by Rik Offenberger

Tania del Rio is another of comics multui-year overnight success stories. After a childhood peppered with comics and anime, del Rio got into comics with her self-published Realm Denizen. From there, she took a chance and entered Tokyopo's Rising Stars of Manga contest with her original story, "Lovesketch." She won, "Lovesketch" was published in the Rising Stars anthology, and fromt here, things started hapening fast. After a local paper ran a story about her and her work, Archie Comics called, asking is she'd like to help out with a makeover of Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. Sabrina's been her regular gig for a while now, and coming up, del Rio's star continues to rise as she writes Mach's Spider-Man & Araña Special for Marvel. Tania took some time to talk with Newsarama about Araña.

Newsarama: You have been working at Archie for that last few years, how did you get this assignment at Marvel?

Tania del Rio: I guess it was a combination of luck and connections. I had met Marvel editor, Mark Paniccia, a few years ago when he was still an editor at TOKYOPOP. This was during the time that my entry, Lovesketch, was published in the Rising Stars of Manga Anthology, volume 2. So even though Mark went on to work for Marvel, he was familiar of me and my work. Recently, he called me to ask if I would be interested in giving some thoughts on Araña’s character, and some ideas for a possible one-shot.

NRAMA: Have you been a fan of Araña?

TdR: I remember the press surrounding her character when she was first introduced, and I was intrigued. I wasn’t sure how she would fit in with Spider-Man and Spider-Girl until I read the series and realized that, while she shares the spider symbolism, she really is her own character with her own goals and own role to play. I liked the fact that she was a young, Latina superhero, and that she wasn’t portrayed in a stereotypical way. Plus, I’ve always been a fan of young, spunky female characters and Araña is no exception!

NRAMA: Series creator Fiona Avery wrapped up Araña with issue 12, what does this series do for Araña?

TdR: This one shot is both an ending and a beginning for Araña. It sort of ties up the threads from her previous series and opens a door for Araña, one that comes as a bit of a surprise. The question is… will she walk though it?

NRAMA: Is there more Araña stories after this special?

TdR: As it stands, this is just a one shot special featuring Araña and Spider-Man. But, as I mentioned, it leaves open the possibility of future stories involving Araña.

NRAMA: The solicitation text "It all ends and begins right here! Araña learns what the future of the Wasp/Spider-Clan battle holds, and what it means for her destiny as the Hunter! Sides are chosen, lives are lost and Araña will never be the same!" Is she left in a condition where she is set for a future revival?

TdR: She does undergo a change as a result of the events in the story, and it could lead the way to further adventures. But I can’t give away too much about those changes or how she reacts to them just yet!

NRAMA: What type of editorial direction were you give with this series?

TdR: The Marvel editors have been fantastic in this process. Writing a superhero story is new for me, and a really good learning experience! They’ve offered a lot of valuable insight and suggestions which I’ve used to improve my own skills as a writer.

NRAMA: Most of the work you have done so far has been in a manga style comics, what was it like working in a Super Hero style comics?

TdR: It has been a bit of a challenge to capture the feel of a superhero comic. Having been influenced so much by manga, I tend to focus more on characterization and less on action in my other work. I had to find a good balance with Araña. I wanted it to be fun and fast paced like many of the other Marvel titles, but I also wanted to lend a bit of my own influence and style as well.

NRAMA: Spider-Man is in this story too, what's it like to work on a Marvel icon?

TdR: It’s an honor to write such a prominent Marvel character, Spider-Man, especially. But I admit, it was a little nerve-wracking at first. I felt the same sense of responsibility that I did when I took on Sabrina who is also an old, iconic character. It’s been great, though, because I really like Spider-Man and I’ve always liked the relationship between him and Araña. It’s been a bit like a mentorship, a bit like “hey, are you trying to steal my job?”.  It was a lot of fun including Spider-Man in the script!

NRAMA: There is a lot going on with Spider-Man these days, does the story tie in with Spider-Man continuity as well?

TdR: Sort of. I’m purposefully not delving too deep into the continuity, but it does touch on other events that are happening with Spider-Man. Sometimes too much continuity can weigh down a story and , since this is intended to be just a fun one-shot, I didn’t want to get wrapped up in the details, although I was aware of them as I was writing.

NRAMA: Is this a beginning for you as well in the Marvel U? What else can we expect to see from you at Marvel?

TdR: Right now, this is just a single project; one that has been both a fun job and a valuable learning experience. As of right now, there are no further plans, but I had a great time working on this and I hope the fans appreciate what I’ve done with the character.