It is definitely a good time to be a Spider-Man fan. The trailer for the new upcoming Venom sequel just got released online, and now the whole world’s attention is back on the Spider-Man family. This is the perfect time for new readers to begin their adventures with characters like Spider-Woman and Silk. It’s also the best chance for older readers to get back onboard and see the latest happenings in the lives of these strong superheroines. This time around, in the pages of Spider-Woman, we get a more traditional good versus evil story, wherein Jessica has to face the Twin Swords of Toledo, a brotherly duo with some serious sword-handling skills. But this chapter also tackles the sacrifices a superhero has to make, and the impact of that kind of lifestyle on the people you love… including romantic partners. The book also delves into the intricate nature of brotherly love, and the temptations of power.
OFFICIAL MARVEL COMICS DESCRIPTION:
Spider-Woman #12
STORY BY: Karla Pacheco
ART BY: Pere Perez
COVER BY: Jung-Geun Yoon
- Who are the Brothers of the Sword? FIND OUT THIS ISSUE!
- Jessica’s visit to a jail goes horribly wrong with a few slashes of these powerful swords.
- The most consistent action-hit of 2020 somehow finds new levels that could only be attained with Pacheco and Perez’s ill-advised deal with interdimensional demons.
SWOOSH!
PROS:
- I appreciate that we are getting a more traditional set-up for this story… Spider-Woman has to go after a couple of super-villain brothers who robbed a bank. And the fight makes for excellent action, illustrated and colored very expertly by the team, who brings so much life and energy to this book. Jessica has to fight a handicap match, one versus two, but the playing field looks pretty even, even then, with her deadly combat skills.
- It is a heartbreaking chapter, though, as we see the full effect Jessica’s life in tights has on her relationship to Roger. Roger is nice enough to make it clear that he will always be there for Jessica, but also makes it apparent that he knows he does not mean as much to her as she does to him. And what makes it even more painful to experience is the fact that Jessica cannot even argue otherwise. It hits both of them very hard that given the life she lives, Roger just does not have a very stable place in her reality right now. As shown by her quick decision to just leave Roger in order to chase after the Brothers of the Sword, we all know now what the greater good is in Jessica’s heart of hearts.
- The dynamics of the brothers plays well with the interesting concept behind their powers. The whole point of their partnership is that no one brother can handle using both swords at once. They have to share the burden, a pretty clear metaphor for any brotherly or sibling connection. But when one brother decides to use the power of both weapons, that is where things go south and he becomes even more corrupted by the magical power, to the point that his own flesh and blood has to put him down. But the traumatic experience will surely be carried on by both brothers, as shown in the last few pages of the book. This is not the last that Spider-Woman will hear of these siblings.
CONS:
- The relationship between the brothers was very relatable, but individually, there was something lacking in terms of likeability. A part of you wants to sympathize or even cheer for these hardened warriors, but not too much spotlight was given on why readers should be invested in them in the long run.
FINAL GRADE: B
Where Silk is targeted more for the younger girl fanbase of the Marvel Universe, Spider-Woman is a sure bullseye for the older generation, with her trials and tribulations being on a very adult-level. It will be challenging, but I am hoping that Jessica is able to finally strike the right balance and mix between her personal life and her job as a superhero. If anything, all these Spider-Family characters should learn a thing or two from Peter Parker… and all his hits and misses.
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I have to say (having read only the first seven or eight issues) I felt from the start the writer didn’t get Jessica at all and shoehorned that crap about the illness causing her to lose her temper just to justify her way of writing (that was also all over the place, in pacing and story-wise).
However I also admit I have only read Hopeless run and only recently started reading ALL of her comics to understand more of the character. Just from the first appearances is pretty obvious she got many changes in behaviour, and I expect a big shift in more recent series (surely Bendis’s one, I bet).
@sthenurus: while I agree with you on the topic of having babies, and albeit I found her decision a bit weird (feeling it was more an editorial mandate to make her interesting again), I didn’t read it like that. I think it was more a need for parenting, one that naturally comes with a certain age, and the fact that she wasn’t in a relationship and couldn’t find anyone with whom having a baby and start a family (she always felt out of place). But maybe I say that because I can relate to those feelings right now. xD
Anyway, if I recall correctly, she never treated the baby as an object and realized her new responsibilities, being more cautios.
In fact, I actually liked Hopeless run, but I’m also one of the few who liked her costume during that time.
To me the real OOC was when it was revealed that Jess had a baby… with no one!
The comic threated that decision like Jess was getting a new TV. A child is not something you get just cause “you want one” It’s the most beautiful, biggest responsability one can have and not a new trend to have on a whim. ESPECIALLY through in vitro. ESPECIALLY when you are litteraly risking your life everyday and might leave a child behind without any familly to take care of him/her. It’s insulting to all the single parents, all the people who cannot conceive and to the character to make such a dumb, reckless, ireesponsible boneheaded move.
I am absolutely livid at the treatment of Jessica and Roger in this.
On initial reading, I thought the ending was a flash-forward…like we’ll see more of the build-up continue over the next few issues, but no. I think this and some of the drama in the previous issue should have been all in one edition, a transitional issue to plug the gap between status quo shifts. Jess could have started wearing the old costume after the break up.
Absolute low-brow OOC garbage. And reeks more of editorial intervention than any organic development.
Hope it’s fixed, but I’m done with the book.