Spider-Woman #1 Review

Jessica Drew returns post-Secret Wars/Battle World with a brand new number one and a bun in the oven.

Is it good?

Spider-Woman #1 (Marvel Comics)

The Plot

• The Urich/Drew pairing is still a thing, but she’s also now mentoring Roger Gocking, aka The Porcupine, into being a hero…and doing a pretty dang good job.
• No seriously…The Porcupine actually kicks some serious ass.



• Shriek sighting! How could any 90’s kid not be happy about that?
• Some (hilarious) flashbacks to Drew’s early and middle months of pregnancy help lead us into her official maternity leave.
• Tony Stark may be a genius, but he can also be pretty stupid.
• Really? Those guys again?

Is It Good?

Now this is how you do a new number 1.

First off, we open the issue with a great action sequence that’s juxtaposed with some Jessica Drew exposition to catch up on things. But she’s not simply doing an info dump. Drew’s thoughts and dialogue also give us a great taste of the surely/snarky/savvy personality that makes her one of Marvel’s best (and most underappreciated) characters.



We also get some great moments with the supporting cast, particularly the one with Urich when she thanks him for helping her. After that, writer Dennis Hopeless brings in the rest of the Marvel Universe for some great scenes—The Danvers/Drew friendship (one of my absolute favorite aspects of the series), some Hawkeye awkwardness, and what might be the best use of Spider-Man’s spidey sense that I’ve seen in years.

For longtime readers (or as ‘long time’ as we can be I guess), the issue hits all the right notes, reminding us of everything we loved and using those elements to thread a new narrative.

For new readers, it’s a near-perfect introduction to Jessica Drew’s character and her world. By the issue’s end, everyone’s on the same page…and probably rolling their eyes in unison at the villain reveal, but I trust Hopeless to do something cool with it.

On the art side of things, Javier Rodriguez is really at the top of his game. Not only does he knock out some great action sequences, but the panel layouts are impressively creative, too—particularly the one at the Avengers’ party for Jessica.

It all adds up to an issue that is definitely worth grabbing if you’ve been on the fence about putting Spider-Woman on your pull list. If you don’t like this one then the book probably isn’t for you since you clearly hate things that are wonderful and awesome. But for Jessica Drew fans, it’s a welcome return to a great series.