Spider-Island: Spider-Woman Review

Interesting Tid-Bit: Have you read Brian Michael Bendis’s Spider-Woman run?  If you have not, I beg you to give it a chance!  It is wonderful and made a Spider-Woman fan out of me!

Spider-Island: Spider-Woman

Writer: Fred Van Lente

Penciler: Giuseppe Camuncoli

Inker: Klaus Janson

Colorist: Frank D’Armata

PLOT:

As the issue opens, Jessica Drew narrates and tells us of a dream that she has consistently had since she was a teenager.  In it, she is 99.9% spider and .01% woman.  The result?  Being born as a group of spiders a la Arachne coming out of the toilet to attack Betty Brandt.

Back in reality, however, Jessica is fighting some man-spiders while she talks to Reed Richards over a comm-link.  It seems that he wants to find Alicia Masters to see if she can be of use to create an antidote.  In the past, Alicia’s DNA was corrupted by HYDRA in order to create a super-soldier, but she mutated into a spider-hybrid and was only saved by Jessica and The Thing. 

As Jessica flies through the city, she is intercepted by a familiar foe in a different costume: Gypsy Moth.  From Gypsy Moth’s dialog, it appears that she is currently employed by the mastermind behind the spider-epidemic.  Spider-Woman is able to get rid of Gipsy Moth and bursts into an art room on the campus of ESU in order to find Alicia.  Jessica tries to get Alicia to come out of hiding, but before she is able Gypsy Moth bursts in, binds Spider-Woman’s mouth with a strong web, convinces Alicia that Spider-Woman is not to be trusted, incapacitates Spider-Woman, and flies away with Alicia.

Jessica is later awakened by The Thing bursting into the room.  She is confused as to why Ben does not recognize her when she suddenly realizes that Gypsy Moth must have used her telekinetic control over clothing to change Spider-Woman’s costume into looking like Gypsy Moth’s costume.  Jessica still is unable to talk and attempts to fly away instead of wasting time, but Ben grabs her.  She tries to use her venom-blasts at low intensity so that he might recognize her, but what it really takes is a punch to the face to break ‘Gypsy Moth’s’ helmet and the webbing over Jessica’s mouth.

After a quick explanation, Spider-Woman speeds off into the night sky, intercepts Gypsy Moth, and has a back-and-forth with Gypsy Moth over the trust/control of Alicia.  In the end, Spider-Woman wins out by explaining that there is more to her under the skin…just like Ben!  As the issue comes to a close, we see Jessica thanking Alicia for inadvertently helping her, and Gypsy Moth nursing a headache.

 
REVIEW:

The best part of this issue was definitely the fact that Jessica consistently narrates.  Some comics rely on action or dialogue, but Spider-Woman is the type of character that really needs some internal dialogue.  We see her hopes, fears, and her confidence waver.  It is nice to see that Jessica is still struggling with her place in the world and does not have everything figured out like some other heroes.

I also like the fact that Jessica is alone on this adventure.  I find Spider-Woman as more of a solo hero.  It was great to see her have to rely on herself in order to get the job done.  It was also nice to see Reed Richards, highly ranked within the superhero community, trust her enough with such an important task.  The fact that this story ties into a story from the past is nice.  When this happens, I often think it makes the present comic more legitimate.

I am on the fence concerning the fight between Gypsy Moth and Spider-Woman.  I feel like Spider-Woman was taken down too easily.  The fact that she could not get the webbing off of her mouth also seems a little unbelievable.  This also leads to my biggest problem with the issue, and that was the ‘Spider-Woman cannot speak’ shtick and Gypsy Moth convincing Alicia that Spider-Woman is bad and not to be trusted.  Shouldn’t Alicia realize and remember who Spider-Woman is?  Shouldn’t Spider-Woman have just blasted herself with a low-impact venom-blast?  Is it not better to sacrifice yourself for the safety of another?  I feel like she could take it.

Then we have this power over changing or masking clothing.  I just have no idea what to say on this.  Some of my students, when asked what super power they would have, said they would like to be able to change clothes with a whim.  This is an actual power?  I just feel like it was a stunt to get Spider-Woman and The Thing to fight again, and then use Ben to get rid of the webbing on Jessica’s mouth.  Rhetorical devices…what can you do?

I have a MAJOR problem with Spider-Woman ramming Gypsy Moth in mid-air when Gypsy is carrying Alicia.  Obviously Alicia is going to fall or get hurt!  What are you thinking?!  We then have several panels of Alicia basically treated like a rag-doll.  What type of hero does that?

Well, however annoying I may have found the duel of the fates, I do think that the end is poignant, especially for such a damaged character like Jessica Drew.  It was a good/sincere play on her part to mention her emotional connection to Ben Grimm.

I thought that the art was well-done.  It was clean, uncluttered, and clear.  *thumbs up*

RATING: 3.5 out of 5 Webheads I am glad that this is a one-shot because the story would not have been able to carry on for longer than this.  I am always happy to see Spider-Woman on her own, and she certainly has the right voice here, but I also think that she was weakened in this story as well.  In the end, it was nice to see Jessica Drew make some emotional progress!

Ex animo, Spider-Girl!