Comic Review: Spider-Woman (2020-) #1

Spider-Woman (2020-) #1

Marvel Comics

Writer: Karla Pacheco

Artists: Pere Perez, Paulo Siqueira

Comics like these are hard ones for me to write about. Spider-Woman is one of my absolute favorite characters in comics. I’m very much wearing a Spider-Woman t-shirt while I write this. I will do my best to separate my fanboy reaction, and the more “neutral” mind I review comics with. I mean, I really like this issue, from both points of view, don’t get me wrong. This is just me rambling to get my mind and fingers flowing. With that out of the way, let’s talk about Spider-Woman #1.

At the birthday party of a billionaire’s daughter, there’s an attempt at kidnapping. But, unluckily for the attackers, Jessica Drew is working as private security to prevent that sort of thing. Spy, detective, Avenger and mother, Jessica Drew is Spider-Woman, and she doesn’t hesitate to start kicking ass. But the only problem is, she’s not feeling too well.

The ending of that paragraph sounds really cheesy, but I promise that that’s pretty much exactly what we see in this first issue. There’s a party on a boat, some kidnappers crash that party, and Spider-Woman immediately starts beating people. Throughout the issue, she’s not feeling well, and it leads into a pretty good hook of an ending. I really enjoy Karla Pacheco’s take on the character. It fits in with the most major characterization of her from the last series. It’s not really “hero” work she’s doing, but Jessica Drew will do what she has to provide for her family. With her skills, it just happens to involve punching guys with guns.

Pere Perez is a great artist. If you haven’t seen his work yet, this is a great opportunity to check it out. This issue is filled with a lot of action and it’s very dynamic. The first page is particularly good, with individual shots of Spider-Woman fighting against a black background with no borders or anything. Wallpaper material. Along with the coloring from Frank D’Armata, the art in this issue is great. The biggest problem I have with this issue is the new costume. It’s not even a problem, really, more of a gripe. I’m just not fond of it. There’s an 8-page story at the end of this issue that gives an in-story explanation for the new costume, and with that, I’m more okay with it than I was going into this.

The art in that backup (from Paulo Siqueira, Oren Junior, and D’Amarta) is also good. There are no complaints about it. In time this new costume will grow on me, I’m sure. It’s not something I’ll take points off of this first issue for, either. Characters change and grow all the time in comics, and costumes are part of that. Overall, again, I really enjoy this first issue of Spider-Woman. There’s good handling of the character from Karla Pacheco, and enough story and mystery to keep it interesting for the second issue. The art for both the main and backup story looks great. As a genuine fan of the character, I think other fans will enjoy this issue also. And if you aren’t a fan, this is a good place to start.