Warning! Spoilers for Spider-Woman #1 below
Jessica Drew is back in her own series, as Spider-Woman’s solo adventures begin again with a new series from Marvel Comics. However, Drew is ditching her iconic costume in favor of a darker ensemble and there’s a good reason why – she doesn’t feel right using her old look when getting paid to protect.
Spider-Woman has been a mainstay in Marvel Comics since being created by Archie Goodwin and Marie Severin and debuting in Marvel Spotlight #32 in 1977. She’s experienced it all in the comics, working as an Avenger, a member of HYDRA, with Strikeforce, and perhaps most famously, as a Skrull in disguise during the events of The New Avengers. Now Jessica finds herself struggling to make ends meet and is about to get a more appropriate costume to fit her new job.
In Spider-Woman #1 by Karla Pacheco, Pere Perez, and Frank D’Armata, Spider-Woman finds herself needing a job to support her family. Not wanting to do mercenary work, Jessica decides to pick up a job protecting a rich kid during her birthday party on a yacht – as she’s been getting kidnapping threats from those who want to extort her parents. Spider-Woman, in a brand new costume, successfully defends the birthday girl from kidnappers, but in a small epilogue by Pacheco, Paulo Siqueira, Oren Junior, D’Armata and VC’s Travis Lanham titled “New Costume, Who Dis,” we find out why Spider-Woman swapped out her superhero outfit.
In the small story, Spider-Woman’s financial struggles are emphasized. She has to borrow money from her fellow Strikeforce members to get a cab back to her young son – which is cut short when she decides to walk home after the fare runs up halfway through her journey. When she makes it back, after seeing her apartment in a state of disarray, she accepts she needs a new job. But before taking it on, she needs a new costume. She visits “Big Ronnie’s” a custom battle spandex store, where she gets fitted for a more mysterious costume. She gets a new, darker outfit while asking the tailor “Wow, do you do payment plans?” The suit looks much better given its context. However, there’s further mystery added to it as the tailor answers the phone from a mysterious caller who’s using the new suit to track Spider-Woman’s every move. So, while the new suit will help Jessica differentiate from her old look, she’s unknowingly being tracked by someone. Hopefully, Jessica can find out what’s going on and get back to her heroic Spider-Woman duties sooner than later.
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