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Spider-Woman by Dennis Hopeless
Collects SPIDER-WOMAN (2014) #1-10, SPIDER-WOMAN (2015) #1-5 and #8-17, and material from AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (2015) #1
The mother of all Spider-Woman sagas! Writer Dennis Hopeless takes Jessica Drew on a life-transforming journey - beginning by embroiling her in the multidimensional insanity of SPIDER-VERSE! Then, Jess heads back into the investigating business with reporter Ben Urich at her side. And their first case is a Someone is kidnapping super villains' loved ones! Get ready for a new nemesis in Lady Caterpillar - and a prickly Silver Age bad guy joins Team Spider-Woman! But he isn't the only addition to the Jess is a mother-to-be! What a terrible time to be abducted by Skrulls! And just as Jess' baby arrives, the Marvel Universe erupts in a second superhuman Civil War! Will new mom Spider-Woman stand against her best friend, Captain Marvel?
The mother of all Spider-Woman sagas! Writer Dennis Hopeless takes Jessica Drew on a life-transforming journey - beginning by embroiling her in the multidimensional insanity of SPIDER-VERSE! Then, Jess heads back into the investigating business with reporter Ben Urich at her side. And their first case is a Someone is kidnapping super villains' loved ones! Get ready for a new nemesis in Lady Caterpillar - and a prickly Silver Age bad guy joins Team Spider-Woman! But he isn't the only addition to the Jess is a mother-to-be! What a terrible time to be abducted by Skrulls! And just as Jess' baby arrives, the Marvel Universe erupts in a second superhuman Civil War! Will new mom Spider-Woman stand against her best friend, Captain Marvel?
531 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 7, 2023
8 people are currently reading
35 people want to read
About the author
Dennis Hopeless
528 books118 followersDennis "Hopeless" Hallum is an American comics writer from Kansas City, Missouri who has written for Marvel Comics, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Boom! Studios, Arcana Studio, and Oni Press.
See also under Dennis Hallum
See also under Dennis Hallum
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
November 4, 2024
Dennis Hopeless has a good run chronicling the life of Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman.
The book starts poorly, as Drew is mired in a Spider-Verse crossover driven by Morlun and the Inheritors -- a multiverse saga I gladly skipped at the time. But even she is tired of all the cosmic superhero garbage and the book pivots to let her return to her private investigation career and become a street-level hero who gets involved in cases involving bank robberies, kidnapping, and domestic violence with the help of reporter Ben Urich and a reformed(-ish) super villain named Porcupine. Eventually, she becomes pregnant and the book really hits its stride as she copes with a baby bump while bumping bad guys onto their butts. Her childbirth is of course, appropriately ludicrous for a superhero, involving aliens and a black hole.
The Civil War II event makes an unwelcome intrusion, and toward the end an unnecessary romance is shoved into the book, but hey, it's all good as Hopeless leans into the amusing cringe of the relationship.
I regret I didn't get to this series earlier, but it's nice to have it all under one cover now (well, except for two issues that are part of a "Spider-Women" crossover sequence and collected separately).
FOR REFERENCE:
Originally published in single magazine form as Spider-Woman [2014-2015] #1-10 and Spider-Woman [2015-2017] #1-5, 8-17, with additional material from Amazing Spider-Man [2015-2018] #1.
The book starts poorly, as Drew is mired in a Spider-Verse crossover driven by Morlun and the Inheritors -- a multiverse saga I gladly skipped at the time. But even she is tired of all the cosmic superhero garbage and the book pivots to let her return to her private investigation career and become a street-level hero who gets involved in cases involving bank robberies, kidnapping, and domestic violence with the help of reporter Ben Urich and a reformed(-ish) super villain named Porcupine. Eventually, she becomes pregnant and the book really hits its stride as she copes with a baby bump while bumping bad guys onto their butts. Her childbirth is of course, appropriately ludicrous for a superhero, involving aliens and a black hole.
The Civil War II event makes an unwelcome intrusion, and toward the end an unnecessary romance is shoved into the book, but hey, it's all good as Hopeless leans into the amusing cringe of the relationship.
