After creating a Muslim-American superheroine in teenage Kamala Khan (alias: Ms. Marvel), Marvel Comics will continue to diversify its roster of do-gooders with a new series devoted to Silk, an Asian American in her late twenties with the same radioactive-spider powers as Peter Parker, AKA Spider-Man.

Cindy Moon was a classmate of Peter’s who was bitten by the same fateful arachnid. But an early mishap involving her parents — she accidentally trapped them in a web while still discovering her new powers — led to her kidnapping and decade-long imprisonment. Now free and going by Silk, Cindy searches the city for her parents and attempts to catch up on all the people and events she missed during her captivity.

After her story was told earlier this year as a side character in Peter’s story, Silk will receive her own book next February. It will be written by Robbie Thompson and drawn by Stacey Lee.

Thompson recently told Comic Book Resources, “There’s an aspect to her story that, when you take away the fantastic elements of it and strip it down to the personal, character-driven narrative, that’s kind of like being from a small town, leaving when you’re 18 years-old, and then coming back for your 10-year high school reunion. There’s that culture clash of the town, and your friends have moved on without you, and you had this 10-year journey that’s obviously, for her, been very insular.”

He continued, “ This is someone who spent 10 years in a bunker and will not necessarily play well with others. So we’re definitely going to see her run into not only some classic Spider-Man villains, but also some classic Spider-Man allies. We’re really looking for ways to both reflect and contrast how she interacts with these characters versus how Spider-Man has in the past.”

Here’s the cover image for issue #1:

And here’s the variant (or alternative) cover by Lee:

Previously: Gamora and Wonder Woman to Get New Comic-Book Series

[via Angry Asian Man]