette and Spinnerette herself, to an extent. Oh, and Tiger, too, really.
Don't call Tiger "Black" Tiger, or broach the subjects of family, steroids, or Canadians. The man is a walking switchboard of Berserk Buttons.
Benevolent Boss: Dr. Universe treats Greta like the loyal companion she is. Even when she got her powers he was willing to fight the Government agents who wanted to take her away.
Greta Gravity is chubby but extremely well endowed, wears a pretty revealing outfit and provides a lot fanservice.
In her secret identity, Heather has to wear a Fat Suit to conceal her four extra arms. She's still pretty cute as Darien who's also good looking himself tries hard to get a date with her.
Big Bra to Fill: Mentioned by name in a conversation about who would play Greta Gravity in a movie.
Big Eater: Chapter 11 reveals Greta's adipose tissue has an effect on her powers, meaning she needs to be as big as she is to be able to do what she does. She maintains her build by eating, a lot.
Bigot vs. Bigot: Issue 11 features an aged Nazi trying to clone Hitler fighting a Confederate revivalist trying to clone Robert E. Lee (and inexplicably practices Afrocentric magic). Dr. Universe and Greta simply hang back and watch the fight.
Although she's ecstatic about it, Evil Spinnerette's transformation into a Drider is disturbing, as her new parts burst through her flesh, and her human legs tear off. By Issue Seven, she claims to bitterly regret her transformationin order to trick Heather into assisting with a new dark ritual to transform her henchmen into driders as well.
In Issue 12 after getting hit by a ray from the Genetic Infusion Chamber, Heather's powers and body go unstable and she begins to rapidly sprout even more arms.
Body Language: Heather can and does display multiple entries from the Body Language Index simultaneously. It helps that she has 3 sets of arms to work with.
Boobs of Steel: Super MILF. Seriously. Apparently, her boobs are the source of her powers, and they radiate so much heat they need air cooling. If she's telling the truth.
Alexis (aka Evil Spinnerette) gets taunted and teased by some Alpha Bitches... despite the fact that she's a freakin' Drider!
Subverted when it turns out they're her minions, faking it in a ploy to gain Heather's sympathy.
Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Depicted on the cover of Issue 10. Nobody dies, but Heather and Marilyn officially hook up at the end.
Butt Monkey: Heather before her accident... and Heather after her accident. The accident? Caused because her Jerk Ass boss made her work late, alone, and on highly dangerous equipment. The first time she goes out heroing? Beaten up by a mook. Her civilian disguise? A fat suit. First fight against a supervillain? Can't even get in a good punch before someone has to rescue her. It seems even in the middle of her own origin story, she just can't get any respect.
Inverted when it comes to Sahira who's ample bosom is disregarded by Spinerette in favour of the petite Mecha Maid.
Call Back: Sahira explains why she wouldn't compare Heather to a Hindu goddess. Some time later, while mimicking Heather's powers to save children from a burning bus one of the children, a little Indian girl, comes to the conclusion that she's a goddess and Sahira has to point out that she's not.
Cat Up a Tree: Displayed in this strip, which serves as the introduction to the Legion of Canadian Superheroes.
Celebrity Paradox: Averted. The comics we know and love exist in a world where superheroes are real. Heather's first costume is even made out of three cheap Venom costumes sewn together. And then Marvel Comics sends her a Cease-and-Desist because her costume looks like Spider-Woman's.
Cleavage Window: Heather wants one, but Sahira lampshades it and lists the drawbacks of having one. Why would any sane (non-invulnerable) woman cut a hole in bulletproof fabric in such a way to leave her heart exposed? It's justified in the case of Super MILF, whose breasts generate heat and therefore require ventilation.
Clipped Wing Angel: Evil Spinerette's spider transformation, mostly because our heroine both is a biology student (and as such knows the major weak points of a spider in close combat) and a former champion Mutton Buster (and as such is good at staying on a bucking animal).
Their rematch goes better, probably in part because she's had a chance to become accustomed to the new body.
Katt's lovely coat gets shredded when she uses herself to complete the magic circle to send the Composite Soul back to hell.
To Sahira when she accidentally channels Greta's ability.