I regret I didn't get to this series earlier, but it's nice to have it all under one cover now (well, except for two issues that are part of a "Spider-Women" crossover sequence and collected separately).
FOR REFERENCE:
Originally published in single magazine form as Spider-Woman [2014-2015] #1-10 and Spider-Woman [2015-2017] #1-5, 8-17, with additional material from Amazing Spider-Man [2015-2018] #1.
October 8, 2023
I'm so glad Spider-Woman is getting some more stories and I love when some off beat character like The Porcupine explored more deeply. These stories are just fun.
February 2, 2025
You know what?
It's five stars, what the hell.
It's relatable to young parents, it's fun, the art is beautiful, has this modern feel and doesn't need to go Tom King or Lemire depressed bleakness on you. Most importlanty, the main character feels like a real person and not just a heap of past references and sh tropes.
It's five stars, what the hell.
It's relatable to young parents, it's fun, the art is beautiful, has this modern feel and doesn't need to go Tom King or Lemire depressed bleakness on you. Most importlanty, the main character feels like a real person and not just a heap of past references and sh tropes.
February 5, 2024
fun stuff
February 24, 2025
"See, there you go. My new life may be a stumbling, bumbling undercooked mess, but until now I hadn't heard the word multiverse in three months. And that's awesome, I don't care what the multiverse is doing."
For a while, when Bendis launched his New Avengers team, it seemed as if Jessica Drew was finally getting her deserved time in the spotlight. This of course led to Secret Invasion, which made it so Jess' time at the forefront felt like a fluke. Jessica would then go on to take a more supportive role in most stories, always being a character that writers could use but without getting much done for herself. She always felt like an easy character to pick to fill out a roster for the big yearly event.
Such was the case for Dan Slott's first Spider-Verse event. At first sight, you couldn't be blamed for thinking she doesn't really belong there. While she has "Spider" in her title, much of her story has never been connected to Peter's (their powersets are vastly different). However, the event was a chance to give her a new solo ongoing series, written by Dennis Hopeless. While the first few issues follow Jessica during the events of Spider-Verse, Hopeless' writing shines in how it shapes Jessica's unique voice in a sea of spider-people. The art is nothing particularly impressive but the turning point comes at the end of issue #4, when she announces that she's quitting the Avengers.
"You have your normal, I have mine."
Issue 5 is when the nee status quo truly begins, and it's clear right from the start that this is a Jessica in search of her own story. No longer a side character, no longer the scapegoat. Jessica moves into the role of a superpowered private investigator, adds Ben Urich and later Roger Gocking as her partners, with Carol Danvers always being one phone call away. The art moves to more light-hearted and colorful style, and combined with Hopeless witty writing it makes for one hell of an entertaining run.
After 2015 Secret Wars ended, Jess would return in a way that pretty much no one expected. A decision that remains controversial to this day. Jessica Drew was about to be a mother. And here's my secret: I like the second volume even better than the first one. Women in comics have always gotten the short end of the stick. Murdered, assaulted, captured; a token used to push the male character forward. Jess choosing to be a mother on her own terms, with a cast that despite everything is willing to support her, is heartwarming and refreshing.
Of course that doesn't mean that motherhood was going to be easy. Skrulls attack at the time of delivery, she gets stranded in Spider-Gwen's universe (issues not collected here), the second superhuman Civil War breaks out, Hobgoblin shenanigans occur, and of course little Gerry Drew wasn't going to be the easiest kid to raise. But it's all told with the highest respect to her character, she remains the same snarky, feisty and wonderful character that Hopeless so clearly cares about.
At the end, Hopeless Spider-Woman felt like a reclamation of the character, a change-up that made her feel like her own. She's definitely had more prominence since, as her solo series got two more volumes, an alternate version appeared in Across the Spider-Verse, she joined a team with Bucky and now the West Coast Avengers, she even has a skin in Fortnite!
