Writer: Karla Pacheco
Artist: Pere Perez (backstory: Paulo Siqueira & Oren Junior)
Color Artist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Cover Artist: Jung-Geun Yoon
For the first time in three years, Spider-Woman is back in her own ongoing series–and she’s got new threads for the occasion. In the first story of this giant-size issue, Jessica Drew is hired to protect the birthday party of a billionaire’s daughter. When kidnappers come, Jess puts her powers on full display, all while suffering through a persistent headache that might be from something other than the bratty kids she’s babysitting. The second story offers a segue from Drew’s activities in Strikeforce (where anyone looking for an extra dose of Spider-Woman can still find her monthly!) to how she acquired her new “work clothes” for this series.
After writing a few short stories and one-shots for Marvel, Karla Pacheco has finally been given the reins of an ongoing series. She’s joined by artist Pere Perez, and together their layouts and art make exciting action sequences without sacrificing readability. Which is great, given that the majority of their story is action. The final eight pages are a fair bit quieter, with Pacheco joined by Paulo Siqueira and Oren Junior doing pencils and ink, respectively, as we get a glimpse of a “normal” day in the life of Jessica Drew.
Spider-Woman #1 is a quick and fun read that serves as a good introduction to who Jessica Drew is, what she can do, where she is, how she got there, and why you should care about this individual with a hyphen and a “Spider” in their name. While this is a new take on the character, complete with a makeover, long-time fans can appreciate the steps taken to acknowledge Jessica’s past stories rather than disregard them. So whether you’re newly interested in Spider-Woman, or you’ve followed her since 1977, this series will appeal to you.
Review by Andrew Fellner
