Spinnerette

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Spinnerette is a Web Comic produced by Krakow Studios that updates Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. It's written by Krazy Krow [1] and, unusually, has two artists -- Walter Gustavo Gomez, who's done the bulk of the work, and Fernando Furukawa, who's 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 cyborg 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.

Tropes used in Spinnerette include:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Anguished Declaration of Love: Mecha Maid to Spinnerette, while badly injured and considering euthanasia.
    • The latter's reaction? She ran out of the room and left her alone at the hospital. Ouch.
  • Animesque
  • Arm Cannon: Mecha Maid used one in her first appearance.
  • Art Shift: Issues 7 and 11 are drawn by Fernando Furukawa, and look significantly different to the issues illustrated by Walter Gustavo Gomez.
  • You Fail Biology Forever:
    • 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!

  • 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.

Frat Boy: We're not rapists, we're merely douchebags!

  • Author Appeal: At the least, the author is fond of six-armed people, who use the arms independently.
    • He seems to be fond of extra independently-minded body parts in general (see the Cerebus 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).
  • Awesome McCoolname: Buzz Rickards, which Sahira tells him is not the name of a guard that plays by the rules. Granted, she's trying to seduce him. Also, he might just be Dangerously Genre Savvy - observe.
  • Badass Abnormal: Evil Spinnerette, currently.
  • Badass Labcoat: Dr. Universe
  • Badass Normal: Evil Spinnerette (initially, anyway).
  • Bare Your Midriff: Heather wanted to do this to show off her girl abs, but was shot down by Sahira.
  • Ben Franklin: Here he's a time traveler who knows he's eventually return to his own time to live out his life; the fact that he knows he will not die gives him a kind of luck power.
  • Berserk Button:
    • Avoid jokes about Heather's deodorant usage or references to her "average" height.
    • Never tell Greta Gravity her insults are lame.
    • Don't call Tiger "Black" Tiger, or broach the subjects of family, steroids, or Canadians. The man is a walking bundle of Berserk Buttons.
  • Big Beautiful Woman:
    • Greta Gravity is a borderline case. She's thick, but not actually fat - except you-know-where, of course. In her younger days as seen in an archive video, she was more plump than buxom. Chapter 11 reveals her adipose tissue has an affect on her powers, meaning she needs to be as big as she is to be able to do what she does.
    • In her secret identity, Heather has to wear a fat suit to conceal her four extra arms. She's still pretty cute.
  • Big Bra to Fill: Mentioned by name in a conversation about who would play Greta Gravity in a movie.
  • Big Breasts, Big Deal: Sahira is a Type 4. See I Have Boobs - You Must Obey!, below.
  • Bifauxnen: Katt O' Nine Tails. Oh, so much.
  • Big Damn Heroes: Tiger and Mecha Maid.
  • Big Ol' Eyebrows: Dr. Lambha.
  • Bigot vs. Bigot: Issue 8 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.
  • Blush Sticker:
  • Body Horror:
    • 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 transformation in order to trick Heather into assisting with a new dark ritual to transform her henchmen into driders as well.
    • Although rather mundane, Marilyn's ALS qualifies, as it will eventually lead her into And I Must Scream territory.
  • 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.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall:
    • In Issue #3, Heather makes a frustrated offhand comment about hitting "that streetlight from back in Issue #1" with her web-shooting powers.
    • When someone mentions a vacation she comments, "But we get a new enemy every issue!"
  • Breath Weapon: The Composite Soul exhibits one.
  • Bullying a Dragon:
    • 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.
  • Butt Monkey: Heather before her accident... and Heather after her accident. The accident? Caused because her Jerkass 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.
  • Buxom Is Better: The news cameraman certainly seems to think so about Greta's enormous breasts. See My Eyes Are Up Here, below.
  • Canada, Eh?: The Legion of Canadian Superheroes.
  • Cannot Spit It Out:
  • Captain Obvious: Heather is constantly announcing that her nonexistent "spider sense" is telling her something perfectly obvious.

Heather: My spider sense is tingling that I'm sad.

'Annoying Tween Werewolf fan "We'll do anything! We'll sacrifice to your Fur God!"
Werewolf of London, Ontario "Fur God?! I'm Anglican!"

