Jessica Drew is still in mourning over the death of Roger/The Porcupine. Unfortunately for whoever decided to wear his suit again, Jessica prefers to deal with grief by throwing hands.
Spider-Woman #15 (Marvel Comics)
Observations
- This flashback would be all types of hilarious if it wasn’t making me feel so sad :(
- It’s adorable how people who buy franchise rights to super villain identities expect things to be fair.
…maybe she’s just salty about how bad the Hobgoblin’s dental plan is.
- My head says listen to Ben Urich, but my heart says to follow Jessica on her motorcycle.
- PUMPKIN BOMB!
- These D-listers already had their hands full with Spider-Woman before random Hoodie Guy showed up.
- Oh c’mon…
- Come on! Are you kidding me?
- Okay, now I’m invested again.
The Verdict
Believe it or not, most reviewers want to like every issue they review—myself included. By the time I got three quarters of the way through Spider-Woman #15, however, I REALLY wanted to hate it.
I don’t want to give away why, but let’s just say that I can’t stand it when comics—especially superhero comics—use certain narrative devices to create an emotional impact, only to do a complete 180 a few months later.
That being said, Dennis Hopeless (w) and Veronica Fish’s (a) storytelling skills are just too good not to enjoy.
Let’s start with Hopeless, who somehow twists the use of my least favorite superhero comic tropes into two fantastic moments. One of them is a bit of a stretch, but Fish’s rendering of the characters’ emotional states makes it a lot more believable. The other moment, which takes us to the issue’s final page, is unequivocally awesome, playing off of Hopeless’ excellent opening flashback in a way that simultaneously raises the story’s stakes and reestablishes a sense of dread.
Am I setting myself up (again) to be disappointed? Maybe. But at least I’m still being entertained.
On the art side of things, Fish gets better every issue. In addition to her gorgeous action sequences, she makes D-List super villains look truly terrifying. She can also sequence more action into one panel than most artists do in an entire page. Combine that with her wide range of facial expressions, and Fish has officially moved from an artist I really like to one of my absolute favorites.
So yeah, I’m still a little ticked at the creative team for pulling the rug out from under us. But they’re still telling a great story, so I’m still on board.
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