Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew)
| Spider-Woman | |
|---|---|
| File:Gspiderwoman.jpg Cover to Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1. Art by Andrea Di Vito. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Marvel Comics |
| First appearance | Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977) |
| Created by | Archie Goodwin Jim Mooney |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Jessica Drew |
| Team affiliations | New Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., HYDRA |
| Notable aliases | Arachne, Ariadne Hyde, Jessica Jones |
| Abilities | Superhuman strength, speed, agility, ability to adhere to walls, and bio-electric "venom blasts" |
Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman, is a superheroine, a fictional character in the Marvel Comics universe. The character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977).
While briefly popular in the 1970s, she was depowered and fell into disuse for years, supplanted by other Spider-Women, but has recently been revived as a member of the New Avengers.
Character biography
At a young age, Jessica Drew, daughter of Jonathan, was lethally poisoned by radiation. In an attempt to save her life, Jessica was injected with an experimental serum based on irradiated spiders' blood. Because the serum did not have any apparent effect on her, the man who would come to be known as the High Evolutionary placed her in a genetic accelerator. While in the accelerator, she aged at a decelerated rate and when finally released decades later, Drew was only fourteen years old. Jessica grew up on Mount Wundagore under the care of Bova, but eventually left there when she did not appear to fit in. Her first few years were confusing as she adjusted to life among other humans. Eventually HYDRA, under the control of Count Otto Vermis, found and recruited her. Through brainwashing and manipulation, she was convinced she was not human but actually an evolved spider. During this time, she went by the alias of Arachne. Finally, on a mission against S.H.I.E.L.D., Jessica learned HYDRA's true nature and turned on them.
Now going by the name Spider-Woman, Jessica used her new identity to track down her father's killer, initially beginning her search in London. It was during this time that Jessica was recaptured by HYDRA and brainwashed into working for them again, bringing her into direct conflict with Ben Grimm. After breaking free of HYDRA'S brainwashing, Jessica eventually came into contact with the sorceror, Magnus, and his arch enemy, Morgan le Fay. Magnus provided information that would lead Jessica to relocate to Los Angeles where she began her career as a costumed crime fighter. Jessica was pursued at this time by S.H.I.E.L.D agent Jerry Hunt, who followed her to Los Angeles to begin a romantic relationship with her.
In her early days as Spider-Woman, Jessica chose to keep her presence in Los Angeles a secret. She fought super-powered foes such as the Brothers Grimm, Hangman, the Enforcer, the Needle, Gypsy Moth and the Waxman, while forming allies such as Werewolf by Night and the Shroud. Jessica also sought to discover the true nature of her pheremones which appeared to produce a strong sexual attraction from men, while producing a feeling of repulsion from most women. This led her to the Hatros Institute and her first true job. Working as a secretary there, she was able to gain free medical treatment to suppress her pheremones so that she could move effectively amongst people without producing any unwanted side-effects. The culmination of her time at the Hatros Institute led Jessica to her encounter with Nekra, and the loss of her job.
Now unemployed, Jessica briefly considered stealing, but at the last moment decided against such a course of action. Fortunately, she came into contact with Spider-Man, who advised her to use her unique talents to help others in need. Inspired by his advice, Jessica chose to become a bounty hunter, working closely with a former FBI specialist, Scotty McDowell, who later became the Hornet. When their working relationship failed, Jessica moved with her best friend Lindsay McCabe to San Franscisco where she set up a practice as a private investigator.
It was while working as a P.I. that Jessica encountered the Viper. Two main revelations came out of this battle. The first was that Lindsay McCabe finally learned that Spider-Woman and Jessica were one and the same (although Lindsay admitted that she had guessed all along). The other was that Viper revealed herself to be Jessica's real mother. Whether this meant she was actually Miriem Drew remains unknown, but the resemblance between the two was uncanny, even fooling other HYDRA agents. [However, this revelation was later retconned in the Captain America comic to be simply a delusion of Viper. Whether this will be shown to have actually taken place remains to be seen.]
In her last adventure in her comic book, Jessica engaged in a showdown with Morgan le Fey in the 6th century. She managed to vanquish Morgan, but Jessica's human body was destroyed. Jessica was believed dead at this time, and the sorceror, Magnus, placed a spell over humanity to remove all trace of Jessica's existence. However, this spell was faulty, and Tigra and the Shroud discovered Jessica's dead body and contacted the Avengers and Dr Strange. It turned out that Jessica was in fact trapped on the astral plane, and was attempting to make contact with her body again. Morgan Le Fay (also trapped on the astral plane) attempted to foil the Avengers' attempts to revive Jessica, bringing Morgan in direct conflict with both the Avengers and Dr Strange. Eventually, Dr Strange was able to restore Jessica to her human body and trap Morgan, but it was not without a cost: Jessica appeared to lose all her super powers. Jessica was nevertheless grateful for returning to the land of the living, and continued her life simply as a private investigator in San Franscisco, assisted by Lindsay McCabe and occasionally by Tigra and the Shroud.
Jessica Drew frequented Madripoor as a private investigator. During this time she had lost her ability to discharge bioelectricity, but found that her super powers were slowly returning. She still possessed superhuman strength and agility, and the ability to cling to walls. She was an ally and confidante of Patch (a former alter-ego of Wolverine).
Jessica Drew's life settled down until Charlotte Witter, a villainess going by the name of Spider-Woman, stole her powers. After the theft, Jessica returned to her life as a private investigator and served as a teacher and mentor to Mattie Franklin (who had assumed the Spider-Woman identity at the time).
After regaining her powers from the mysterious Mr Connelly, Jessica became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D. and later joined the latest team calling themselves the Avengers. She is currently the only active Spider-Woman.
Powers and abilities
Jessica Drew possesses extraordinary strength and her flexibility, speed and reflexes are superhuman. Her hearing is hyper-acute.
She can cling to walls and other surfaces, and her enhanced musculature and stamina allow her to easily lift and carry an undetermined amount of weight while clinging to walls.
She is immune to most toxic substances and radiations.After an initial exposure that usually just makes her dizzy, her metabolism quickly develops an immunity to whatever toxin she came in contact with. She also has the ability to store bioelectricity in her body, which she can release at will in powerful discharges that she calls "venom blasts." She can control the amount of discharge of her "venom blasts" to the degree that they can be enough to stun a person, or if she chooses, she can use lethal force at close range.
Her metabolism generates certain types of pheromones that ellicit attraction and/or repulsion on others, depending on many, still unknown, factors which might include gender and mood.
Jessica is a highly experienced fighter in many forms of armed and unarmed physical combat including boxing, judo, karate, capoeira, fencing, and many other disciplines, learned from many years as a Hydra assassin and a SHIELD agent. She is also extensively trained in espionage, covert operations, stealth and use of weapons. She is a superb athlete and an Olympic-level gymnast. Due to her HYDRA espionage training, she is fluent in several languages, including Russian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean and German.
Recently, Jessica has shown the capability to engage in self-powered flight, without using her collapsable glider-wings. It is still unclear as to the range and extent of this power.
Depictions in other media
A Spider-Woman cartoon, featuring Jessica Drew, launched in 1977. The cartoon differed somewhat from the comic book and lasted for 16 episodes. A year later, it changed its name to Spider-Woman and Amazing Spider-Man TV team up before being cancelled in 1980. Joan Van Ark was the voice of Jessica Drew.