Derivative Ladies: Spider-Woman

Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977)

"Dark Destiny!"

Writer:  Archie Goodwin

Pencils:  Sal Buscema

Inks:  Jim Mooney 

Karen: Brian Michael Bendis likes Spider-Woman, so he put her in the Avengers a few years ago and she's become a popular character. But for years she lived in the under-belly of the Marvel universe, never able to really find  her place, not even when she had her own series. Her origin was revised more than once, as was her look. Today we'll go back to her very first appearance and see how it all started.

Doug:  You raise an interesting point of conversation in its own right, and I certainly don't mind if it becomes tangential to discussion of this issue's plot and art today:  does saturation of the market automatically equal a boost in popularity for a character?  Bendis after all only seemed to be continuing a trend begun by the various caretakers of Wolverine, the Punisher, and Ghost Rider.  Interesting...  For me, I was so turned off by his writing and the turtlesque speed of his plots that I would have had a hard time declaring if it was the scripts that made me angrier or the roster.  Wow -- truly a tough call.  Maybe I need to run my own personal "Face-off!" on that quandary.

Doug:  About a year and a half ago I reviewed Spider-Woman #1, which included her revised origin.  You can see that review by clicking here and check it out side-by-side with this one.

Karen: This tale opens on a dark night somewhere in the Mediterranean. Spider-Woman silently glides down from a hidden HYDRA ship above to SHIELD regional HQ and breaks in. She's there to both rescue a HYDRA agent (who is also her lover) and to assassinate SHIELD chief Nick Fury. Via her thoughts and a brief flashback, we come to learn that she has almost no sense of her past -her memories don't extend very far. Her earliest memories were of being chased by the townspeople of a small European village. Arachne -her name, according to Archie Goodwin - couldn't even remember what she had done to incur their wrath. But she did have the peculiar ability to fire energy blasts at her attackers. Count Otto Vermis, a high ranking member of HYDRA, discovered her and took her under his wing. Using a mind probe, he uncovered the truth about her identity, but kept it a secret from everyone, including Arachne.  He saw her as a perfect weapon and had her trained to serve HYDRA. We see Arachne as a frightened and gullible young girl, willing to please the Count in order to have a place to belong. She also falls in love with the handsome Jared, another HYDRA agent. 

Doug:  The creators give us a nice tour of Spider-Woman's powers in the first few pages, very similarly to comments we made at the top of our Ms. Marvel #1 review last week.  The whole scene at the beginning of this tale, with the reader dropped smack into the middle of a fracas sometimes put me off rather than the intended effect of making me salivate for more.  I know it's a standard plot device, particularly in first issues, but I'd almost rather watch the story unfold organically.  I know that then folks complain about "wasting" an issue of action on an origin, but hey -- to each their own I suppose.  I want to make a remark on the art as we're getting rolling.  It's pretty obvious that we're looking at Sal Buscema, but Jim Mooney's inks seem really heavy to me (which in the '70's was generally what we got out of the Madman).  Sal gets buried at times.  I do, however, always like the way Mooney draws a girl's eyes.  It's his distinctive trademark.

Doug:  So what's up with Arachne's suit?  We're told it was designed to "channel and control those powers", but I don't know that it's even mentioned later in the story.  It doesn't appear from the flashback that she's anything like Cyclops or Havok, where she just explodes with energy.  And is her power of flight (or gliding) addressed?