Color Character: Subverted. Tiger is a little touchy about people calling him "Black Tiger", calling people out on how insensitive and stereotypical that is. This functions as his Berserk Button.
"For the last time! I'm not a black superhero! I'm a superhero WHO HAPPENS TO BE BLACK!"
Evil Spinnerette's high-heels have actual blades in them.
Defied when Sahira suggests heels to Heather to make up for the lack of height: "Spinnerette prefers flats, thank you very much."
Combat Tentacles: Katt O' Nine Tails uses long tails as tentacles.
Comes Great Responsibility: Tiger was constantly harangued by his wife to give up superheroing on the grounds that he'd orphan his two daughters by getting killed one day (and presumably, she had similar beef with him being a cop). He hangs up the tights and immediately comes THIS close to losing his daughters' lives in a shootout that he, as Tiger, could have prevented. He and his daughters realize that he's got to keep saving people, not just for his daughters' sake, but for everyone else's daughters too. (His wife, by the way, completely fails the moral of the story and begins ranting about divorce.)
Covers Always Lie: The covers of most of the issues either depict events that don't happen, or are intentionally misleading.
Heather gets these whenever she's really happy. Combined with Cat Smilehere.
Sahira gets in on the fang action here. Cute Little Fangs could be a quirk of Walter Gomez's art style rather than a character trait specific to Heather.
Dangerously Genre Savvy: Evil Spinnerette/Alexis noticed the sexual tension between Spinnerette and Mecha Maid and used this to help trick Heather into helping her with her latest black-magic ritual, by faking girl-on-girl action with her henchwoman Dakota.
Deal with the Devil: In exchange for Doctor Universe's help in fixing her condition and possibly treating Mecha Maid's terminal illness, Spinnerette agrees to do one favor for him in the future. She adds the condition that the favor can't be something that will go against her personal ethics, but she's still making a deal with a notorious supervillain. It causes Tiger to quit the team, feeling that he's failed so badly to protect the girls from both their enemies and themselves that he can't be their leader anymore.
Defictionalization: Physical versions of Heather's plush spider, Mr. Webby, have and are being produced for the public.
Department of Redundancy Department: While Heather and Sahira are breaking into Dr. Lambha's lab to steal a security tape, Heather spots a guard on duty and instructs Sahira to "seduce him with your powers of seduction."
Enemy Mine: In Issue 4, Dr. Universe tried to form an alliance of convenience with the Columbus superheroes in order to catch a rogue werewolf. It didn't take, as he wanted the werewolf to be captured for experimentation, while the heroes wanted to save it.
Entendre Failure: Sahira tries a few times to gently bring up the possibility that Mecha Maid is gay to Heather, before giving up subtlety and outright spelling it out:
Sahira:Facepalm! I think Mecha Maid is a lesbian who wants to have sexual intercourse with you.
Everyone Can See It: Sahira, among others, called Mecha's interest in Heather far before anyone else did and before it became official.
Green Gable: You'd be more than welcome in Canada! We're a tolerant people!
Lampshaded when Heather shows signs of being nervous about displaying their relationship in public, and Mecha Maid (under the influence of a rage-inducing toxin) angrily calls her out on it
Green Gable: "That was a secret?
Expecting Someone Taller: The newspaper that published Spinnerette's picture on its front page actually photoshopped her taller, apparently because they assumed a 5'1" tall heroine wouldn't strike fear in the hearts of evildoers.
Fanservice: It's pretty safe bet now what with the new characters that pop up in this comic that Fanservice is a vital part of the comic in general.
Flat Earth Atheist: Experienced superheroes Mecha Maid and Tiger believe in magic. Heather, not so much at first. Though to be fair, part of what she was scoffing at was that the magic rites being discussed involved an evil goddess from Dungeons & Dragons.
Flying Car: The LoCS's Avrocar, though it's more of a Flying Saucer in shape. Werewolf of London Ontario calls it a "widowmaker", and at the very least it looks like it could really use some windshields. Or working landing gear. This is not that far off from Truth in Television - Avro really did attempt to make a flying saucer-shaped vehicle called the Avrocar. The design was very close to what the LoCS drives (down to having room for three riders), and was noted for massive instability if altitude exceeded a foot or two. It also was incredibly difficult to steer. The Werewolf of London, Ontario is quite justified in reacting to it like The Alleged Flying Car.