  • Clean Pretty Reliable Alexis and Heather
  • 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.
  • Clothes Make the Superman: Mecha Maid, she can barely move without her amplifier headband.
  • Clothing Damage:
    • Heather's costume gets severely damaged right before she testifies in Evil Spinnerette's trial. Thankfully, Mecha-Maid loans her an apron.
    • Also occurs to her clothes when she's breaking and entering into the lab in an attempt to steal security footage that would reveal her Secret Identity. This leads to her stripping down to her underwear and taking the Downward Facing Dog pose to aim her webbing at a high duct.
    • Katt's lovely coat gets shredded when she uses herself to complete the magic circle to send the Composite Soul back to hell.
  • 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.
  • Combat Stilettos:
    • 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.)
  • Cute Little Fangs:
    • Heather gets these whenever she's really happy. Combined with Cat Smile here.
    • 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.
  • Cut Lex Luthor a Check: Nastily inverted with Dr. Universe - see the Start of Darkness entry.
  • 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.
  • Delicious Fruit Pies: The Issue 24 arc features them. As far as Spinny's concerned, they're a threat.
  • 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."
  • Does Not Know Her Own Strength:
  • Drama Bomb: "Heather, I'm IN LOVE WITH YOU."
  • 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: "Face Palm! 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.
  • 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.
  • Expressive Accessory: Mecha-Maid's headpiece as seen here
  • Eyes of Gold: Judging by the latest donation desktop, Sahira.
  • Face Palm: Sahira says "Facepalm!" once when Heather is being especially thick. Overlaps with Saying Sound Effects Out Loud and the Unsound Effect.
  • Fan Disservice: Three words: Naked Benjamin Franklin
  • Fan Service: 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.
  • Foe Yay: The issue 7 cover teases it. See also Clean Pretty Reliable
  • 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.
  • Freudian Slip:
    • 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.
  • Funny Background Event:
    • Mecha-Maid used a tiny bit more force than necessary for a mere Mook/Fan Girl.
    • 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 cause superpowers.
    • In this strip Tiger 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.
  • Gainaxing: Observe.
  • Gender Bender: Julian
  • Genetic Engineering Is the New Nuke:
    • 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.
  • 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.
  • Gravity Master: Greta Gravity
  • The Guards Must Be Crazy: Played straight at first, then quickly subverted.
  • Handsome Lech: Werewolf of London Ontario, without a doubt.
  • 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.
  • Hell Hound: 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.
  • Heroic Build:
    • 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.
  • 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?
  • How Do I Shot Web?:
    • 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 such problems.
  • 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...
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl:
    • Tiger and Mecha Maid
    • Buzz Rickards and Sahira
    • Dr. Universe and Greta Gravity
  • I Have Boobs - You Must Obey!:

Sahira: "Wonder twin powers, ACTIVATE! Form of... BOOBS!"

  • 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.
  • If It's You It's Okay: After certain recent events, it looks like Type 1 may be happening with Heather.
  • 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.
  • Interspecies Romance: Between London, a werewolf, and Minerva, a Cerberus.
  • Ironic Echo: Dr. Universe and Greta Gravity's origin story is disturbingly similar to Heather's, at least at the start...
  • Ironic Echo Cut: Here.
  • 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."
  • 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.
  • Legacy Character: Green Gable, a title inherited through family. Apparently, the current Green Gable is the first male to hold the title.
  • Lightning Can Do Anything: As seen in the case of Benjamin Franklin.
  • 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"
  • Marshmallow Hell: Greta Gravity flies away from a battle, carrying Dr. Universe in her arms. Her massive bosom necessarily rests on his head.
  • 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.
  • Mode Lock: London is stuck in wolfman shape as he has forgotten how to turn back.
  • Morally-Ambiguous Doctorate: Dr. Universe
  • Most Common Superpower:
  • 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.
  • Multi-Armed Multitasking: Sahira uses her superpower to copy Heather's powers, allowing her to speed up housecleaning
  • Mundane Utility:
    • 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.
  • Multiple Head Case: Minerva. Her three heads exhibit different personality traits: hot-headed right, rational middle and ditzy left heads.
  • My Eyes Are Up Here: Not invoked by the woman being leered at, but a news cameraman has to be reminded where to aim.
  • Naked on Arrival: Benjamin Franklin spends his first ten pages in the comic completely naked.
  • Naughty Tentacles: Katt has nine tails. Nine prehensile tails. And she gives incredible massages with them.
  • Nice Hat: Greta, London, and Green Gable.
  • Ninja Maid: Mecha Maid appears to be a cyborg 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. And then, when they fight the North Korean super in issues 17-18 and Mecha Maid starts acting like Mahoro did in the final episodes of her anime... It turns out the anime fans in the readership were Wrong Genre Savvy there.
  • 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 the other Spinnerette does when she makes her appearance.
  • Not What It Looks Like: This. Curiously, it seems that what Mecha Maid thinks it looks like and what Katt thinks Mecha Maid is thinking are two completely different things.
  • Obviously Evil: Evil Spinnerette.
  • Oh Crap: Hoo boy! Guess that guy wasn't as clueless as you thought, was he?
  • One Steve Limit: It turns out there was already someone calling themselves "Spinnerette", and she's not happy about our heroine using her name.
  • One-Winged Angel: Evil Spinnerette.
  • 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.[2] However, he runs a meth lab in a Kroger basement.
  • Our Werewolves Are Different:
    • 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.
  • Perky Female Minion: Greta Gravity. Emphasis on "perky."
  • Perpetual Frowner: Tiger.
  • 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).
  • Politically-Incorrect Villain: A couple. There's Kugelblitz, a wacky Nazi who wants to clone Hitler, and Roberta Lee, an ardent Confederate supporter Born in the Wrong Century with white supremacist leanings who wants to clone her ancestor Robert E. Lee.
  • 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.
  • Power Perversion Potential
    • Gee, what can you do with six arms? What can't you do?
    • Katt has nine prehensile tails. See Naughty Tentacles above for how they can be used.
    • Invoked in-universe by one of the sweaty comic book nerds at Heather's local comics shop. Heather is less than amused.
  • 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.
  • Punny Name: Kat O'Nine Tails.
  • 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 plot demands"
  • Refuge in Audacity: An old Nazi sorcerer and his genetically engineered super-Aryan fighting a voodoo using female descendant of General Lee fighting over who gets to have a clone (of Hitler and General Lee respectively) made first.
  • 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.
  • Running Gag:
    • Bla-, I mean Tiger's name problem.
    • Greta's terrible wisecracks
  • Scary Black Man:
    • 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 first two issues were plagued with this, to the point that the authors put the comic on a month-long hiatus after Issue 2 in order to build up a buffer.
  • The Schlub Pub Seduction Deduction: Tried by Sahira...too bad the guard was too smart for it to work. At least they both got a date out of it.
  • 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.
  • Sensual Spandex: And doesn't Heather know it.
  • Shipper on Deck: In quite possibly the weirdest example of this trope ever, Heather's bottom left hand seems to be shipping her with Mecha Maid.
  • Shirtless Scene: Tiger gets a nice one here and here.
  • Shout-Out:
  • 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.
  • Some Kind of Force Field: CLANK!
  • 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."[3]
  • Stepford Smiler: Mecha Maid
  • Superheroes Wear Capes: Averted so far, and Lampshaded here after Green Gable addresses the team as "Caped Crusaders":