Karen: Back in real time, Fury is starting to "interrogate" the captured HYDRA agent with his fists when Spider-Woman knocks the door off its hinges. She wipes out the other SHIELD agents with one of her "venom" blasts. A side note here: oddly enough, she has to remove her glove before she fires her blast! I thought this was really strange, and I don't think I've seen a character do it before or since. She confronts Fury and tells him she's going to kill him for hurting the man she loves. Fury manages to dodge her, and we get a nice demonstration of Spider-Woman's agility. But although he evades her, he is grabbed by Jared, Spider-Woman's lover, who hysterically shouts for her to kill Fury. But right as she's about to throw a tremendous haymaker, Fury twists out of the way and thrusts Jared into harm's way. Arachne, aghast at having injured her lover, is frozen for a moment. This gives Fury time to reach a control panel, where he hits an alarm. In anger, Spider-Woman grabs Fury by the throat and slams him against the panel, about to exact revenge, when she suddenly stops, shocked by a video that has inadvertently started when the SHIELD director was shoved against a switch. The screen shows her lover, Jared, engaged in acts of terrorism, and Spider-Woman realizes that she has been completely manipulated.

Doug:  Arachne pretty quickly comes to the conclusion that Fury's tapes are legit and it's HYDRA that's perpetrated the snow job here.  I guess that we can then conclude that her use of the term "manipulated" is more accurate than say "brainwashed".  Your comment about her glove and using her stings/venom/blasts goes back to my question above about the suit being a damper of sorts.  However, there are two panels later in the story when she uses her blasts with the gloves on (once using each hand).

Karen: Spider-Woman tearfully asks Jared for the truth. Apparently she punched him so hard he's dying -ouch. As he violently shakes he tells her not to touch him -that he knows what she really is! He was ordered to be her lover, so that she'd go into a rage when he let himself be captured, and she'd kill Fury. Jared collapses and Spider-Woman flips out, ready to go tear Vermis apart. Fury tries to get her to wait for him but she speeds off. These hints about Spider-Woman's 'true origin' are a bit tantalizing. 

Doug:  Yeah, I couldn't decide about how ol' Jared was going to meet his maker.  Arachne sure has a posture like she's thrown a punch, but the accompanying sound effect leads me to believe that it might have been a blast that she intended to use on Fury at point-blank range.  In the end, it's unclear.  But that would be a spine-shattering punch, I guess.  And charm?  I suppose telling a young lady friend, "D-Don't touch me...!  Least let me die without enduring that again!"  Nice guy.

Karen: We cut to an old monastery in the Carnic Alps, where Count Vermis is sitting on a stone throne and exulting about what he assumes to be the success of Spider-Woman's mission. Suddenly, his lackey warns him that their assault craft has appeared and is diving directly at them! We see Spider-Woman flying away from the ship as it crashes spectacularly into the HYDRA base. As the little green men panic, she comes flying in and chases after Vermis. She's determined to wrest the secret of her identity from him. He flees down a flight of stairs to the monastery's vaults, but Spider-Woman has anticipated him and comes tearing through the ventilation system. She's just about to smack him when they hear gunfire from above. It's SHIELD. Vermis cuts a deal with the girl: he'll tell her what she wants to know if she gets him to the jet waiting in the tunnel beyond. She does, and he carries through on his part of the bargain: he reveals to her that she was evolved by the High Evolutionary, another one of his New Men, scientifically advanced from an animal species into humanoid form. "He had a good reason for naming you "Arachne!" The stunned Spider-Woman recoils, realizing what her original species must have been. Vermis continues his story, relaying how the other New Men rejected her, and Arachne had left Wundagore. She found human company, and even love, but a prank gone wrong triggered her venom blasts, killing her lover  This was the traumatic event that wiped out her memory and set her on the run -right before Vermis found her. Arachne breaks down, crying and screaming, and Vermis uses this chance to toss a gas grenade and get in the jet and take off. She manages to shrug off the gas and fly after him. Using her great strength, she twists the tail fin, causing the jet to crash and killing Vermis. SHIELD mops up the wreckage, noting no sign of Spider-Woman. Fury mentally wishes her good luck, thinking she's going to need it. Meanwhile, our distraught heroine wanders the forest, wondering how she can go on knowing what she is.

