Supervillains rarely have wholesome moments, but Peter Parker and Mary Jane’s daughter, May “Mayday” Parker grows up and inherits her father’s superpowers, eventually protecting New York as Spider-Girl. When Spider-Man’s old enemy Electro also becomes a father, he ends his feud with Spider-Man and teams up with him and Spider-Girl to save his daughter from a life of crime.
Electro’s daughter, Allison Dillon, inherits her father’s powers and tragically can never be close to him, as their respective electrical auras cause excruciating pain upon . With Max Dillon in and out of prison and her mother having died of cancer when she was young, Allison bounces between foster homes and eventually becomes the criminal known as Aftershock in her teen years. By this point, Electro has abandoned his life of crime and is devastated to see his daughter going down the same path.
In Spider-Girl #81 by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, Electro seeks out the now-retired Spider-Man of all people to help him reform his daughter. Briefly coming out of retirement to help his longtime enemy, Spider-Man uses his scientific expertise to understand Electro and Aftershock’s conflicting electrical auras while Spider-Girl tracks down Allison. Surrounded by Spider-Girl and the Avengers, Aftershock is confronted by Electro, who promises to never leave his daughter again, and the two embrace, despite the pain that their conflicting auras causes them. The story is a heartwarming ending to both of their criminal careers, showing that wholesome stories aren’t limited to only heroes.
Both Spider-Man and Spider-Girl are among the most naturalistically-written superheroes in the genre, with their powers being the only things separating them from ordinary New Yorkers. This often applies to their respective rogue’s galleries as well, with Max Dillon being a lineman who received his superpowers by accident and became a criminal instead of a hero. As a result of their naturalism, Max and Allison Dillon are as capable of complex characterization as Peter and Mayday Parker, and their respective redemptions show this.
Max Dillon knows firsthand how self-destructive the life of a costumed criminal is, so his goal of preventing his daughter from similarly ruining her life far outweighs whatever bad blood he has with Spider-Man from their years of conflict. Aftershock still ends up suffering consequences for her crimes, but Peter Parker assumes that her sentence will be light or she’ll end up paroled into her father’s custody. Not many supervillains get such a positive resolution, so Electro and Spider-Man’s team-up in Spider-Girl is an uplifting conclusion to the stories of Max and Allison Dillon.
