Spider-Woman #2 Spoiler Discussion

[Seren]

It's in the title. If you don't want to be spoiled, please don't continue reading this thread. This is where we can discuss the issue without spoiler tags.

Recap:

We start where the issue one left off. Jess is visiting the Night Nurse to see what on earth is making her so sick. The Night Nurse says she still sees the damage caused by the radiation she was exposed to as a kid, but the signs of her father's experiments, which were what was keeping Jess alive, are now gone. It turns out that the Flu Shot Jess laughingly took (bc hey, a flu shot won't do shit to her) upon being hired by Marchand was anything but.

Enraged, Jess busts into Marchand's office and explains that his daughter was sick, but stumbled upon Jess' father's work. They tried it on Rebecca and the treatment was initially a success until a year later when Rebecca's system started to shut down. They left out the second part of Dr. Drew's experiments -the part that was keeping Jess alive - and they couldn't replicate that part, but the could reverse some of the effect of the first part. The Flu shot Marchand gave Jess removed the regenerative effects those second set of experiments contained - leaving Jess in the same health status as Rebecca. Jess asks Marchand if he's working for Hydra, which he denies. Marchand admits that he lured Jess in and stripped her of the one thing keeping her alive, because they have developed a new treatment for his daughter's condition and he wants to make sure it works by using it on Jess before he uses it on Rebecca. Jess points out that instead of taking the choice away from her, all he had to do was ask and she would have found a way to help. Marchand also points out that the very thing affecting Rebecca, and what made Jess sick, could very well happen to Gerry. This crumbles Jessica's resolve, as not only does she need to rely on Marchand to keep herself alive, she needs this treatment to work if Gerry does indeed wind up getting sick. She has no choice at this point but to work with Marchand.

We get a training montage. Jess makes a comment about why she's trusting Marchand, but honestly, she doesn't have a choice at this point. That said, Jess is FAR more powerful than she used to be - and it's pretty clear she likes it. Side effects: she's more aggressive than normal. Unfortunately, Jess' recovery is only temporary and they're missing a spider who is a key piece of Johnathan Drew's research.

Jess breaks into hte lab with two of Marchand's men. The successfully grab the spider,s but not before running into Octavia Vermis - the daughter of Count Otto Vermis, who Jess killed way back when. Octavia needs the spiders too and a fight ensues. Octavia smashes the case holding the spiders- if she can't have them, no one can- much to Jessica's chagrin. Jess goes after Octavia, who seems to have super powers of her own. In a last ditch effort to escape, Octavia reveals the last remaining spider that Jess needs and throws it over a ledge. Jess dives for the spider, ensuring Octavia's escape, but not before Octavia states "I know who else wants this and what a LOVELY family reunion you must have had".


Some things to note:
Marchand (at least I think it's Marchand. Who else would Octavia be referring to?) is related to Jess in some way. Brother? Cousin? He doesn't seem to be that much older than Jessica herself. Clearly, it either never occured to Jess that she had other family out there or she didn't bother to look, figuring they were all scum. Probably a mixture of both.

Jessica's response to Octavia's parting words "Spiders Don't have families?" is a direct throwback to something her mother said to her in Spider-Woman Origin by Bendis. Also, artwork from Origin is on display when Octavia refers to Jessica's relationship with her father.

Jessica's eyes are no longer green. Karla has basically admitted that this is intentional and not a colorist error.

Someone has got to be pulling Marchand's strings - I don't think he just happened across Johnathan Drew's research.

ETA: Rebecca is what Miriam Drew wanted to name Jessica.

[Huntsman Spider]

Yeah, having read this issue myself, I am definitely trying to figure out who is behind this plot involving Jessica. If Marchand is being manipulated by someone else, who would (or could) that be? My first thought is that it might be someone tied to HYDRA, like Madame Viper. If not, then it's likely someone connected to Jessica's parents or otherwise related in some way. Bit confused as to the intent behind Jessica's eyes not being green anymore, though.

[Seren]

I think Jessica may have naturally blue eyes bit whatever was keeping her alive made her eyes green. We see back in Avengers when Hydra/Skrulls were restoring her powers her eyes were blue. When she gets off the Skrulls ship after Secret Invasion, they're green. So, Marchand Injects Jess, strips away her immunity and her eyes go back to being blue.

[Immortal Hulk]

Just out of curiosity: how good were the first 2 issues? I love Spider-Woman, tied with She-Hulk as my favorite superheroine.

[Seren]

Just out of curiosity: how good were the first 2 issues? I love Spider-Woman, tied with She-Hulk as my favorite superheroine.

I enjoyed the immensely. They are very action packed and fast paced. The first issue is more of an intro to Jess..the second issue wastes no time getting into the story.

Karla knows Jess well and she s heavily referencing Spider-Woman Origin by Bendis.

[Immortal Hulk]

I enjoyed the immensely. They are very action packed and fast paced. The first issue is more of an intro to Jess..the second issue wastes no time getting into the story.

Karla knows Jess well and she s heavily referencing Spider-Woman Origin by Bendis.

Great! I'll check it!

Is she already wearing the new costume?

[Seren]

Great! I'll check it!

Is she already wearing the new costume?

She is! It's explained in the second story of issue #1.

[Immortal Hulk]

She is! It's explained in the second story of issue #1.

Awesome. I think it's a fantastic design, by the way. Specially if you consider that Spider-Woman has one of the (original) best uniform designs ever created, imo.

[Seren]

I wasn't a fan at first, but I love the costume now. There's more to it than meets the eye.

[OBrianTallent]

I'm still not sold on the costume, but this was an amazing first two issues. More so than anything else it felt like it could be a continuation of the original series, which for me is high praise. The Hopeless runs were good...but these two issues feel like Jess.

[Seren]

I wonder if Karla is going to expand on the clones Jessica had killed back in Origin?

[batnbreakfast]

I'm still not sold on the costume, but this was an amazing first two issues. More so than anything else it felt like it could be a continuation of the original series, which for me is high praise. The Hopeless runs were good...but these two issues feel like Jess.

Only knowing the Hopeless run (I loved it)... was she out of character there?

[Seren]

Only knowing the Hopeless run (I loved it)... was she out of character there?

Wow I need to not respond til I have coffee - Dermie's response is better.

[Dermie]

Only knowing the Hopeless run (I loved it)... was she out of character there?

No, I wouldn't say she was out of character in the Hopeless run. Her life had gone through some big changes (such as having a baby) so we were seeing different sides to her personality and her attitudes on certain things shifting due to her change in perspective--but that's not the same thing as out of character. Her core personality was still the same Jessica Drew -- her life was just different now.

[batnbreakfast]

Wow I need to not respond til I have coffee - Dermie's response is better.

Coffee should always be the first thing in the morning

No, I wouldn't say she was out of character in the Hopeless run. Her life had gone through some big changes (such as having a baby) so we were seeing different sides to her personality and her attitudes on certain things shifting due to her change in perspective--but that's not the same thing as out of character. Her core personality was still the same Jessica Drew -- her life was just different now.

Thanx. If she's still a single mom I'll read this run in trades. If they pulled a Catwoman I won't.