Doug:  Who in the whole Marvel Universe is creepier than the High Evolutionary?  That dude isn't too far off from some of the whackjobs that worked for the Third Reich in regard to experimentation on sentient beings.  In regard to Arachne's spider origins, which are slightly modified in her origin seen in Spider-Woman #1, she's repulsive to other humans in both tellings.  Are the authors playing off of most people's disdain for spiders, or is there something we should perhaps know?  I'm getting the willies just thinking about it...

Doug:  There was a Thunderbird/Count  Nefaria vibe to that last battle scene, wasn't there?

Karen: This was not a bad little tale. The whole "evolved spider" angle would be dropped fairly quickly, and replaced with an origin similar to Spider-Man's, involving irradiated spider blood. This origin would also be replaced. But for the sake of this story, it's kind of an interesting way to go -she's not really human. I know Chris Claremont had considered a similar origin for Wolverine at one time. Perhaps it's best he didn't go that direction. But here, it leads to a lot of pathos.

Doug:  Yes, this story was OK.  I don't know that if reading it at the time I'd have felt compelled to actively seek out her next appearance, but it seemed to serve its purpose of adding another heroine to the MU as well as securing a copyright that may or may not have fallen away from Marvel.

Karen: I'd like to also mention the costume. The full head covering isn't very sexy, and obviously somebody realized this, because soon after, Spider-Woman got a very thick mane of black hair. The rest of the costume stayed much the same. I'm not fond of the red and yellow together -red and black would make more sense to me -but it's not awful. For a character that was essentially a copyright holder, there was certainly some effort put into this story.

Doug:  Thinking of her full mask, there really aren't many female characters who wear a garb that covers the entire head, are there?  I recall my feelings about Jean Grey's costume when the first issue of X-Factor hit the stands -- it's just not an attractive look for females, yet men look a little odd whenever the mask does not cover their entire head.  Maybe it's just what we're used to.

FF 174 - Roy Thomas Wednesday

Fantastic Four #174 (September 1976)
"Starquest!"
Roy Thomas-John Buscema/Joe Sinnott

Karen: Let's dive into part 2 of our look at this galactic slugfest, presented by Thomas and Buscema. The High Evolutionary -or H.E., as I like to call him - has decided that the only way to stop Galactus from devouring Counter-Earth is to battle him. Sue Richards tries to convince him that he must send her to one of the two planets where her family are being held prisoner, but H.E. is not interested in that, only in finding a way to stop Galactus. Sue decides to take matters into her own and hands. She becomes invisible and operates H.E.'s teleporter. Unfortunately, she winds up on the third world they were looking at, the one seemingly devoid of any life -and also, oxygen! She realizes she has but a short time before the air in her force field is gone.

Doug: Yeah, that Sue -- what a helpless, worthless, screw-up! Seriously though, like you said last time, this was a staple of Stan's writing and Roy was certainly continuing to carry the ball. I don't have a great deal of background, because unlike you I was not a regular Warlock reader. So I really didn't know what to make of this dude with the metallic suit yet a face of red! And another thing -- I know I wasn't around for last time when you started this series, but I must confess that as a 10-year old I was sure disappointed when John Buscema replaced George Perez on the art chores for this story. My, how times change! I think I've figured it out...

Karen: Next we return to the wonderful world of Mekka, where robots rule. Ben and Reed are captives of Torgo. He has immobilized them using a "special magnet" which attracts their outer flesh. Got it? Outer Flesh? Remember that, it's important. Torgo gives the pair the lowdown on his world's history: how he and his fellow Mekkans were created centuries ago by humans, but their human masters were wiped out by a virus. Torgo tells the two he cannot let them go, as he fears they will reveal Mekka's location to Galactus. However, he has plans for them: he will convert them into robots! This is apparently an honor in Torgo's eyes.

Doug: I really liked the origin of Torgo's world -- sort of had a Conquest of the Planet of the Apes feel to it. Very well done -- nothing that would prove long-lasting, but a nice element to add to the story.

