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: Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up by C. Claremont et al.

Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up written by Chris Claremont and others with art by Sal Buscema and others

This is another anthology of Black Widow adventures, this time featuring her working with other Marvel superheroes:

Marvel Two-in-One #10 (The Thing and Black Widow)--Black Widow is in a car chase through Central Park and almost crashes in to Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) whose on a date with his blind girlfriend Alicia Masters. Ben knocks the car out of the way and tosses Alicia to safety, but he and Black Widow are captured by her pursuers. They take the two heroes to their evil lair in the middle of the Atlantic. The bad guys plan to drop the biggest nuclear bomb ever to the bottom of the ocean, causing a radioactive tidal wave that will wipe out the American east coast. The Widow and the Thing work together to thwart the plan. The story is a fairly standard action yarn. Black Widow and the Thing make an unlikely but fun team.

Marvel Team-up #57 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow--Spider-man thwarts a gang of thieves in the post-Christmas lull in crime. They are working for the Sliver Samurai, who has some bigger, unidentified scheme. Meanwhile, Black Widow has returned to New York at the summons of Nick Fury, only to find the safe house seemingly abandoned. As she goes in search of Fury, she sees the energy blasts from the Samurai's sword. She investigates and the team-up begins. It's a fun action story but it's just the start of some other arcs in other comics.

Marvel Team-up #82-85 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow (and Nick Fury and Shang Chi)--Spider-man discovers a red-headed woman about to be mugged in an alleyway. She sure looks like the Black Widow but she claims she's Nancy Rushman, a New York school teacher. She can't remember her address or what school she teaches at, so there's a mystery to solve. Unfortunately, they are attacked by a S.H.I.E.L.D. taskforce before they can get more clues. The story spins into a larger conspiracy...pretty typical for a story from the 1970s! It's another entertaining story that moves at a good pace.

Marvel Team-up #98 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow--They are back together, this time fighting gun runners in New York City. Nothing too special about this story, other than it seemed a little short.

Marvel Team-up #140-141 featuring Spider-man, Black Widow, and Daredevil--A New York City blackout leads to rioting. Spider-man is just short of preventing a pawn shop owner from being killed by the neighborhood gang. The gang points the finger at an innocent man who is being represented by Daredevil's regular identity, lawyer Matt Murdock. Matt needs help finding proof of innocence (other than his ability to listen to someone's heartbeat and detect if they are lying). Ex-girlfriend Black Widow steps up to help Matt. Spider-man wants to investigate because he feels guilty about not saving the pawn broker. So they work together, though a bigger conspiracy is at hand. Also, Spider-man is snatched mid-story for the Secret Wars crossover, when he got the black suit that turned out to be the symbiote Venom, a whole other story. He returns to this story, which comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Marvel Comics Presents #53--Black Widow and Silver Sable hunt the same villain in Paris, France, eventually fighting over him at the Eiffel Tower. The story is very short and fairly entertaining. It even manages to avoid the fight between the two females looking like some sexist cat fight. It's just a fun showdown between two evenly-matched fighters.

Marvel Comics Presents #70--Black Widow teams up with Soviet superhero Darkstar (A Russian mutant with Darkforce energy, whatever that is) and Starlight (another Russian hero who is under the mind-control of the Presence, an overpowered Russian who got his power from exposure to nuclear radiation). They manage to free Starlight from the mind-control so she can talk some sense into the Presence. The story is very short and feels like it serves some other ongoing narrative.

Marvel Comics Presents #93--Black Widow and Daredevil infiltrate a secret Hydra base and take it out. Another quick, fun story, especially when the Widow has to talk blind Daredevil through disarming the self-destruct bomb.

Mildly recommended--the stories vary in quality but most are fine. Nothing is a must-read; nothing made me sorry I read it.

Book Review: Marvel-verse: Wanda and Vision by K. Higgins et al.

Marvel-verse: Wanda and Vision written by Kyle Higgins, Alec Siegel, Steve Englehart, J.M. Dematteis, and art by Stephane Perger, Don Heck, John Tataglione, Kerry Gammill, Sal Buscema, and Mike Esposito

This volume collects three stories about the famous Marvel couple:

1. Avengers Origins: Vision (2011) written by Kyle Higgins and Alec Siegel, art by Stephane Perger--Ultron-5 builds an unnamed android to kill his enemies, the Avengers. By carefully controlling what information the android receives, Ultron assumes that he has built the perfect weapon to destroy the main obstacle in his way. Things don't turn out according to his plan when the android sees how the Avengers fight for each other and care for others more than for themselves. Curiously, Wanda is absent from this story!

2. Giant-Size Avengers 4 (1974) written by Steve Englehart, penciled by Don Heck, and inked by John Tataglione--The "Giant-Size" refers to the page count--a double issue--not the actual size of the Avengers. Two story lines are intermingled. The Vision goes to Dormammu's infernal dimension to rescue Scarlet Witch from his clutches. Meanwhile, the other Avengers try to stop Kang the Conqueror from stealing the woman who will be chosen as the perfect woman (either Mantis or Moondragon). I think the two stories would be hard to follow without a lot of previous knowledge of Marvel characters, more than someone can get from the MCU. The story ends with two weddings, one being the Vision and Wanda union. The stories are exciting enough but out of context they are a little more challenging to follow.

3. Marvel Team-Up 129 and 130 (1972) written by J. M. Dematteis, penciled by Kerry Gammill and Sal Buscema, and inked by Mike Esposito--Spider-man teams up with The Vision and then with the Scarlet Witch in these paired stories. First, Peter Parker goes with a soon-to-retire journalist for one last big story about a killer in a small New England town. Vision is also drawn to the town by a team of androids who are copies of the greatest humans of the past (including Mark Twain and Fyodor Dostoyevski). The two stories come together quickly. The second issue draws the Scarlet Witch in when villain Necrodamus (you could have guessed he was the villain just by his name) kidnaps her in an attempt to get revenge. The overall story is entertaining and does focus on the relationship between Vision and Wanda.

Mildly recommended--it might be a little tricky to appreciate the storylines without some previous knowledge.