Spider-Woman
Encyclopedia
Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics
.
' then-publisher Stan Lee
, said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight
#32 (Feb. 1977) and the start of the character's 50-issue, self-titled series (cover-dated April 1978 - June 1983), that the character originated because,
Following that initial Spider-Woman series, three more followed. Volume two was a miniseries
published from November 1993 through February 1994; volume three was published from July 1999 through December 2000; and volume four, featuring Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, was published from November 2009 through May 2010.
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
.
Publication history
Marvel ComicsMarvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' then-publisher Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
, said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight
Marvel Spotlight
Marvel Spotlight is the name of several comic book series published by Marvel Comics as a try-out book for new characters. The first series ran for 33 issues from November 1971 to April 1977...
#32 (Feb. 1977) and the start of the character's 50-issue, self-titled series (cover-dated April 1978 - June 1983), that the character originated because,
Following that initial Spider-Woman series, three more followed. Volume two was a miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
published from November 1993 through February 1994; volume three was published from July 1999 through December 2000; and volume four, featuring Jessica Drew, the original Spider-Woman, was published from November 2009 through May 2010.
Spider-Women
- Jessica DrewSpider-Woman (Jessica Drew)Spider-Woman is a fictional character, a superheroine in the Marvel Comics Universe. The character first appeared in Marvel Spotlight #32 , and 50 issues of an ongoing series titled Spider-Woman followed...
, the original Spider-Woman, who left the role in the early 1980s. As of the late 2000s, she has returned to it. This version of the character starred in her own animated TV seriesSpider-Woman (TV series)Spider-Woman is an animated television series, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Woman. The series was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Comics Animation, and aired on September 22, 1979 to January 3, 1980, one season of sixteen episodes, on the ABC-TV network...
in 1979 (which is not to be confused with the similarly named Web WomanWeb WomanWeb Woman is the alias of Kelly Webster, a fictional character and cartoon superheroine. She is featured on the 1978–1980 television series Tarzan and the Super 7 by Filmation. Her pending introduction prompted Marvel Comics to introduce a character called Spider-Woman to secure intellectual...
animated series of the same time period). - Julia Carpenter, a former member of the superhero teams the AvengersAvengers (comics)The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
and Omega FlightOmega FlightOmega Flight is the name used by three teams of fictional characters with superpowers in the Marvel Universe, one of the few Canadian teams published by an American comic book company. Omega Flight first appeared in the pages of Alpha Flight as a supervillain team...
, who becomes Arachne and the second Madame WebMadame WebMadame Web is a fictional supporting character in the Spider-Man comic book series.-Fictional character biography:Cassandra Webb was born in Salem, Oregon. She is a paralyzed, blind, telepathic, clairvoyant, and precognitive mutant, allowing her to work as a professional medium...
. - Mattie FranklinSpider-Woman (Mattie Franklin)Spider-Woman is a fictional character who is a superhero in the Marvel Comics universe. She is the third character to be called Spider-Woman and the second to receive her own ongoing series.-Publication history:...
, who briefly impersonated Spider-ManSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
before receiving her own short-lived comics series and appeared in the 2007 Loners miniseriesMiniseriesA miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
. - Charlotte WitterSpider-Woman (Charlotte Witter)Charlotte Witter, the fourth Spider-Woman, is a fictional character, a supervillain in the Marvel Comics universe. The character first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #6 .-Fictional character biography:...
, a supervillainSupervillainA supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
who used the name. - VerankeVerankeVeranke is a fictional character created by Marvel Comics who serves as the queen of the Skrull empire in the Marvel Universe. She plays a significant role in the events of Secret Invasion as she leads her empire to invade and conquer Earth....
, queen of the shape-shifting extraterrestrial race the SkrullSkrullThe Skrulls are a fictional race of extraterrestrial shapeshifters that appear in publications by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:The Skrulls first appeared in Fantastic Four #2 and were created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby....
s, who impersonated Jessica Drew over a long period of time and was a founding member of the superhero team the New Avengers.
Other versions
- An unrelated earlier "Spider-Woman" was published by Harry "A" Chesler's Dynamic Comics in 1944. She was a non-superpowered crime-fighter named Helen Goddard and made her first and only appearance in the Golden AgeGolden Age of Comic BooksThe Golden Age of Comic Books was a period in the history of American comic books, generally thought of as lasting from the late 1930s until the late 1940s or early 1950s...
comic bookComic bookA comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Major Victory #1. - Another "Spider-Woman" (who was non-canonical character, Valerie the Librarian) appeared in the live-action, recurring skit "Spidey Super StoriesSpidey Super Stories"Spidey Super Stories" was a live-action, recurring skit on the PBS children's television series The Electric Company. Episodes featured the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, provided to the Children's Television Workshop free of charge, and was played by puppeteer Danny Seagren...
