Review: Spider-Woman #15
I have been on something of a Marvel ban of late, mainly because of the shoddy treatment of the Mockingbird book and the cross reality jumping that found it’s way into Jessica Drew’s life. I may be the only person in the world who thinks you can actually have too many Spider characters! That said, it’s “one more into the breach dear friend” as I catch up on the goings-on with Jessica.
Oh dear, Roger Gocking, AKA the Porcupine has met a fate worse than being road kill. It seems that Roger was a franchisee in the villain business, in debt to Hobgoblin; a debt from which it was unlikely he would ever pay back. Especially as he has been spending time with Jessica super-heroing and being her babysitter par excellence. Maybe this franchisee business explains McDonald’s. Back to the story; with her sitters demise Jessica, rather than hunt for a new one, is out for revenge. After tackling the new and less improved Porcupine she heads off to face off against the big bad Hobgoblin, only to be hindered by some of his goons. In the ensuing battle, bikes crash, ribs are broken and help is received from an unexpected source, though that is not the biggest surprise in this book.
Dennis Hopeless writes in way that accentuates the relationships of the characters involved. This doesn’t just involve Jessica and her crew, but also fleshes out Roger and Hobgoblin. By doing so, Hopeless makes all the characters a bit more relatable. Villains are not just there to be punched; they have a life, goals and their own problems. This then leads into the fun element. It is not quite comedy but there is a dark humour in some of the scenes. The dialogue is fantastic, entertaining and bubbly.  Even the exposition works well, leading as it does to the main thrust of the book.
Veronica Fish replaced Javier Rodriguez a few issues back and without going through my collection to check, the differences appear minimal. If there are any I would say that Fish’s work is maybe a tad more cartoony, not that this detracts in comparison. The book looks, feel and flows as well as previous issues, which considering how much I liked the earlier issues in this run, is high praise. The simple is more approach suits the vibe that Hopeless is creating for Jessica and her convoluted life of multi-tasking. Rachelle Rosenberg is on colors, making the most of the limited locations in the book.
With Marvel’s recent decisions around some of their female heroes (yes, I am still bitter!), I am a tad surprised that they have kept the faith with Spider-Woman. The mix of life issues and superheroes is a staple of old school Spider-Man books and it is good to see that this element of storytelling has not fallen by the wayside.  Talking of spider staples, anyone else get the “Gwen” vibe at the end of the book?
Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Penciller: Veronica Fish
Cover Artist: Javier Rodriguez
Author Profile
- I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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