Slugfest!

I tried to resist. I mean, Spider-Woman??? Marvel has been tossing out so many different mini-series lately, it makes it hard to commit to five issues. I had paged through the first issue on a couple of different visits to the local comic shop, but I still wasn't convinced. But then I saw the cover to issue #2 by Jonathan Luna. And inside: Hydra. The High Evolutionary. Bova. The TaskMaster. A story written by Brian Bendis and Brian Reed. Art by the Luna Brothers (Joshua does the layouts and Jonathan does pencils, inks, and colors.) Okay, I'm in.

Another plus for me is I got a sneak-preview copy of the book thanks to the fine folks at Hobbies and Heroes in McAllen. This book will be on the shelves next week with the January 18th releases.

Previously, Dr. Miles Warren (a.k.a. the Jackal), and Doctors Jonathan and Miriam Drew are working on genetic experiments at Wundagore Mountain in a project funded by the British government, all under the auspices of General Wyndham (a.k.a. Herbert Edgar Wyndham, i.e. the High Evolutionary.) They use a machine called a DNA compiler, a laser that records genetic information of various spiders and insects in an attempt to transfer and activate key traits of the various species to other species.
When the DNA compiler accidentally bathes Miriam Drew in its laser light, her unborn child is exposed to parts of the genetic sequence of the Wundagore Widow (latrodetus wundagore), a deadly spider that is native to the European hideaway. Initially, test show a few variances in the baby's prenatal development, but when Jessica Drew is born, everything seems fine.
Just as things between Dr. Warren and Dr. Jonathan Drew go sour, and the project begins to unravel, Jessica, who is now 10 years old, begins to demonstrate some unusual behaviors: she is able to handle the Wundagore Widow with her bare hands without being bitten, and her fingertips get stuck to a window sill. Her father takes a blood sample and after he runs it through the DNA compiler, he finds the genetic information matches the Wundagore Widow. Realizing he is on the verge of breakthough with his experiments, he begins to use Jessica as a test subject. When Jessica's mother, Dr. Miriam Drew, finds out, she intervenes and an arguement ensues which leads to Jonathan assaulting his wife. Jessica is witness to the violence and responds instinctively by attacking her father with a series of electro-magnetic pulses which come through her hands.

The second issue begins with Jessica Drew (now seventeen years old) coming out of a coma "after 11 years." General Wyndham is at her side to guide her through the ordeal and help fill in the missing time. Turns out General Wyndham no longer works for the British government; rather, he is part of Hydra!

Jessica still has the mind of a child. Wyndam employs one of Hydra's psychic operatives to probe her mind in the hopes of revealing exactly what happened to her parents at Wundagore. She sees Bova, the bovine-hybrid who served as her nanny (as well as the nanny for Pietro and Wanda Maximoff many years back), and remembers her father assualting her mother. Except in her mind, it seems her father's irrational behavior began when he transformed into a wolf-like being, perhaps the result of another accident or misguided experiment on himself (or experimentation by the High Evolutionary when he tried to create his NewMen.) After killing her father, who killed her mother, she runs outside and looks up to see the High Evolutionary standing witness to all the events.

The sudden shock of the revelation causes Jessica to unleash the electo-currents on the psychic operative who is sent flying against a far wall. Jessica then collapses onto the floor.
After some time passes, Jessica begins her training with the TaskMaster. Also, she has begun spending time with another Hydra operative named Jared. Jared explains Hydra function to Jessica: the richest people in the world control all the world's resources and the media, and as a result control the world's political leaders too. And in their attempt to grab more power and wealth, they are slowly poisoning everyone on Earth. Hydra is the organization that fights back.

Three months pass, and Jessica is still undergoing her training with the TaskMaster, but he is disgusted because although she easily defeats her enemies, she continues to rely on her anger and emotion for each victory. And as a result, he can still kick her ass too. (Ooohhh! the TaskMaster can beat up girls!)
Jessica approaches General Wyndam to request that she be allowed to participate in Hydra missions. Jared leaves on a mission to Latveria, and after a few weeks Jessica gets her Spider-Woman uniform in preparation for her first mission: to rescue Jared who has gone missing. Hydra believes he has been captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and is being held in Monaco.

The issue closes with Agent Arachne (Jessica Drew's original codename) attacking Nick Fury as he pounds away at Jared. The last scene of the book fits in seamlessly with Spider-Woman's original story in Marvel Spotlight # 32, which was recently included few months back in Spider-Woman Giant-Size # 1, as well as in the Essential Spider-Woman Vol. 1 reprint collection Marvel released in connection with this series and Spider-Woman being featured in current issues of The New Avengers. So I guess you could say Bendis really has a mad on for Jessica Drew.

Jonathan Luna's artwork really works well with this story. As you can see, the brothers use large, long panels that convey a lot of information and help pace the story. Frank Quietly uses this same visual style (which can be seen most recently in All-Star Superman # 1.) I've not read the Luna Brother's work for Image (Ultra and Girls), but I certainly have noticed they have been getting more and more attention lately. Their work reminds me of Udon's work when he illustrated Deadpool toward the end of volume 2. And strangely enough, those issues featured the TaskMaster too!

I find it very interesting that Bendis and Reed have chosen to portray Hydra as the sympathetic heroes, when they have always functioned as a villainous terrorist organization. And these issues are not without other problems. In a glaring continuity gaff, Jessica is 10 years old at the time of the coma in the first issue, but when she comes out from the coma "eleven years later", issue 2 says she is 17 years old.

But the errors and political subtext aside, the books have been a fun read. I hope the rest of the series is at least as entertaining and has further interesting plot twists.