Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Vol. 1 by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Volume 1 written by Marv Wolfman and Archie Goodwin and art by Carmine Infantino, Ron Wilson, and Sal Buscema

The origins of Spider-Woman, aka Jessica Drew, are given here along with a lot of other goings on. The book starts with a run of issues from Marvel Two-In-One, a series that featured two superheroes, one of which was usually The Fantastic Four's The Thing, aka Ben Grimm. He's visiting London with his blind girlfriend Alicia and they run into all sorts of problems. One problem is Spider-Woman, who is working as an assassin for Hydra. As the story goes on, she starts to pull out of that situation, trying to live on her own. But that's after almost half this book goes by with the focus mostly on Ben Grimm in London worrying about his girlfriend (who gets captured and goes through a lot of trouble from Hydra). The depiction of London and Londoners is very stereotypical and not too interesting. And, as I said, Spider-Woman is a side character until she gets her own comic book, which does not start until half-wya through this volume.

In her book, she tries to get a normal job to pay for food and housing but has a very hard time since she has no real background or references. Also, she's beautiful but weirdly off-putting, especially to women. Her investigation into her past sets up her origin--she was the human child of Jonathan Drew who worked with a guy who became the High Evolutionary. Young Jessica was dying, so they introduced spider-DNA that saved her life but turned her into something of a monster. The High Evolutionary was working on turning animals into humans, so she's a bit of a departure for him and she doesn't fit in with his hybrids. Eventually she is kidnapped by Hydra, who brainwash her into being an assassin. After getting out from under their thumb, she is on a journey of self-discovery (her previous life was "erased" from her memory by Hydra) and revenge for her father.

She manages to get things settled and fights crime, both organized and random, but not too many super-villains. The writers throw in some romance with a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who interacted with her during the London story, though that seems more like filler to show she has some ordinary life. I found the stories just average, with no outstanding character moments or action. She has a very interesting origin but they haven't quite figured out what to do with her.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman by M. Wolfman et al.

Marvel-verse: Spider-Woman written by Marv Wolfman, Mark Gruenwald, Gerry Duncan, Kelly Sue DeConnick and Jen Van Meter, and art by Carmine Infantino, Steven Grant, Salvador Larroca, and Barry Kitson

Spider-Woman isn't just some Peter Parker clone. Jessica Drew was the daughter of scientist Jonathan Drew who teamed up with another scientist, Herbert Wyndham, to conduct unlimited research in an isolated area. Young Jessica was exposed to radiation. Combining Drew's expertise in spiders (who are highly resistant to radiation according to this book) and Wyndham's knowledge of evolution, they are able to preserve her life. Jonathan mysteriously drops out of the story and Wyndham goes crazy, calling himself "The High Evolutionary." He evolves lower animals into humans, though they don't get along with the human/spider hybrid that Jessica becomes. She escapes, only to fall into the clutches of Hydra. She's brainwashed into being an assassin for Hydra but leaves that behind, trying to strike out on her own. Jessica has a hard time finding a regular job (with no background or references) but she resists the temptation to turn back to evil. 

This book contains a couple of different stories. The first is her origin as a superhero in the 1970s. After all the backstory, she's in London starving. She struggles with stealing to eat and finding any work at all. She's being followed by a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who, naturally, falls for her. They don't get along. The next story jumps ahead to Spider-Woman in Los Angeles, where she runs into Peter Parker, who happens to be on a press junket to some scientific labs. They tussle as Spider-Woman and Spider-Man. Jessica is not up on her superheroes and assumes he's an imitation of her! They come to a peaceable end without revealing their identities to each other.

The book then jumps to stories from the 2010s. In a bit from the A + X saga, she teams up with X-Man Kitty Pride to thwart the Absorbing Man from stealing a bit of non-terrestrial metal that will make him overpowered. The next story is set during a big crossover battle. The Avengers (which Spider-Woman has joined) head to outer space with a coalition of of goodies and baddies to fight the Builders who have a seemingly unstoppable fleet. The Avenger split into two spacecraft, with Spider-Woman on a different ship from Clint Barton/Hawkeye and Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel. Jessica dated Clint at one point and had a bad breakup. He's now extra-friendly with Carol, who is also a former close friend of Jessica. So Spider-Woman has mixed feelings about them. The action is exciting and the side of soap-opera is much less interesting. The story has some nice personal moments, especially with Black Widow.

I enjoyed the earlier stories better. They are self-contained and look at Jessica as she seeks a new and better life, a redemption from her past. An evil character turning to good is a favorite storyline for me. The later stories are parts of larger narratives and feel incomplete taken out of their contexts. I like the art better in the later stuff but the story is more important to me.

Mildly recommended.