These two issues are combined, because I found a lot of what I had to say about the second issue repeated what was said in my review of the first issue.

Spider-Woman: Spider-Verse

Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Greg Land
Inker: Jay Leisten
Colorist: Frank D’Armata
Letterer: Travis Lanham
Cover Artists: Greg Land & Frank D’Armata
Editors: Charles Beacham & Nick Lowe
Editor-In-Chief: Axel Alonso

Almost As If It Was Planned:

Jessica Drew’s mission leads her to Loomworld, where she poses as their version of Spider-Woman, an awful woman who serves as the consort of Morlun. Encountering difficulties with pirates and that world’s Jessica Drew, she kills two birds with one stone by convincing the pirates to take a chest full of ‘plunder’, which just so happens to hold an unconscious evil Jess.

Meanwhile, Cindy Moon is on the run from the Twin Inheritors, Brix and Bora. They chase her across the multiverse, until Silk breaks her teleporter. She escapes into their home world and meets up with Jessica, who gives her a functional teleporter to get home; Cindy instead uses it to discover a safe-world from the Inheritors, a nuclear wasteland.

Stranded on Loomworld, she encounters Morlun, but is able to give him the slip by faking an illness. Inside the Inheritors’ Great Hall, she meets the Master Weaver who gives her an ancient prophecy that she’s able to send to Peter through Cindy’s broken teleporter. Realizing her only chance at survival is hiding until the war is over, Jess meets up with the pirates from earlier, only to discover that evil Jess has taken over. Silk and Spider-Gwen arrive at the last minute to save her and it ends with them about take on a ship full of pirates (as seen in ASM #13.)

Thoughts:

I’m going to focus on elements other than the plot, which anyone whose reading Spider-Verse is already well aware of. If you’re not reading Spider-Verse, then maybe wait until issue five to jump, because while the first issue was able to stand on its own, these two are so heavily involved with Spider-Verse, you’ll be totally lost.

As I mentioned in the opening, this really is more of the same. Hopeless has a decent and witty if unremarkable handle on Jessica but his Silk continues to shine far better than she does under Slott’s pen. And I think Hopeless should get even more credit for also making Spider-Gwen a delight whenever she shows up in this series. I’m hoping Secret Wars will allow these three to work together again, because they’re an excellent team. Hopeless has managed to make me excited for all three of the Spider-Female titles that will be launching after Spider-Verse (in Spider-Woman’s case, continuing) and that’s probably the greatest strength of these issues. 

However, we do hit some null points when Jessica and Cindy are on their own. They’re just not given a ton to do, roped into following the pace of Slott’s main story. That being said, Hopeless does throw in some fun moments here and there, like a scene with Loomworld’s version of Mary Jane. 

On the art side of things, we have Greg Land being Greg Land. I’m not proud that Jessica’s attire gets shorter and shorter as the issue goes along, but he does a pretty solid job with the action scenes and his Master Weaver is pretty damn creepy. I never had trouble following what was going on, so I can’t complain. 

I would like to give some serious credit to the colorist, Frank D’Armata, and the Inker, Jay Leisten, though. Leisten’s heavy inks creates a solemn eerie mood on Loomworld, which D’Armata works with to great effect, giving the world a drab aesthetic. And when the action and the fun jumps in, D’Armata throws bright colors to give the issue life. 

 Verdict: Dennis Hopeless does an excellent job of creating excitement for the upcoming Spider-Female books, even if his own gets bogged down a bit by the Spider-Verse event. The art team does an excellent job of  making the series easy to read. If you’re a fan of witty dialogue or sexy heroines, then this event tie-in is for you. It’s also pretty much required reading for Spider-Verse. 

Pros: 

• Moves at a solid pace
• Easy to follow
• Strong showing for the other two Spider Females before their titles launch

Cons: 

• Jessica Drew is eclipsed by Silk and Spider-Gwen
• That dress keeps getting shorter
• Needs Spider-Verse to make sense

Issue 2: B-

Issue 3: B+