Review: Spider-Woman #12 (Lgy #107)

Advertised as the “most consistent action-hit of 2020” in Preview, this issue finally gets around to showing Roger some love, kind of but not at all really. For the rest of the book, there is the aforementioned action which comes in spades as the origin of the Brothers of the Sword raises its expositional head.

Jess is of leaving Gerry and Roger again; seems there is always something more important to do for Jess. This time its off to visit on of the Brothers in jail prior to a bit of a jailbreak. We get to see more of the new costume in action. But it is the final pages that have the biggest punch.

It has taken me some time, but I was finally getting into the writing of Karla Pacheco. True, all her trademarks are on show in the writing of this book, though this comic is more dialogue and exposition heavy than usual. It’s ironic that this much effort is going into quite forgettable villains. The interaction between characters carries the Marvel humour model that is popular at the moment. With all that going, Pacheco manages to draw out genuine emotions, both at the start and the end of the book which essentially bookends this issue. Regarding the cliffhanger ending, the transition to the final panels does feel a little jarring.

One thing that remains constantly inconsistent with this book is the art by Pere Pérez. Don’t get me wrong, the majority of the action scenes work well despite some of the odd body poses for Jess. But it seems that Pérez is gun shy somehow. He doesn’t want to draw a sexy SPider-Woman. In fact, in this book, Jess looks dowdy even in her skin tight suit! I am not looking for cheesecake or Zenescope sized body part and focus, but make the girl attractive! Roger is quite well defined, so if all things are equal…..? When is come to the current women in comics debate, I don’t understand why a character can’t be sexy and a strong character. Why does it have to be way or the other? Colors are provided by the alway excellent Frank D’Armata who shows some nice textures shining through the Marvel sheen. Finally, VC’s Travis Lanham does his studio proud with another excellent lettering job, made more impressive due to the sheer verbiage on show.

I really want to like this book, I really do. I am an old school Spider-Woman fan, all the way from her inception, to her Madripoor days, to the Bendis book through Hopless to the here and now. I understand that there is a corner of fans wanting a Jess and Carol relationship, and I kind of agree to an extent. I am sorry to see the demise of the Roger and Jess relationship, though the break-up is no big surprise given how little panel time Roger and Gerry have had in this volume. As it is, this book remains on my pull-list, for now.

Writing – 3.5 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Overall – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Karla Pacheco
Art by; Pere Pérez
Colors by; Frank D’Armata
Letters by; VC’s Travis Lanham
Published by; Marvel Worldwide Inc.

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

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