I can't speak to how her character has been treated more recently in comics (haven't read them yet), but whatever the case is, Hopeless' run remains one of my favorites ever and the reason as to why Jessica Drew is one of my favorite Marvel characters of all time.
"Enough! That's more than enough out of you! I'm @#$!% happy! Okay?! For the first time ever, I love my stupid life!"
For a while, when Bendis launched his New Avengers team, it seemed as if Jessica Drew was finally getting her deserved time in the spotlight. This of course led to Secret Invasion, which made it so Jess' time at the forefront felt like a fluke. Jessica would then go on to take a more supportive role in most stories, always being a character that writers could use but without getting much done for herself. She always felt like an easy character to pick to fill out a roster for the big yearly event.
Such was the case for Dan Slott's first Spider-Verse event. At first sight, you couldn't be blamed for thinking she doesn't really belong there. While she has "Spider" in her title, much of her story has never been connected to Peter's (their powersets are vastly different). However, the event was a chance to give her a new solo ongoing series, written by Dennis Hopeless. While the first few issues follow Jessica during the events of Spider-Verse, Hopeless' writing shines in how it shapes Jessica's unique voice in a sea of spider-people. The art is nothing particularly impressive but the turning point comes at the end of issue #4, when she announces that she's quitting the Avengers.
"You have your normal, I have mine."
Issue 5 is when the nee status quo truly begins, and it's clear right from the start that this is a Jessica in search of her own story. No longer a side character, no longer the scapegoat. Jessica moves into the role of a superpowered private investigator, adds Ben Urich and later Roger Gocking as her partners, with Carol Danvers always being one phone call away. The art moves to more light-hearted and colorful style, and combined with Hopeless witty writing it makes for one hell of an entertaining run.
After 2015 Secret Wars ended, Jess would return in a way that pretty much no one expected. A decision that remains controversial to this day. Jessica Drew was about to be a mother. And here's my secret: I like the second volume even better than the first one. Women in comics have always gotten the short end of the stick. Murdered, assaulted, captured; a token used to push the male character forward. Jess choosing to be a mother on her own terms, with a cast that despite everything is willing to support her, is heartwarming and refreshing.
Of course that doesn't mean that motherhood was going to be easy. Skrulls attack at the time of delivery, she gets stranded in Spider-Gwen's universe (issues not collected here), the second superhuman Civil War breaks out, Hobgoblin shenanigans occur, and of course little Gerry Drew wasn't going to be the easiest kid to raise. But it's all told with the highest respect to her character, she remains the same snarky, feisty and wonderful character that Hopeless so clearly cares about.
At the end, Hopeless Spider-Woman felt like a reclamation of the character, a change-up that made her feel like her own. She's definitely had more prominence since, as her solo series got two more volumes, an alternate version appeared in Across the Spider-Verse, she joined a team with Bucky and now the West Coast Avengers, she even has a skin in Fortnite!
I can't speak to how her character has been treated more recently in comics (haven't read them yet), but whatever the case is, Hopeless' run remains one of my favorites ever and the reason as to why Jessica Drew is one of my favorite Marvel characters of all time.
"Enough! That's more than enough out of you! I'm @#$!% happy! Okay?! For the first time ever, I love my stupid life!"
July 4, 2024
Following the events of the Spider-Verse, Jessica decides she's had enough being a big-time superhero and wants to go small time. This leads her to a partnership with Ben Urich for some detective work and later a reformed Porcupine joins them. Somehow, this seemingly incompatible group works. There's some great character development and synergy between them.
Eventually, Jessica's pregnancy and then motherhood are thrown into the mix, making things even more interesting. Carol Danvers makes multiple guest appearances as well.
I really enjoyed this series. Not your typical superhero comic, and the art and story meshed well.
Eventually, Jessica's pregnancy and then motherhood are thrown into the mix, making things even more interesting. Carol Danvers makes multiple guest appearances as well.
I really enjoyed this series. Not your typical superhero comic, and the art and story meshed well.
August 22, 2025
One of the best street-level Marvel books ever made with incredible Rodriguez art on top of it
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews