Spider-Woman #1: She’s A Death Weaver…

Jessica Drew is back! Marvel’s premiere private eye is back in her very own ongoing comic, and she’s bringing Dan Watters and Andrea Broccardo with her! It’s been two years since we last had Jessica in her very own ongoing series, and her presence has been sorely missed! So let’s get to this and discuss the issue at hand!

I’ve been a Jessica Drew fan since the first time I read Avengers Annual #10 (first appearance of little known mutant Rogue), and wanted more. From the very first panel where she sweeps down saving a comatose Ms. Marvel, to the scene where she’s sitting on the hospital wall, waiting to hear about the Jane Doe she saved, the book just hooked me. Unfortunately by the time I started reading comics, she had already been depowered and replaced by my second favorite Spider-Woman, Julia, and was a West Coast Avenger! So I went back and read her whole 50 issue run. From start to finish. It was great, but it was the Claremont and Leiahola run that hooked me. Consistently great, and the art! Steve Leialoha does not get the credit that he deserves! Now, you might be wondering what does that have to do with this issue, and I’ll tell you exactly what it does.

Dan Watters got the formula right. The story is dark, with a touch of noir, that really harkens back to when Jessica wasn’t just a superhero’s superhero; she was the dark angel of the night. Her villains weren’t your standard rock-em, sock-em types. The kind of villains you’d see on an animated series. These were darker, more…off-kilter, and Watters is doing that here. He’s even bringing back one of her old foes from, the Hangman, who’s a kitschy villain from the 70’s, but was far darker than he was actually portrayed thanks to the Comics Code Authority, but the guy is very on brand. Jess’s earlier stories were very reminiscent of the Rucka Batwoman Detective Comics run. The weirdest of the weird, and Watters is tapping into this.

It’s an incredibly violent book, and it touches on everything that’s been a part of Jessica’s life these last few years, including Carnage. Watters really handles the disparate parts well. Whether it’s the darker murder mystery plot, or the more superhero centric spots, he’s juggling them along masterfully. Having Ben Urich as a point man can be fun, but adding Tombstone to the mix is…sloppy. I don’t mind that they brought in a crime boss. It’s half expected, but this book needs someone a little…weirder. But if that’s my only criticism, that’s a pretty good outing for the first issue.

Andrea Broccardo’s on art here, and I’m not overly familiar with his work. His style is crisp and dramatic,it’s got a very electric and kinetic feel that gets along great with the more superheroic story, but with the darker story, not so much. I almost wish Marvel to bring in someone, maybe like Roberto De La Torre, or Mike Perkins, or a style similar to these two to handle the darker stuff, while Broccardo does the more straightforward sci-fi stuff, but it was a lot of fun to look at. I can’t wait to see where they go with this.

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