Karen: After they are left alone -why oh why would you leave any of the Fantastic Four alone? - Reed tells Ben he should be able to get free, as the magnet only attracts their outer skin - and Ben is currently wearing an exo-skeleton (having lost his cosmic- ray induced form a few issues prior). Ben wriggles free and the two escape. But Reed has some troubling news: he seems to be losing his stretching powers -already he cannot stretch his right arm.

Doug: Cool wrinkle. I always liked the exoskeleton, short-lived as it was. As for Reed, this was a part of the story that would go on for the next two years. It really provided for some nice (and retread, too) storylines.

Karen: As the twosome make their escape they head for a tower which supplies all power to the Mekkans. Reed is just able to pull the lever and shut it down as Ben has Torgo on the ropes. The mechanical men all drop like puppets with their strings cut. Reed and Ben could easily leave Mekka now, but it just doesn't sit right with them. As Ben says, "Look at 'em Reed. Sure, they're robots -but they're more than that too! They've got as much right to their lives as Counter Earth ...or our Earth." The two heroes agree to restore the power. With this act, Torgo is convinced that the Earthmen will keep their word and not betray his people to Galactus. He allows them to leave, only - they don't have a ride home! Since the High Evolutionary is not at the controls, there's no one to bring them back across space.

Doug: Big whoops on the offworld transportation thing. How would that be in the "helpless feeling" dept?

Karen: Speaking of space, our other dynamic duo finds themselves imprisoned in a low tech dungeon -- although you have to give the natives credit for chaining the Torch neck-deep in a wooden barrel full of water. Gorr the gorilla makes a wager with the ruler: let him battle their champion; if he wins, he and the Torch go free. If not...well, you can figure it out.

Karen: Gorr is outfitted in a suit of armor and must joust against the dread Dark Knight of Astralon. The Dark Knight turns out to be a pushover, as Gorr easily unseats him. However, the king decides Gorr must also defeat the Dragon (captured last issue). As Gorr begins to protest, the beast breaks free. The king screams at his men, "Kill him you fools, your lasers!" Yup, those medieval types were not so primitive; in fact, they are actually Skrulls! This world was their version of Disneyland, providing them with entertainment. They kill the dragon, and come clean to Johnny and Gorr. The real kicker? The dragon was the last indigenous, and intelligent, life form on the planet. The Skrulls had hunted them for pleasure. But with no more dragons remaining, they decide there is no point in staying, and blast off. Even usually-dense Johnny feels badly: "Sure! It's just like us, to think that a world's main race has to look human!" But he feels even worse a few moments later, when he and his ape friend realize no one is beaming them off the planet!

Doug: Johnny remarks that he was useless in the scene, and that he was. Gorr was a character that was quite reminiscent of the Beast -- if he'd been written as Stan had written him in the very early years of X-Men. While not a lasting character, Gorr did add texture to this story.

Karen: Our story closes back on Counter Earth, as Galactus has begun his preparations to destroy and consume the planet. As the human inhabitants gaze on in fear, the High Evolutionary, grown as large as Big G himself, strides across the sky, ready to do battle to save his world!

Doug: Methinks some cosmic fisticuffs be in the offing!

FF 173 - Roy Thomas Wednesday

Fantastic Four #173 (August 1976)
"Counter-Earth Must Die-At the Hand of Galactus!"
Roy Thomas-John Buscema/Joe Sinnott

NOTE: Unfortunately the dreaded deadline doom has caught up with Doug, but don't fret, it's only because he is enjoying vacation! He'll be back for part 2!

Karen: Welcome to our first entry in what we're calling Roy Thomas Wednesdays! All this month, we'll be reviewing Rascally Roy's mid-70s work on that flagship Marvel title, Fantastic Four. Although Roy might be better known for his multi-year run on Avengers, his work on the FF was no less exciting. Roy has always had a gift for intricately plotted stories, and this tale is no exception. Now, we are sort of jumping into it mid-stream, but the reason for this is that the previous issue, while plotted by Roy, was scripted by Bill Mantlo, so it didn't seem right to start with that! Here's all the background you need: the FF fought a mysterious golden gorilla, who turned out to be an emissary of the High Evolutionary. It seems that Galactus had discovered the location of Counter Earth, and decided that if he couldn't have the real Earth, this one was just fine to chomp down on! The FF go into space to stop him, and the Thing, now really Ben Grimm wearing a Thing exo-skeleton, , fights off Galactus' latest herald, the Destroyer! When it looks like the Thing has beaten him, he comes face to face with the Big G himself.

