It’s the end of Spider-Woman this week in an action-packed finale by Karla Pacheco and Pere Perez. The duo has given us two years of stories featuring Spider-Woman kicking ass and taking names. It’s been a wild ride involving Jessica’s family, messing with her powers, famously changing her costume, and generally having so much fun along the way. It’s now up to Jessica to defeat many of the villains she has fought over the course of this series and they go by the name The Anti-Arach9!
If this issue is proof of anything it’s that Pacheco should be writing Deadpool. From the self-referential jokes, the editors notes that pile up and in some cases involve conversations with Pacheco and the editors, to clever onomatopoeia Spider-Woman #21 delights more senses than most comics are capable of.
From the opening page, this issue is wall-to-wall action. Perez impresses with some new tricks like double-page layouts that keep the action moving with panels overlaid. In one case, the double-page splash features an entire city block, for instance. You’ll laugh out loud at least once (the T-Rex got me here), cringe as bones are broken, and feel thoroughly impressed by the entire affair. This is as action-packed as any comic you’ll read this week.
Check out that punch sound effect. Bro!
Credit: Marvel
Even with all the fighting, Pacheco gives us plenty to read with constant dialogue and the occasional bit of captioning to put us inside Spider-Woman’s head. In some sense, this issue is like a recap episode of a television show as Jessica recounts each villain in different ways, helping readers remember their last altercation. That’s fitting for a finale to a series run.
Perez is backed up by Frank D’Armata on colors and Travis Lanham on letters. There are a lot of sound effects in this book amping up the action frenzy and the comic book fun. There are some cases where it has to be Lanham’s letters in the sound effects while a “Crack!!” of a broken arm built into an arm must be Perez. Colors by D’Armata are great, adding a clean look and never skimping on shadow work. The book has a 3D feel thanks to D’Armata’s great lighting.
Spider-Woman never tried to be anything more than action-heavy fun with a heavy dose of personality and it’s clear the creative team has pulled that off here and cranked it to 11. For the action aficionados, if you were paying by the punch, Spider-Woman #21 is the best deal on shelves. It’s sad to see this series go, but it’s made itself heard loud and clear that comics can be fun, violent, and have a lot of heart.
Join the AIPT Patreon
Want to take our relationship to the next level? Become a patron today to gain access to exclusive perks, such as:
- ❌ Remove all ads on the website
- 💬 Join our Discord community, where we chat about the latest news and releases from everything we cover on AIPT
- 📗 Access to our monthly book club
- 📦 Get a physical trade paperback shipped to you every month
- 💥 And more!
You must be logged in to post a comment.