" on the 1970s PBS children's television series The Electric CompanyThe Electric CompanyThe Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
, on which Spider-ManSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
appeared. She also appeared as Spider-Woman in the spin-off comic book series Spidey Super Stories #11 (August 1975). She had no superpowers. - In the 1981 episode The Triumph of the Green Goblin from the Spider-Man and His Amazing FriendsSpider-Man and His Amazing FriendsSpider-Man and His Amazing Friends is an animated series produced by Marvel Productions starring established Marvel Comics characters Spider-Man and Iceman and an original character, Firestar...
animated series, Firestar (Angelica Jones)FirestarFirestar is a fictional mutant superhero in the . Debuting in 1981 on the NBC animated television series Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, she has the ability to generate and manipulate microwave radiation, which allows her to generate intense heat and flames, and to fly...
dresses as the Jessica Drew version of Spider-Woman at a costume party. The episode was adapted in the comic book Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends #1 (December 1981). Similarly, Spidey Super Stories #56 (January 1982) features Mary Jane WatsonMary Jane WatsonMary Jane Watson, often shortened to MJ, is a fictional supporting character appearing, originally, in Marvel comic books and, later, in multiple spin-offs and dramatizations of the Spider-Man titles as the best friend, love interest, and one-time wife of Peter Parker, the alter ego of Spider-Man...
dressed as the Jessica Drew version of Spider-Woman at a costume party. Both stories feature Peter Parker wearing Halloween costumeHalloween costumeHalloween costumes are costumes worn on or around Halloween, a festival which falls on October 31. The Halloween costume has a fairly short history. Wearing costumes has long been associated with other holidays around the time of Halloween, even Christmas...
versions of his traditional Spider-ManSpider-ManSpider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
costume to the parties, as well as the Green GoblinGreen GoblinThe Green Goblin is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in the comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, and first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #14 ....
interrupting both parties. - Spider-Woman (portrayed by Mary Jane Watson as a ninjaNinjaA or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
of the Spider-clan), is an alternate version of the character in the Marvel MangaverseMarvel MangaverseThe Marvel Mangaverse is a series of comic books published by Marvel Comics from 2000 to 2002, with a sequel "New Mangaverse" released in late 2005 and early 2006....
reality. - Another version of Mary Jane as Spider-Woman is featured in the ExilesExiles (Marvel Comics)The Exiles are a group of fictional characters that feature in three Marvel Comics series, Exiles, New Exiles, and Exiles vol. 2. The Exiles consists of characters from different dimensions, or realities, which have been removed from time and space in order to correct problems in various alternate...
series.
See also
- Spider-Girl (May Parker)Spider-GirlSpider-Girl is a superheroine in Marvel Comics' MC2 universe. The character was created by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz as the teenage daughter of Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson, and first appeared in What If #105...
, daughter of Spider-Man in an alternate future - Spider-Girl (Anya Corazon)Anya CorazonAnya Sofia Corazon is a fictional half Mexican and half Puerto Rican superheroine in the . She formerly went by the codename Araña, but is currently known as Spider-Girl.-Publication history:...
, previously Araña - Madame Web (Cassandra Webb)Madame WebMadame Web is a fictional supporting character in the Spider-Man comic book series.-Fictional character biography:Cassandra Webb was born in Salem, Oregon. She is a paralyzed, blind, telepathic, clairvoyant, and precognitive mutant, allowing her to work as a professional medium...
, grandmother of Charlotte Witter
Other female spider-themed Marvel characters
- Agony
- Black Widow (Natasha Romanoff)
- Black Widow (Yelena Belova)Black Widow (Yelena Belova)Black Widow is a fictional character, a spy in the . She first appears in Inhumans #5 and was created by Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee.-Publication history:...
- ScreamScream (comics)Scream is a fictional supervillainess from the Spider-Man comic book series. She is one of six symbiote spawns of Venom.-Fictional character biography:...
- She-Venom
- Tarantula (Maria Vasquez)
External links
- Spider-Woman at the Marvel Universe
- Spider-Woman vol.4 online at Rucomics.info
- Spider-Woman at the Marvel Database Project
- Spider-Woman sales figures for 1979–1982 at the Comics Chronicles