Spider Woman #5 Spoilers/Discussion

[Darthfury78]

This was a rather good issue. Might even be better than Silk #1 and Spider-Gwen #1, both of which were solid.

Ben Urich was a smart choice for a supporting cast member, given the effort to sell Spider-Woman to fans of Spider-Man.

And I like the ways Spider-Woman is shown as being different than other superheroes. Her journey (trying to find her own identity after years tied to the Avengers) can be an interesting one. And the art's nice.

I have always said that if Jessica is integrated into Spider-Man's world where by some of his rogue galleries and supporting cast are a part of Jessica's own, then the Spider-Man readers might support the Spider-Woman series. I am glad to see that the creative team are doing something about this where as previous creative teams have avoided using anything that was Spider-Man related unto Jessica's world.

While I know that that in itself is no guarantee, it does take a good writer who knows the characters history to make the stories compelling.

[Darrin Kelley]

The world doesn't and shouldn't revolve around Spider-Man.

Jessica has always been her own person who chose her own direction in life. Strong, independent, and committed to doing things her own way. It was that way in her classic series. And it is only being true to the character to continue in that direction.

What I want out of this series is pretty simple. To see Jessica Drew treated as a viable front running character again. To develop her own cast of characters and rogues gallery.

You also have to remember one thing really important. Spider-Woman doesn't keep many enemies. Because she's always listening to and helping out the majority of the villains she encounters.

[Darthfury78]

The world doesn't and shouldn't revolve around Spider-Man.

Jessica has always been her own person who chose her own direction in life. Strong, independent, and committed to doing things her own way. It was that way in her classic series. And it is only being true to the character to continue in that direction.

What I want out of this series is pretty simple. To see Jessica Drew treated as a viable front running character again. To develop her own cast of characters and rogues gallery.

You also have to remember one thing really important. Spider-Woman doesn't keep many enemies. Because she's always listening to and helping out the majority of the villains she encounters.

So does Silver Sable when she helped out a lot of people as well, and Silver Sable never revolved about Spider-Man any more than The Punisher or Kaine Parker . What I do want to see is the occasional Peter Parker guest appearance in Jessica's world rather than as Spider-Man.

I know that there is a lot of people who feels that Spider-Man should have no part in Jessica's world at all on the basis that they are Spider-Themed characters. But there are two very different people with very different origins who might have a lot in common. Thus an occasional guest appearance by Peter Parker would not and should not take anything away from Jessica Drew anymore than Hawkeye or Captain Marvel would.

Besides that, Peter is one of Jessica's closest friends. It would be cool if Hopeless gets the chance to explore Jessica's friendship with Peter in the same manner as her friendship with Carol Danvers.

[Probalus]

Don't mind a guess appearance by Spidey here or there. But Jess needs to develop her own world, own supporting characters, own villains, etc. She needs to stand on her own. That's always been a big part of her character and needs to stay that way.

[Frontier]

Uh, did something happens to this character's flight and super-strength or is it some sort of self-imposed thing?

Also I'm just getting into but I have to ask: did she unmask herself or come out as a hero sometime ago? Is that why she doesn't seem to care about a secret identity?

Veranke as Jess joined the Pro-Reg side, so presumably her identity is public now, and I'm pretty sure she sported Jess' unmasked face publicly during the final fight of Secret Invasion.

[Darthfury78]

Veranke as Jess joined the Pro-Reg side, so presumably her identity is public now, and I'm pretty sure she sported Jess' unmasked face publicly during the final fight of Secret Invasion.

In retrospect, I wished that Bendis never used that Skrull Queen Veranke angle for Jessica as all of her development was flushed into the toilet because of that. I hope to see Veranke once again.

[responsarbre]

Uh, did something happens to this character's flight and super-strength or is it some sort of self-imposed thing?

Also I'm just getting into but I have to ask: did she unmask herself or come out as a hero sometime ago? Is that why she doesn't seem to care about a secret identity?

Jessica Drew proper never had the ability to fly - that's just Veranke when she was imitating her. Jessica only glides with her webby things.

I didn't get the vibe that her super-strength was ignored. She did a good job busting up that giant metal robot with kicks and venom. And why would you tear down a wall with your bare fists? I don't know if her super-strength even rates high enough to do that, and even if it does, that's an awkward thing to do.

[Spider-Brit]

I really enjoyed this issue, I thought that the plan to make Jessica a street level hero was an intersting idea and I hope that the solid start this issue made in the new direction continues, Was so glad that LAnd was not on this anymore too. still for those that may wish to read them i posted a further indepth review here

http://themanwhocollectsspiderman.bl...ts-spider.html

[Probalus]

Jessica Drew proper never had the ability to fly - that's just Veranke when she was imitating her. Jessica only glides with her webby things.