Form-Fitting Wardrobe: Taken to an extreme level even for a superhero comic. See here and here. Even less justified than normal in that in the above examples it's Sahira, not any of the heroes, and she's not wearing a costume.
Freak Lab Accident: How Heather gets her powers (naturally). Doubly subverted, as the reader is initially led to think that, just like Spider Man, Heather would get her powers from a mutant spider-bite — and then her boss points out to interviewing reporter how absurd that would be. Turns out that she only developed her powers after falling into the "Genetic Modifier" vat used to mutate those spiders.
Heather's lower left arm exhibits Organ Autonomy and just may be controlled by her subconscious. In at least one instance she had to stop it from openly making a pass at Mecha Maid.
In one case where Heather was trying to look at Mecha Maid's iPod playlist for evidence of her being gay (i.e. Indigo Girls songs, which she DID find) Heather panicked upon being caught by Mecha Maid and "bottom lefty" grabbed her butt in the confusion. Mecha Maid seemed rather happy about the incident.
When the dreadfully embarrassed Evil Spinnerette is being glomped by her parents (which is funny in itself), we see Tiger and Mecha Maid in the background arguing over whether bovine hormone extracts turns people evil.
In this stripTiger finally bonds with the Canadian Superheroes while several paramedics strain to get his gurney into the ambulance.
Gag Boobs: Greta Gravity's massive prow has been the butt of a few jokes. Tiger also makes a few remarks about bovine growth hormone in reference to Evil Spinerette's bust.
Lampshaded and subverted by Dr. Lambha's tirade about people knowing nothing about genetic engineering.
Played straight after Heather gets a dose of the genetic modifier ray.
Otherwise averted. All other superpowered characters (so far) have either magic- or tech-based superpowers.
In-universe, there's actually a name for this: The Cherenkov-Kirby Reaction.
Genius Bruiser: Tiger, the former detective, effortlessly dissecting the far more mundane reasons behind a waitress's headaches and bruises than "she's a werewolf."
Genius Cripple: Marilyn, who suffers from ALS, AKA Lou Gehrig's Disease.
The Good Guys Always Win: Averted surprisingly often for a light-hearted superhero comic; Heather's been beaten up by a purse-snatcher, completely trounced in her second fight with Evil Spinnerette, has never even come close to actually defeating Dr. Universe, and would have been incinerated by Kugelblitz if Greta hadn't intervened.
Good Old Fisticuffs: Double Subverted so far. While Heather may have Super Strength in all six arms and a burning desire to be a superhero, it didn't come with innate fighting ability and got herself beaten up by an ordinary mugger (the Fisticuffs part), showing that any kind of training is better that none. Subverted again that beside Tiger and Mecha Maid (who is training Heather) the rest of the Superheroes had to create their own fighting style based in their unique powers and... well, dirty brawl fighting and experience.
Gratuitous German: Subverted and played straight at the beginning of the current arc in which Benjamin Franklin travels through time into the third reich. Hitler's spoken German is correct. Krakow actually asked his German-speaking fans for help beforehand. However played straight with the name plate on Hitler's desk reading "Das Führer, Duden!" which is German gibberish for "The Führer, Dude!" and a coffee mug on the floor with the words "Mein Coffee" written on it.
Handsome Lech: Werewolf of London Ontario, without a doubt.
Hate Plague: Just a few hours after boarding Avonlea together, Katt, Gabe, London and Minerva are at each other's throats... courtesy of embittered former team member Captain Alberta, who's poured toxins into the airship's water supply, and played a few choice pranks.
Healing Factor: One of Spinnerette's powers, revealed at the start of Issue #2.
Heel Face Turn: In Issue 7, Evil Spinnerette claims to have made one only for it to be part of a ploy to get people to help her in a dark ritual.
Hellhound: Minerva. She was tasked as a guardian of hell to recapture escaped evil spirits but due to her anthropomorphic appearance, she was easily mistaken for a werecerberus.
