An ending and a beginning.
Creative Staff:
Story: Dennis Hopeless
Art: Greg Land, Jay Leisten
What They Say:
Jessica comes out of Spider-Verse changed, but what can she do now? Don’t miss this character-defining chapter!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It’s been an interesting experience reading some of the crossover books from Spider-Verse but not the actual series itself. While I missed a lot, I got the gist of it and I actually end up with some of the epilogue material here in this installment. This series is one that definitely had a positive and negative start in terms of story because if you were into Spider-Verse, it was an extension of the story that gave Jessica Drew her own book. If not, you were coming in not knowing what the heck was going on. Thankfully, the team here managed to pull it off for the most part and made it enjoyable. This issue provides some closure to that storyline, and Jessica’s involvement in the Avengers, in order to fully send her out on her own story now. Which has me excited for what’s to come.
But before then, we get a couple of clean-up measures that have to be dealt with, which makes for some good fun. The opening of the book takes us back to the Loomworld dimension where Jessica has come to set things right before going back to her own dimension. Here, Pirate Jess is living the life on the high seas with her crew and Namor, but Jessica knows that there’s more for her to do there than this, since as different as they are, they’re still alike. So seeing her push Jess hard enough into taking on the role of a leader rather than a fight here, to fill the void left by the caging of the Inheritors, makes a lot of sense. It gives us a bit of action as Jessica’s team from the other dimensions help out a bit, but mostly everything is wrapped up tidily enough while still being open enough for more visits in the future to see how it all works out.
The primary Earth based story here is a pretty good one too as it goes in a different direction but is still all about the closure. With Jessica and Carol Danvers being such good friends all these years, it’s fun to watch as Jessica basically asks her to be her quiet backup so she can go see “Grandad Steve” and quit the Avengers. After dealing with so many reality altering experiences, the desire to get back down to the streets is what she’s all about, to make the small but huge differences in peoples lives. Of course, it has to all play out amid a battle itself thanks to some chaos in the Avengers Tower, but the point is made nicely. Jessica is looking to move on from this part of her life for awhile, though always an Avenger, and after seeing so many different realities and possibilities, it’s time to shake it up for her. Naturally, the biggest shake-up will be the new costume in the next issue, but the dialogue between her and Carol over costumes is priceless and worth it just for that.
In Summary:
While I didn’t have a hard time reading Spider-Woman as it spun out amid the Spider-Verse event, it didn’t really connect me with the character in a needed way. We start to get more of that here as she begins to assert herself and what she wants out of life and that’s a big positive for her and the book. Bringing closure to the character’s extended time in that event and her time in the Avengers in general is what this is all about, but it also feels more personal and human because of her conversations not only with her other self on Loomworld but because she hangs out with a longtime friend in Carol. I like Silk and Spider-Gwen, but they were friends forged in fire. Carol and Jess go back a whole lot longer and with a lot more history, so it all carries a bit more weight. I enjoyed the first four issues overall, but I’m more excited by what the next issue will bring more than anything else as her new chapter truly begins.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Marvel Comics via ComiXology
Release Date: February 11th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
