Araña Vol. 1: The Heart Of The Spider collects Amazing Fantasy vol. 2, nos. 1-6, introducing Anya Corazon who becomes Araña the Hunter. The story builds upon concepts J. Michael Straczynski developed during his run in Amazing Spider-Man, with Ezekiel Sims' concept of totemic powers. This comic focuses on one of his companies, WebCorps, who use magic to tap into that totemic power. Anya nearly dies when she attempts to save Miguel, one of the mages, who awakens the powers within her and works to train her. Along the way, she struggles to balance life as a high school student with her desire to take care of the world in honor of her mother's memory.
Marvel used this second volume of Amazing Fantasy with the goal of introducing new young heroes, just as the original introduced Spider-Man. Though Araña was the only one to last, her character later played a key role in Spider-Man story arcs such as Spider-Verse. Writer Fiona Avery perfectly captures the tone for a high school aged hero of the twenty-first century while Mark Brooks and Roger Cruz's art has just the right stylized touch to stand out among other comics of the period without looking too garish. My only real complaint about this book is that Marvel only reprinted Araña's stories in this small digest format, which compressed some of the art and used cheaper paper than other collections from this period. ( )

Anya Corazon is a wild, impulsive, teenager who won't back down from any fight, despite the pleadings of her friends and father. Its this stubborn spirit that drives her to the park in the middle of the night to confront a bully, where she is dragged into a confrontation between the evil Sisterhood of the Wasp and Miguel of the mysterious Spider Society. Gravely wounded, Anya is given the choice by Miguel, to sacrifice something she holds dear and be reborn as a Hunter, or die. Anya's choice brings her deep within the Spider Society, where she has to learn to use the new powers she has been bestowed with, get along with her partner Miguel, and fight the Sisterhood of the Wasp.

Anya's vibrant character sucks readers right into the story with her. Her rare moments of vulnerability contrast nicely with her smart-mouthed, tough-girl attitude. The other characters need to be more fleshed out though, as they only have one or two characteristics at the most. Three of the most shown characters are Miguel who is mysterious and burdened, Anya's father who is overworked and worried, and tech support guy Ted who is awkward and rebellious. Since this is only volume one hopefully that will be taken care of in the future.

The plot is very action driven, battles between the Sisterhood and the Society happen fairly often and as each one takes place we see how Anya is growing in confidence and ability. However, despite all of the action the story itself doesn't focus so much on the importance of the ongoing fight, but about how Anya is growing as a person.

The story is worth picking up if you are looking for characters who are exciting and cheeky. ( )