Spider-Woman, Vol. 1: Gang War

Spider-Woman (2023)

by Steve Foxe, Carola Borelli (Illustrator), Arif Prianto (Colorist)

The world has changed for Spider-Woman! The Web of Life and Destiny restored Jessica Drew's existence, but Carol Danvers and the precognitive Madame Web can tell something is different. Where is Spider-Woman's infant son, Gerry?! Meanwhile, the Viper has engineered a deadly union between Hydra and Diamondback that's about to tear the city apart - and bring forth a new foe powerful enough to destroy New York while burning Spider-Woman's world to the ground! As a Gang War rages and Spider-Man reaches out to recruit Jess to a new team, Spider-Woman digs into the shadowy corners of her past while pursuing her own very personal agenda. She may be lost in darkness, but she won't be fighting alone. Not when her best friend is Captain Marvel! Collecting SPIDER-WOMAN (2023) #1-5 and material from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2022) #31.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

136 pages, Paperback

Published July 2, 2024

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actually quite a bit of fun and not overshadowed or derailed for being part of an "Event."

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slight SPOILERS, if you care about that sort of thing.

This was one of the better Gang War tie-ins, and I’m delighted Jess has her own book again, but I did feel that the plot dealing with the fallout from Jess’ ‘death’ in the last Spider-Verse crossover warranted its own story-arc. Having to fit in all the Gang War stuff dragged Jess’ own stuff down, unfortunately.

[Anna Quilter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Max : 10

Art : 6
Writing : 6
Storyline. : 7

Jessica has a mix of everything here....a repercussion from the Spider Verse event....Gang War fights with Diamondback....and what you might call...an unexpected shock!
And no I didn't see that coming.

[Guilherme Smee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mais uma tentativa (que não deu certo) de encampar um novo título da Mulher-Aranha Jessica Drew. Muitas vezes o problema é que o público não entende a personagem. Dessa vez foi o roteirista, Steve Foxe que não a entendeu. Para começar, ela é colocada no meio da Guerra de Gangues em Nova York em que enfrenta o vilão do Luke Cage, o Cascavel, um personagem bastante inexpressivo dentro do Universo Marvel. A busca de Jessica Drew se dá para resgatar seu filho, Gerry, das mãos da Hidra, que o sequestrou enquanto ela estava perdida pelo Aranhaverso. As soluções que Foxe encontra são muito bobas e as histórias são difíceis de empolgar, principalmente as relacionadas com essa saga do Homem-Aranha. Talvez a melhor parte deste encadernado seja a última história dele, em que Jessica se une com Bailey Briggs, o Garoto-Aranha e que, não por acaso, não faz parte da saga aracnídea.

[Adam Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.
Spider-Woman always feels like a well-rounded and grounded book. She usually stays away from overarching Spidey stuff, and runs usually much closer with Avengers. Overall, almost always a good read.
Highlights:
- Now that Jessica has been "spun" into the Web of Life and Destiny, she is anxious to get back to normal... only one HUGE problem. Gerry, her son, is not only missing, but no one seems to remember his existence
- Jess has her part to play in the "Gang War" crossover, and hers is dealing with a team-up between Diamondback and Hydra.
- Hydra has a new heavy hitter in Green Mamba, but it is unveiled that he is a grown version of her son Gerry! The Volume ends before figuring out everything with all of this, but I'm confident that whole story will be reversed. Jess deserves to raise her son...
- Captain Marvel, being Jess' best friend, makes several appearances, though I look forward to seeing how her main title and her involvement with the Avengers have things going.
- Lastly, we see a team-up with Spider-Boy, another "forgotten" hero spun back into the Web. Still looking for answers on this kid too.

Overall, a good Volume. Looking forward to what happens next. Hopefully answers....
Recommend.

[Tyler Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can’t find when this story is technically supposed to end but I’m gonna assume it’s with issue 4 since that’s her last Gang War issue. This corner of the war was pretty devastating and I feel really bad for Jessica. What Hydra has done to her is messed up and now I’m intrigued enough to keep reading this series post Gang War. Excited to keep going with it.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe it's too much listening to the Cerebro podcast, but I feel like undoing children is a too-common plot device. The desire to revert to the status quo outweighs the desire to move a story forward.

Here, they feint that way for a long time until it becomes obvious who the new character is.

[MoonKnight · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read! Really enjoying the current spider-woman stories!