Heather gets one after the lab accident. She may well have had one before the accident (she is a rock climber, after all), but it's apparent that the accident enhanced whatever musculature she already had, given her desire to show off the 'girl abs.'
Tiger. And no, "Spirit of the Tiger" is not a euphemism for steroids.
Historical Domain Character: Ben Franklin is a time traveler who knows he's eventually going to return to his own time to live out his life; the fact that he knows he'll survive to live out his years in the past gives him the superpower of uncanny good luck.
Hitler's Time Travel Exemption Act: Played with at the start of Issue 8, when a time traveller burst into Hitler's office in an attempt to kill him, only to be stopped by a naked time-travelling Benjamin Franklin. Its a long story, okay?
Out of the bottom of her spine, as it turns out. But that didn't stop Sahira from thinking it came out of her butt.
Initially, this was averted with her arms; from the first night, she had incredible independent control of all six arms/hands, as well as all 30 fingers. As it turns out, she actually doesn't have such great control; this comic shows that her hands occasionally "have a mind of their own," likely due to subconscious reactions that she can't quite control.
After her transformation Evil Spinnerette has no suchproblems.
Hypocritical Humor: Heather can't stand anime art, and has problems with Empowered by Adam Warren because of this. Spinnerette has been compared artistically to Empowered...
Idiot Hero: Heather. If this series wasn't so damned affectionate and idealistic, she'd be dead a few times over by now: death by mutation, death by radiation, death by burglar, death by falling off a building. Not to mention that as of the 9/14/11 strip, she's been suckered, hook, line and sinker, by Evil Spinnerette into helping the latter's henchpeople turn into driders.
Sahira: "Wonder twin powers, ACTIVATE! Form of... BOOBS!"
I Just Want to Be Normal: In Issue 7, Evil Spinnerette, claiming to have given up her villainous ways, recruits Spinnerette and two others to find a copy of the 1st Edition Dungeons & Dragons book to get her legs back.
Ironic Echo: Dr. Universe and Greta Gravity's origin story is disturbingly similar to Heather's, at least at the start...
It's Probably Nothing: Heather seems to think that the security guards at the lab suffer from this. "They'll probably just assume they have giant spiders or something."
Jerkass Realization: The firemen who return to save Sahira from Fireblade, after having left her to deal with him alone because they automatically assumed she would fight him because she has powers.
Jumped at the Call: Pushed to ridiculous levels. Heather's first concern upon discovering she'd been mutated was picking a name for her superheroine identity.
Life Or Limbs Decision: Doctor Universe was forced to amputate all of Heather's extra arms since her heart couldn't keep up due to the increased need in bloodflow.
Made of Iron: Heather, she falls far enough to total a car and merely comments it broke her fall and is noticeably uninjured.
Mad Scientist: Dr Universe has all the hallmarks (creepy look with techno-goggles, secret labs, unethical experiments, regularly fights the superheroes) but he's pretty calm and collected about it, being more of a Punch Clock Villain most of the time.
Marked Missile: Mecha Maid's missiles have taunts and phrases written on them, such as "Mine is bigger!" or "From M.M With <3"
Greta Gravity flies away from a battle, carrying Dr. Universe in her arms. Her massive bosom necessarily rests on his head.
And Super MILF hugs Spinnerette's face in, knowing full well that Spinny and Mecha Maid are about to leave because they feel...crowded.
The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: Heather has to wear a fatsuit and has been forced to cancel two dates with Darien. On the other hand, there is also Mecha Maid. Although only bottom lefty likes her like that. Or maybe not...
Meaningful Name: Evil Spinnerette's real name is Alexis Woodrow.
Medium Awareness: Shown as of this comic. "I managed to hit that streetlight in Issue #1. Was that a fluke?"
The Merch: In-universe. The superhero rights organization makes its money by selling the merchandise of its superhero members (non-supers are allowed to join as well).
Mistaken for Gay: Green Gables thinks Mecha Maid and Spinnerette are a couple. Heather's bottom-left hand approves. As does Evil Spinnerette's sidekick Julia(n). Mecha Maid actually does have feelings for Spinnerette. The "mistaken" part of this trope applies mostly to Spinnerette.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Played with. This is one of Heather's main powers, but she has to hide the extra four first under a rather conspicuous coat (while everyone else is wearing summer clothing) and then under a fat suit later. In Issue 12 she begins growing even more due to a second lab accident, causing even more problems
Dr Universe had to amputate them due to the fact they were killing her as her heart couldn't keep up due to the increased need in bloodflow.
