Samoan comic book artist Michel Mulipola  Michel Mulipola recently got a lot of online attention for his design of the Samoan-Spider Woman of Earth 685.

His design of the Web Weaver is also known as Elisapeta ‘Peta’ Lalaga. His inspiration to create the character comes from his love for Spider-Man and the recent Spider-Verse animated film, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. 

The artist, who is based in Māngere in South Auckland and is a cultural assistant at Disney Animation, created his first version of artwork from his home. There are two versions of the Spider-Woman that were created, and the latest version is the more refined version, according to Mr. Mulipola. 

Both versions purposely incorporate traditional Samoan attire and utilise the colours of the Samoan flag, which coincidentally are the same as Spider-man’s colours. The initial plan for the artwork was to depict a Spider-man, but when Mr. Mulipola began creating the spider insignia, the design was altered to feature a Spider-woman.

Mr. Mulipola said the genesis of the Spider-woman idea stemmed from the symbol revolving around the Samoan malu motif – it was then that he realised the character had to be Spider-woman.

“I sat down, and the first thing I designed was the spider symbol - the spider insignia,” said Mr. Mulipo. “The malu motif represents a protector - you know, protection. So I thought, that’s perfect for a superhero that fights for the people.”

He also emphasised the use of the larger diamonds in the insignia and how it represents the islands of Upolu and Savai’i while the smaller diamonds represent Apolima and Manono - where he says his Mulipola name hails from. 

“I want to give acknowledgement to our people like this is our home and this is our land and that’s what Web Weaver is protecting - our people - our land," he added. 

When asked about the possibilities of the character coming to life, Mr. Mulipola said he would like to explore some short mini-comic stories with his new ideas depending on his time and schedule.

“I’ve already created one version of a Samoan villain, a Spider-man villain, and then there’s Doctor Octopus - and you know fe’e is very integral to our people, our culture and our stories so I was like man, Doctor Octopus sounds like the right villain to do."

Mr. Mulipola never intended to create his artwork for the purpose of gaining clout or "likes" as he believes that if it resonates with people then it truly resonates.

"And this just happened to be one of the ones that really resonated with our people, so that’s cool," he added.

He said that he uses his skills to provide representation for the people of Samoa since “it’s not there”.

"To have it resonate with a lot of people means a lot to me. It lets me know that I’m on the right track with the work I do and the stuff I create."

This weekend, Mr. Mulipola will be travelling to Melbourne, Australia to conduct a four-day workshop focusing on arts and animation for Pasifika Students.