Karen: Reed and Galactus engage in a long telepathic conversation about Galactus' actions. We get a nice recap of Big G's history here, as well as a reinforcement of the theme that originated back with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's first Galactus story: the he is not an evil being; he simply does what he must to survive. I liked this line from Galactus: "Most beings are fortunate enough never to have to face the unpleasant, numbing truth about themselves: That given the choice between survival and extinction...most would do precisely the same as I!"

Karen: The High Evolutionary then enters the discussion, to dissuade Galactus from consuming the world he has created (and remember, it was Roy who wrote Marvel Premiere #1, which featured the creation of Counter Earth and Adam Warlock). H.E. threatens to battle Galactus if he does not leave. Reed jumps in, trying to persuade Big G to find an alternative, saying that the battle might even destroy the world he wants to consume! But Big G is not moved.

Karen: Although I've never been a big fan of Reed, the way he's portrayed in this scene does highlight one of the better aspects of the character: the effort he always made to find a way to resolve things that would lead to the least amount of harm and suffering. he may have been a bit oblivious to things at time, but he certainly seemed to have the best intentions.

Karen: Galactus comes up with a possible solution, but it's sure not to the FF's liking: either find an inhabited planet where the populace is willing to sacrifice itself, or have the FF pick out another planet for him to devour. Talk about bad options!

Karen: The FF enter the High Evolutionary's orbital HQ and confer with him. He is aware of three planets nearby that might work for Galactus. One is Earth-like, another is a world of mechanical life forms, and the third seems to be a barren moon, although H.E.'s sensors indicate it has life. The FF splits into teams -with Sue staying behind! Reed tells her he needs to hold her in reserve, but I think we can guess pretty safely that he just didn't want to put her at risk. So Gorr the gorilla and the Torch are teleported to the Earthlike planet, while Reed and Ben go to the mecha-world.

Karen: On the mecha world -which incidentally, is named Mekka! - we find a race of robots, and Ben runs into an old pal: Torgo, the robot gladiator from issues 90-93. Roy always managed to bring old characters and events into his stories, something I am fond of. It's interesting that when Reed and Ben first arrive, before Ben sees Torgo, he is willing to let the robot populace be sacrificed to Galactus. However, once he realizes that they are led by his friend, Ben comes to see that although the robots are not human, they are still 'living' beings. He and Reed realize they cannot ask Torgo to give his world to Galactus. However, as they prepare to leave, Torgo tries to capture them, as he fears they will change their minds and lead Galactus to Mekka. As they battle the robots, Ben demolishes one, to his deep regret, and then forces himself to pull his punches. Unfortunately, as he and Reed try to avoid hurting the mechanical men, they are readily stopped and imprisoned.

Karen: Meanwhile, Johnny and Gorr have landed on a medieval planet, complete with a dragon and a princess that needs rescuing. Although they save the lady, they are knocked out by some armored knights and captured. Sue and the Evolutionary have been watching the events on both planets. Sue says that H.E. must send her to these worlds to rescue her family, but H.E. now believes that this is inconsequential. He must prepare to face Galactus!

Karen: I enjoyed this story a great deal, despite the fact that the first portion of the book consisted primarily of dialogue! It's amazing how many words are present in Roy Thomas stories. But we have a real dilemma here for our heroes and the artwork is -as always when Buscema and Sinnott are involved -dramatic and exciting. I know Big John did not enjoy drawing machinery but he does a great job, especially with Galactus' ship, which has a real Kirby feel to it.