Heather has taken up knitting, an ideal pastime for someone with six arms who secretes her own silk.
Her current suit is made from her own silk—or would be, if Sahira hadn't used it to make a couple of Saris for herself first. You know... for practice. It's still a running gag at this point.
Sahira herself has started using her ability to copy other's superpowers to copy Heather's to help her do the housework.
Ninja Maid: Mecha Maid appears to be a power-armour version of this; her powers come from a "mecha suit." In fact, her inspiration was Mahoromatic. Whom she particularly identifies with, due to having only a few years left to live.
No Bisexuals: Nobody seems to even know there is such a word as bisexual. Mecha Maid's obvious attraction to Heather is explained as "she's a lesbian" and, when Heather admits she may be in love with the other girl, her roommate objects: "But you're not gay! You never were! You can't wake up one morning and find you have turned gay!" The possibility that Heather may be a bisexual never occurs to them. After much debating, they reach the conclusion that Heather was always gay but hadn't realized it until then.
Noblewoman's Laugh: The first thing Evil Spinnerette does when she makes her appearance.
The Not Secret: When Mecha Maid - under the influence of Captain Canuck's Hate Plague - outs herself and Spinny in front of the Canadians, Green Gable's response is "That was a secret?"
Not So Different: Dr. Universe says this word for word after he gets Spinnerette to admit that maybe she is a little selfish by not volunteering to die for the greater good.
Only Sane Woman: Sahira. Heather lampshades this almost word for word when she thanks Sahira at one point for being her "voice of reason" (after she dissuades Heather from going with a sexy-looking, but potentially dangerous, modification to her new costume).
Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Greta Gravity's German accent disappears whenever she gets particularly annoyed, angry, or exasperated. She's been living in the US for at least a decade, so she might just be losing the accent without knowing it.
Issue 11 also reveals her to actually be Brazilian (so her first language is Portuguese, possibly with German as a second language), so the German accent might be intended to make part of her villain persona, instead of being naturally occurring.
Open Minded Parent: Evil Spinnerette's parents apparently don't mind (or don't seem to notice) their daughter being a half-spider supervillainess.
Organ Autonomy: Heather's extra hands sometimes act like they have minds of their own (mostly just harmless Shy Finger Twiddling, but her lower left hand appears to have developed a crush on Mechamaid.)
The Other Darrin: For artists — Walter Gustavo Gomez does most of the art, but Fernando Furakawa has done two and counting. Looks to be shaping up as the Becky Conner variant...
Our Vampires Are Different: Well, he would have been, if the comic had been published a few years earlier. Now it's subverted, since we have the vampires from the Twilight Series for him to resemble*
They're described as being somewhere in between Twilight and teen werewolves, "with some Ginger Snaps thrown in."
A pair of annoying tween fans are harrasing Werewolf of London, Ontario begging him to bite him to turn them into werewolves. He repeatedly tells them that isn't how it works.
Paper-Thin Disguise: In Issue #12, Dr. Universe and Greta disguise as package couriers (with the latter hiding her Gag Boobs in a pair of boxes). Heather and Marilyn identify them both immediately.
People Jars: Dr. Universe's Rejuvenation Chamber is the liquid-filled variant. Somewhat parodied when after a near fatal incident with Spinnerette, he notes that putting someone who needs to be healed at risk of drowning is probably not the best idea.
Plucky Girl: Heather remains ever eager and optimistic no matter how many times she's knocked down, literally and figuratively.
Police Are Useless: Played often straight, since the Police seem incapable of actually doing anything against Super Villains or defend the city against Super Natural forces.
Averted; Tiger used to be a (competent) cop; while unable to do anything about the composite soul in the werewolf arc, the present officer does make sure the reporter gets out once it starts getting dangerous.
