Writer: Karla Pacheco
Artist: Pere Perez
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: March 18, 2020

I have been looking forward to reading and reviewing this book since it came out, and I even had to pull a power move to get to review it! There are benefits to starting a website, after all! So, it is finally here, and while I am frequently the victim of my internal hype machine, I am hoping this is a book I will add to my pull immediately. Well, is it? Let’s find out…

The issue starts with a rapid, one-page recap of Spider-Woman that leads to a… sweet sixteen party. Yep, Jess has to pay the bills (she’s a mother you know) and is protecting Rebecca, the birthday girl, and daughter of Michael Marchand, who happens to be filthy rich. A rich father equals a kidnapped daughter, and that’s why Jessica is protecting her.

The fun of the situation is that it’s a superhero costume party on a boat, and while that could lead to some hijinx, it doesn’t, and it feels off for a super-rich sweet sixteen party. The big joke is a kid dressed as Spider-Woman not recognizing Jess as Spider-Woman because of her slick new costume. The costume is the big thing in this issue, and by the end, we see it’s not on the up-and-up.

The issue continues with multiple bad guys attacking the party, Jessica going ham on all of them while also dealing with an insensitive, sexist, piece of crap kid. You see, Rebecca has no use of her legs, and this kid, dressed as Deadpool, calls her a “stupid cripple” and then, after being thrown into the ocean by Jess, continues to make fun of women and…well, be a real piece of shit. Listen, I don’t want this to sound like I am on any side of the “Gate” her, because I’m not, but there is no reason for this kid to be in this issue. It doesn’t push the story anywhere; it’s not even well played out or clever. I mean, at least mention something about Deadpool since he chose to dress up like Wade. Something easy, like “I thought the real Deadpool was a piece of &*%$!” Easy! There is a joke about wearing a dance belt and yea, I should have put joke in quotes there.

As more and more bad guys try to ruin the party, Jess gets more and more extreme, and she doesn’t seem to be able to control it. She is also getting sicker and sicker, and by the end, just colapses and gets sick…that means she vomits fiery, green venom! Now that’s what usually goes on at a super-rich sweet sixteen!!!

We then have a flashback story that shows us the why, what and how she ended up at the party in the first place as well as how she got her new suit. There is a mysterious man in the shadows working against her, which is cool enough, but this whole costume thing felt too convenient and forced and kind of makes Jess look like an idiot in the end. I do like the costume, though.

This issue was okay. There’s lots of action to keep things exciting, and it looks good. There isn’t much of a story yet, but I am willing to see where the cliffhanger is going. There is the promise of a cool character showing up in the next issue, and that had me excited. My biggest problem is that after reading, I didn’t get a real sense of Karla Pacheco’s Spider-Woman. Maybe it was the silly situation, but everything felt a bit too generic. Nothing jumped out at me that made me think, “Yea, she knows this character,” and overall, it felt a bit cookie-cutter throughout.

Final Thoughts:

This was an okay start for Spider-Woman. Karla Pacheco starts things light, but things get more violent for Jessica as the issue progresses…and it’s all her fault. That’s not entirely true, as we get a mysterious cliffhanger that shows that, and while I am interested in seeing more of that, I was hoping for a little more out of this issue. Still, Pere Perez’s art was great, and I think fans of Spider-Woman will enjoy this beginning.

7.5/10