I didn't get the vibe that her super-strength was ignored. She did a good job busting up that giant metal robot with kicks and venom. And why would you tear down a wall with your bare fists? I don't know if her super-strength even rates high enough to do that, and even if it does, that's an awkward thing to do.

Her strength is (or at one point was) rated higher than Spider-Man's... So probably. Not that I think it's a good idea though.

[Spider-Chan]

Don't mind a guess appearance by Spidey here or there. But Jess needs to develop her own world, own supporting characters, own villains, etc. She needs to stand on her own. That's always been a big part of her character and needs to stay that way.

Agree. Something that I disliked about the last Spider-Girl series was how the book was basically a tie-in to TASM. Anya kept fighting against the villains Spider-Man was fighting around that same time (The Kravinoffs, Hobglobin, Kingpin, Screwball TWO TIMES!!!) and, even thought Tobin did write a good Anya, his Spider-Girl and her adventures felt more like "female teenage Spider-Man".


About the issue, I really enjoyed it! I'm really liking the direction of the series. It's easily my favorite spider-title!

[SickAlice]

I like it. Bringing Jess down to Earth is befitting of her already down to Earth character. The new costume works on panel with the backdrop and isn't as glaring as on the covers (I think a more painted approach or acrylic would lend itself better there). Love the Dardevil-esque tone of the whole thing. Very impressed and I smell a sleeper hit in the making. Happy to be on board this one.

[Darthfury78]

Agree. Something that I disliked about the last Spider-Girl series was how the book was basically a tie-in to TASM. Anya kept fighting against the villains Spider-Man was fighting around that same time (The Kravinoffs, Hobglobin, Kingpin, Screwball TWO TIMES!!!) and, even thought Tobin did write a good Anya, his Spider-Girl and her adventures felt more like "female teenage Spider-Man".


About the issue, I really enjoyed it! I'm really liking the direction of the series. It's easily my favorite spider-title!

When I implied that some of Spider-Man's rogue galleries should be transferred unto Jessica's own, I never meant that those villains would be involved in any ASM tie ins at all. And a good example are villains who have not been seen in the pages of ASM in a long time, like Stix & Stone, and Spidercide.

[Ragdoll]

I didn't like Spider-Verse, but I am enjoying all the new female lead Spider comics that spun out of it.
I'm worried that if I disliked Spider-Verse, I will dislike most of the Secret Wars minis (I assume it will be more stuff that is only interesting if you have a real long term investment in wanting to see old characters again).

[JKtheMac]

I was late to the party on this book. I put it way down my list. No way is this staying at the bottom of my pile in future months. This is my pick of the female led spider books.

A lot had to be established with this issue. A new look, a new direction, a clear tone, and a sense of anticipation. All are accomplished with room to spare, but more importantly they all tied into Jessica's character. We need to believe this is the same character while actually changing nearly all of the things that help establish that character.

Hopeless, Rodrigues and Lopez achieved all of this by literally driving the story forward from the first page, putting Jessica on a bike in the rain. The scene reflects back, but the images and the story-telling drive us inevitably forwards towards the new. They all bring somthing to the party here. Hopeless finds a new but recognisable voice, establishing a want for the character and gives us insight into her internal struggle. Rodrigues draws dynamic layouts allowing Jessica the freedom to express herself physically with intent and drive against the static rainfall. His colour pallet is multifaceted, playing with maroon, and pink tones. Jessica's costume is always shifting in the light, expressing nuanced layers and avoiding the certainty of primary colours.

The digital inking is complex and conveys a surprising amount of information for a cartoon style. We get a real feel for how this costume moves and the materials it is constructed from, the city is detailed with close almost stifling detail highlighing the closed perspectives. Unusually for what appears to be a digital book the inks are not executed by the colourist which makes me uncertain how this process worked. Perhaps the inking was the point the art became digital and then that digital page was handed back to Rodrigues for colouring. However they did this it feels unified and accomplished.

As a primarily digital reader this is the perfect issue for my reading experience, if enough people give it a look this comic will sell well to the new digital market.

[MajorHoy]

Is Jess independently wealthy or something? How did she afford the motorcycle and paying rent for the office all this time? And even if that was Avengers $'s she had been using, what will she do now that she's no longer a regular Avenger? If she wants a "normal life", shouldn't she be creating a secret identity and getting a job?