Averted when the Lab security guard immediately catches on and lampshades how random, well-endowed girls are suddenly interested in him out of the blue are the first signs someone is trying to break in. He also correctly guesses that they just want to delete the security tapes (although for different reasons than he might have thought).
Power Nullifier: There are certain places in which superpowers granted by the Cherenkov-Kirby Reaction are reduced, which make good neutral grounds for heroes and villains.
Punch Clock Villain: Dr. Universe and Greta Gravity in issue 11. Creating a clone of Hitler for an old Nazi, or of General Lee for his descendant ? Eh, sure, if the money is good. They only get passionate when the two try to start a fight in their lab. Plus, the chapter starts with Greta preparing a cake and a 'Thank you for rescuing me from a shadowy government lab'-card (with a happy smiling picture of Greta on it) for her boss.
Later on, after the Nazis and Lee were defeated, Universe states that he only agreed to work with them because he knew their plans would fail. Besides the fact that believing the future of humanity lies in a strand of DNA is laughable, even if the clone (which as an Objectivist he believes would have free will) were to grow up to become a dictator there is no way that the German people would let history repeat itself. In the case of Lee, he tells her that most of the people who fly the Confederate flag are not actually racists.
Reality Ensues: A major theme of the comic, although not played with to outright Deconstruction levels — Heather keeps trying to invoke tropes but they just don't work that way in real life — for example, she jumps a car thief, only to get her ass kicked since even with Super Strength and multiple arms... she doesn't know basic self defense. Also, while laws have been passed to accommodate the fact that superheroes and villains exist, they still have to follow legal procedure in the trials and conviction of villains.
It also constantly works against it, catering the expectations of Meta fans. A punch to somebody as strong 10 men wouldn't be effective; if she can receive a hurling car directly or be punched through a wall, bullets wouldn't be a problem; Doctor Universe could simply have left for China without becoming a super Villain (or posting his research on the Internet) and there would be entire wars for his intellect and so on. It's mostly "Reality Ensues when the plotdemands"
Ripped from the Headlines: Dr. Lambha mentions the rumors about the Large Hadron Collider creating a black hole upon activation as an example of how the media knows nothing about science.
Tiger, who is very sensitive about being seen primarily for his skin color.
Subverted when he's not being sensitive about that: he's the one to teach Spinnerette the detective side of things, while Mecha Maid is the black belt/hand to hand expert. Brings him right down from scary territory nicely.
Schedule Slip: The comic regularly goes on hiatuses of two to three weeks while the authors build up a buffer of pages.
Secret Identity Identity: Implied; both Evil Spinnerette and Mecha Maid refer to their non-superhero names as their "given name," as opposed to Spinnerette, who refers to it as her "real name."
Secret Keeper: Sahira is all but forced to become Heather's secret keeper after much tear-laden pleading from Heather.
Heather's costume, origin story, and superheroic abilities are all affectionate parodies of Spider-Man. Heather also makes joking references to a Spider-Sense, but she doesn't appear to actually have one and is only saying so to needle Sahira.
Mecha Maid is obviously a tribute to several aspects of anime culture, including Meido, Powered Armor, and You Gotta Have Blue Hair. At one point, she specifically mentions Mahoromatic as the reason she went with a "maid" theme. She's also a Handicapped Badass scientist who uses her Powered Armor to gain increased mobility, much like the old TV superhero M.A.N.T.I.S.
Look at Buzz Rickard's (that security guard that Sahira tries to seduce) uniform sleeve. Did you notice the Black Mesa logo? How about his Cyberdyne-Systems laptop? His jacket with CMOA on the back?
A combination shout-out/genius bonus comes from the "Cherenkov-Kirby Reaction" which gives some superheroes their powers— Cherenkov Radiation is a real thing— Jack Kirby was one of the most influential people in superhero comics, with his own signature energy... signature, Kirby Dots.
Here, Spinnerette is holding an issue of Empowered, a comic hers has often been compared to.
Ben Franklin's superhero origin story is straight out of Terminator 2.
Dr. Universe's line "I know exactly who you are. You're Spinnerette." is most definitely referencing Jim Gordon's line "I know exactly who he was. He was the Batman." from The Dark Knight Rises.
Shy Finger Twiddling: Heather tends to do this whenever she's feeling embarrassed or stressed, usually with her middle pair of arms. A good example is while she's calling Sahira at the end of Issue #1, knowing how royally she screwed up her first night out in costume.
Slasher Smile: Evil Spinnerette has a decent-looking one in this piece of artwork... but it doesn't hold a candle to the one the Werewolf of London, Ontario is sporting. Yikes.
Spotlight-Stealing Squad: The comic itself, for KrazyKrow's site. None of his other comics' archives are visible or even accessible.
Start of Darkness: Doctor Universe and Greta Gravity have a heartbreaking one. They wanted to create free, near-limitless power from the Cherenkov-Kirby Reaction, but the government arrested them for treason (and Greta for being an unregistered super) because they tried to give the technology to China.
Stealth Pun: Bernie Madoff's supervillain name is "The Pharaoh."*
Super Registration Act: Averted and discussed. While the idea of restricting superpower use has its supporters, at present powers are protected by second amendment rights and a law was passed to let people with masks and secret identities act in the legal system without disclosure.
Tantrum Throwing: When Sahira briefly gets Spinnerette's powers, complete with extra arms, she throws an object-throwing fit which culminates in accidentally defenestrating Spinnerette herself.
They Would Cut You Up: Sahira is constantly reminding Heather that this could happen if her secret identity was revealed.
Heather: What'll I do? Sahira: Get dissected by the government is what you'll do!
Doctor Universe believes this of the government in general. He says that the reactors that grant superpowers were, in fact, reverse-engineered from the corpse of this universe's Superman-analogue and his own experiences with trying to provide free energy resulted in government agents hunting him and Greta down for treason. He also directly mentions this trope to Spinny herself when her powers are out of control, that they would kill her just to understand her ability to ignore the laws of mass conservation with her spontaneously generating new arms.
Those Wacky Nazis: They have divisions devoted to sorcery and genetic engineering.
Too Dumb to Live: Heather at times, depending on how tightly she's gripping the Idiot Ball. She's told never to reveal her secret identity, then reveals it to someone she bumped into once, on suspicion that she might be someone she knows. Luckily for her, it was.
Trademark Favorite Food: Heather drinks a lot of protein shakes. This is actually for practical reasons, as her webs are mostly protein, and she has to get it from somewhere.
Troperiffic: To the point where specific tropes are cited in the dialog.
Possessed by Marilyn Seong, a wheelchair-bound fellow student and co-worker of Heather's. They switch to Tareme Eyes when she puts on her Mecha Maid headband, and occasionally switch back when she's being particularly serious.
Also, Katt O'Nine Tails.
And when she's/they're not rampaging, Minerva's middle head has Tsurime Eyes eyes while the left head has Tareme Eyes.
Played straight when Sahira (somewhat drunk at the time) overlooks the fact that Heather now has six arms then summarily subverted when she comes back in shock.
Less obvious is the fact that nobody who knows Heather reacts to the fact that she's apparently put on somewhere between 30-40 pounds in a matter of a day or two, all entirely in her stomach, thanks to the fat suit. Except Alexis.
Viewers Are Goldfish: In universe, the news crew is only interested in the most spectacular angles for the different science experiments it visits. When the would-be Dr. Universe gives a relatively simple explanation of how superheroes may get their power, the news lady tells the crew to cut that part.
Villainous Rescue: Greta Gravity and Dr. Universe stop Kugelblitz from casting a spell that would have burned Spinnerette and Mecha Maid to death.
Villains Out Shopping: Spinnerette runs into Evil Spinerette shopping at the comic book store.
Visual Pun: Two for the price of one when Bernie Madoff as the villain The Pharaoh is robbing a bank. His Pyramid Power allows him to shoot projectile pyramids that keep growing and wreck everything, including the bank they were in.
Green Gable pulls this twice on Tiger for sedating the Cerberus with ketamine, pointing out that he has no idea if the Cerberus (who was still presumed to be a lycanthrope) is allergic to the drug.
Tiger's kids have this reaction when Tiger is relieved to see that they are safe. They point out that the kids that did die were people, too; important to others, and that he could have saved them if he was actively heroing. His wife immediately threatens him with Divorce for even discussing it, which is another WTH moment in and of itself.