Tiger: Is anyone here even wearing a cape?

  • 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.
  • Super Wheelchair: Mecha Maid has one in her civilian identity and her Powered Armor functions as one, too.
  • Taking the Bullet: In this case, it's "taking the hurled car."
  • Take That:
    • "You're not going anywhere, you sparkly bastard."
    • "By the way, the new Comicpress system is going to break any old links to this page. Suck on that, TV Tropes!"
    • Doctor Universe claims to have became a supervillain after reading an Ayn Rand novel. Everybody accepts this as a perfectly valid reason.
    • When the Legion of Canadian Superheroes arrive, the Avrocar smashes a Smart Car.
  • 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.
  • Tempting Fate: "Let's take shelter before we end up in need of rescue ourselves." Guess what happens before the end of the page?
  • Those Wacky Nazis: They have divisions devoted to sorcery and genetic engineering.
  • Troperiffic: To the point where specific tropes are cited in the dialog.
  • Tsurime Eyes:
    • 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.
  • 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!

  • 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.
  • Twin Threesome Fantasy: Played with. In the preview of Chapter Nine, Minerva seems to be making out with herself as a form of seduction (or be very drunk) , which probably counts...yeah
  • Unusually Uninteresting Sight:
    • 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.
  • Vampire Vannabe: Cal's fangirls.
  • 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.
  • Villains Out Shopping: Spinnerette runs into Evil Spinerette shopping at the comic book store.
  • Villainous Rescue: Greta Gravity and Dr. Universe stop Kugelblitz from casting a spell that would have burned Spinnerette and Mecha Maid to death.
  • 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.
  • Wham! Episode:
  • What the Hell, Hero?:
    • 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.
  • Wholesome Crossdresser: Green Gable. If you look closely he actually wears garters.
  • Will They or Won't They?: Chapter 10 consists of Heather struggling to come to terms with her feelings toward Marylin, 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.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Heather can't find it in her to defend herself against a legion of annoying but otherwise ordinary fangirls serving a vampiric drug dealer. Mecha Maid has no such problems and hits them hard enough to draw blood.
  • Wrong Genre Savvy:
    • 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.
    • 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.
  • X Meets Y: Think Spider-Man Meets Empowered.
  • You Can Leave Your Mask On: After Marilyn reveals that she loves her, and Heather's own soul searching, Heather returns her affection by appearing in costume, and performing a strip tease. Marilyn stops her because she doesn't believe Sex Equals Love.
  • Younger Than They Look: Holy crap, Evil Spinnerette is 16?! Yeah, apparently.
  • You Cloned Hitler: Dr. Universe was hired to do this.
    • Ultimately deconstructed. Dr. Universe explains the plan would have failed because the Germans would not have allowed history to repeat itself.
  • Your Days Are Numbered: Mecha Maid suffers from a degenerative disease that has left her paraplegic, hence the powered armor, and leaves her only a few years to live.
  • Your Soul Is Mine: The Composite Soul can devour other souls to increase its power.
  1. ↑ Real name:Sean Lindsay
  2. ↑ He has a horde of fangirls, too.
  3. ↑ A Pyramid Scheme
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