Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, has seen a lot of ups and downs in her tenure, but never anything quite so humbling as her latest gig: babysitting a billionaire's daughter's birthday on a luxury yacht. But that's where writer Karla Pacheco and artist Pere Perez pick up the storied character. And she's not having a good day.
As an Avenger, Spider-Woman took on the likes of Kang the Conqueror and the Dark Avengers, but time and obscurity have forced the superheroine into more desperate straits. Now caring for her son, Gerry, alongside boyfriend Roger Gocking (also known as the former villain Porcupine), Jessica realizes she needs to earn some extra cash after she can't afford a cab home from a Doombot encounter alongside her superteam Strikeforce.
So, far from the glamor of your classic good vs. evil struggle, in this issue Jessica takes on a security gig from Michael Marchand, whose daughter Rebecca has been receiving kidnapping threats. Filled with mouthy, sexist kids (and also adorably named ponies), Jessica's frustrations mount aboard a luxury yacht. Like many Sweet 16s, things go south quick and in a hurry, as a large yet totally inept band of kidnappers show up only to find out they're out of their league as Spider-Woman beats them so badly so that the story ends up focusing mostly on her inner conflict over whether or not she should be beating them up so bad.
Pacheco sets out to tell a story of a woman who is forced into an unsavory situation by her commitments and responsibilities, and ends up bringing to the fore a certain vulnerability within the character that is both unexpectedly dark and tragically relatable. While never one for the limelight, Spider-Woman does carry with the character a sense of unrealized potential, and perhaps this is the metatextual concept that Pacheco is diving into in her wryly philosophical take on the character.
Watching as Jessica struggles to maintain self-control as the brutality of her actions mounts higher and higher is a fascinating take on the superhero-for-hire yarn, and sardonic though the humor may be, there's a lick of decency even in the outrageousness of it all. Even among the over-the-top action, Pacheco and Perez are able to provide a certain quiet indignity that pervades the piece, and it's a tone that should provide excellent drama for such a storied character.
The issue is rounded out by a second story, drawn by Paulo Sequiera and Oren Junior, and it's in the quieter, more personal moments that Pacheco's storytelling shines brightest. That, and a killer attitude from a great character, seems to rub some promise off this new title.
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