Will They or Won't They?: Chapter 10 consists of Heather struggling to come to terms with her feelings toward Marilyn, who has otherwise been pretending she never let out her previous Anguished Declaration of Love.
Wimp Fight: A one-sided example. The first burglar Spinnerette encounters knocks her about with a duffel bag, causing her to actually call for a time out! Something of a Too Dumb to Live moment, considering Spinnerette has no combat training and was still suspended by her webline at the time.
Worthy Opponent: Evil Spinnerette sees Spinnerette as this. When Alexis nearly kills Heather by drowning her, she then resuscitates her, leaves her tied up, and promises not to reveal Heather's secret identity. When asked, Alexis compares herself to Gary Kasparov who played Deep Blue in chess, instead of pulling the plug.
Sahira cites several ways the genetic modifier may have harmed Heather and tries to call a doctor, meaning she obviously doesn't recognize she's in an Origin Story. Had this been a Deconstruction, Sahira's worries would have been justified. It tells much about the nature of a story when the character with actual sense is the Wrong Genre Savvy.
Sahira's concerns were justified though, as the second time it happened everyone once again insisted that she needed a doctor. They were right because her power went out of control and nearly killed her.
Heather shows traces of this by thinking the other woman calling herself Spinnerette is another superhero, when it is painfully obvious she's a supervillain. The supervillain even lampshades the Evil Laugh, saying that once Heather heard it, she should have known that someone Obviously Evil is nearby.
Ultimately deconstructed. Dr. Universe explains the plan would have failed because the Germans would not have allowed history to repeat itself.
He also points out that Hitler was a product of his time. So unless they simulate his entire life the clone wouldn't be Hitler. He would be his own person but with Hitler's DNA.
Tiger's line about being colorblind like an actual tiger is said in a way that implies he uses it a lot. He doesn't actually know whether that's true, though (and in fact it is not).
Played with in Spinnerette's... well, spinnerets. Unlike Spider-Man, Spinnerette shoots webbing not from her wrists, but from the base of her spine — which still has no direct correlation with any part of a real spider's anatomy. Of course, Sahira points out that spiders have completely different physiologies to humans, and initially berates Heather for assuming that she was capable of spinning webs at all:
Sahira: This isn't logical at all! Spiders are an entirely different phylum of animal than humans! If this were logical, you'd have mutated your lungs and asphyxiated! You're a biologist. You should know this!
Your Days Are Numbered: Mecha Maid has ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), which is a real-world condition that slowly destroys the nerves that carry messages from the brain to the rest of the body—including the lungs (she has to wear her chestplate to breathe, even out of costume). If you exclude her suit and amplifier headband's mitigating effects, the disease is being portrayed accurately—it has left her paraplegic, hence the powered armor, and leaves her only a few years to live. If that.
Your Soul Is Mine: The Composite Soul can devour other souls to increase its power.
is a webcomic produced by Krakow Studios that updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It's written by Krazy Krow note and, unusually, has three artists — Walter Gustavo Gomez, who's done the bulk of the work, Fernando Furukawa, who's done two chapters, and Rocio Zucchi, who has done two chapters as well.Mild-mannered lab assistant Heather Brown was forced to clean up the lab by her boss one night when, due to a Freak Lab Accident with a genetic infusion chamber, Heather gained the powers of a spider, including superstrength, shooting web out of her lower back (not her butt), and most prominently four extra arms. With these powers Heather decides to fight the forces of evil as the costumed superhero Spinnerette, while hiding her secret identity (and extra arms) from the citizens of Columbus, Ohio.Spinnerette is not alone in her endeavors. Helping her out is her roommate Sahira, who acts as her Secret Keeper, seamstress, and voice of reason. There is also the local superhero team of Tiger, a huge superstrong man, and Mecha Maid, a power-armour maid.Spinnerette is largely an Affectionate Parody of Superhero stories (most prominently Spider-Man, of course), showing Heather's forays into the world of superheroism and the many problems that can come with it. Humor is largely derived from Heather jumping headfirst into superheroics without any forethought, and the problems that causes. But it's an upbeat comic— Heather's many troubles never get her down.
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