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comic starts off good. Jess has always been an interesting character and Foxe writes her and her supporting cast well. Then with Diamondback horning in on NYC territory, it looked like this was going to be the most solid of the Gang War crossovers.

Unfortunately, it quickly goes to heck. The whole missing-baby story ends up intertwined with the Gang War in ways that strain credulity. Then Foxe goes for absolutely, positively the most cliched answer that he could, one that was old and tired decades ago. (Was the whole Jess has a baby plot EVER a good one? I suspect not. But to go in the direction Foxe does is even worse.) Meanwhile, the whole Gang War fizzles out due to this other plotline.

The fifth issue, with its tie-in to Spider-Boy is a return to form, making me suspect Foxe is a good writer who made one really, really bad choice. But we'll see how the second volume goes.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spider-Woman's back! (from an event I didn't read) And she's missing her kid! And no one remembers she even had a kid! And a gang war's going on! It's a lot for one person to handle, but fortunately Spider-Woman has plenty of friends to help her take on Diamondback and his Hydra backers.

This is an action-packed, fast-paced volume that doesn't get too bogged down in the event crossover stuff - though, what a rude way to bring a series back, forcing its first volume into an event?? The twist reveal of "who is the Green Mamba?" is not entirely surprising, but it's a shockingly bad turn for poor Jessica Drew. Like, is there really anything darker than your son being kidnapped by Hydra, aged up, and turned into a supervillain who hates his mom's guts?. Bleak!

The final issue is a silly crossover with Spider Boy that ends things on a lighter note at least. Nothing earth-shattering in this Spider-Women reboot, but the dark edge has me intrigued to continue reading.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Steve Foxe is a name I'm starting to take a lot of notice of recently. He's been popping up on books left and right, and they've all been pretty damn good - his newest volume of Spider-Woman is also pretty damn good.

With Carla Pacheco's superb run over and the Dennis Hopeless pregnancy duo run before that in the rearview, it was about time Jess got back into the spotlight. Sure, her first arc's as part of the bigger Spider-Man Gang War crossover, but Foxe manages to carve Jess out a section of the fight for herself which is deeply personal, and even manages to throw in some Spider-Verse continuity and the most Sailor Moon ass plot twist I've ever seen (he says affectionately).

Say yes to the Jess, make sure you're reading Spider-Woman.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of strange to start off a new arc and creative team on an event tie-in, but it mostly works and isn't too bad. Jessica Drew lost her connection to the Web of Life and Destiny and her infant son, Gerry, was forgotten by nearly everyone, shades of what happened with Spider-Boy. Now that she's back, she's trying to find her son while at the same time there's a gang war for control of New York happening around her. With cameos by Captain Marvel and Spider-Boy, this wasn't a bad start to her new adventures, but it wasn't all that great, either. Some really strong artwork throughout. This is definitely worth keeping up with for now.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Starting ANOTHER 'Spider-Woman' series during a crossover..MIGHT not be a good idea

Still reeling from being erased from reality, Spider-Woman is on the hunt to find the thing nobody remembers. It doesn't look like a city wide ban on superheroes will do much to stop any of their rescue attempts.
===
Bonus: Oh, look. Green Mamba has the same abilities as Spider-Woman...

[Fernando Duarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

la historia es muy básica y nisiquiera me intereso para leer el evento completo, la historia de su hijo que le lavo el cerebro hydra me dió mucha tristeza, spider boy se me hizo muy lindo y la participación de captain Marvel está muy bien

[Larakaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dont like what they did with her child. It's so...generic.

[Braulio Valenzuela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comienzo normalón para una nueva etapa.

[Justin Greer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this return to the character and the ongoing mystery is fascinating to me. Tons of great character moments here.

[Néstor Vargas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit better tie-in story. Jessica has an interesting motivation, and even though she just stumbles upon the Gang War, it was cool to see her back.

[Emmett Spain · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great start to this new run, loaded with dynamic art. It may only be tangential to the Gang War event, but it’s deeply consequential for Jess. Looking forward to more.

[Jack Morelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably my second or third favorite part of gang war? This was solid enough. Definitely felt the most like an actual story with emotional conflict and stakes (even if her son randomly being an adult villain was wild and hard to follow bc I hadn’t read whatever story came before this) .

[Lisandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,8 + 3,6 = 3,7