Marvel Comics 2020
Written by Karla Pacheco
Illustrated by Pere Pérez
Coloured by Frank D'Armata
Back-Up
Pencilled by Paulo Pacheco
Inked by Oren Junior
Lettered by Travis Lanham
SPIDER-WOMAN IS BACK, AND PULLING NO PUNCHES!
Jessica Drew hasn’t been feeling like herself lately (she’s not a Skrull, we promise). When the angry, irritable, and unwell Spider-Woman takes a simple security gig to help get back on her feet, she finds herself besieged by unknown forces out to destroy everything around her. What’s wrong with Jessica? Just how DID she get this job? And who are these violent lunatics who keep trying to blow her up? WHO CARES? Does Spider-Woman have someone to punch? THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS.
I have always loved Jess since she first debuted, yes I have that entire run of her first series too. So with everything that's been going on with her lately and running around in Strikeforce it just made me want to see more of her. I will say this much, I was kind of confused as to what was going on, instead of that in-house advert perhaps a previously to catch folks up to date would've been a much better use of the space. Also I kind of really like this new outfit she's sporting and I hope it's going to be around a while though something tells me it might not be, I guess we'll have to wait and see.
I had to sleep on this one last night to really let the issue sink in. After all I had high expectations and hopes and while those weren't met that doesn't mean the issue was bad, just not what I was expecting. So letting my thoughts settle and emotions calm I am ready to sit down with this and do an honest non-biased review. Karla does this then and now storytelling that is effective in the fact that the reader what the heck is going on here. This ensures we keep going to figure it and before you know it we're at the end, of the back-up feature. There plenty of moments throughout that, I hope, are meant to make the reader take pause, such as why is there?, what haven't we (Jess) been told and a I'll be damned reaction. All of which really do show that Karla's able to weave a tale that is entertaining and not superfluous.
The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold and how the reader learns information is presented well enough. The character development is intriguing and I say this because we see outside influences changing how the characters act and react to situations and circumstances and that catches the readers' eye and attention extremely well. The pacing is nice and as it takes us through pages revealing the story it helps to create the books ebb & flow.
The interiors here are pretty darn nice. Though if I am honest the back-up art team is what I would want to see here full time. Whomever decided that the bad guys look, okay the first set, should be this baby sailor outfit deserves something for that. I mean it's what a 2yo wears in pictures well at least I did, still seeing this on grown men was a hoot an a holler. The linework is nice and solid and we see some nice attention to detail here. That sweet sixteen car, oh boy someone send me that would ya wow! They are really good and how we see the faces, facial expressions and body language help further the characterisation. It does benefit from being on a yacht as this kind of negates backgrounds which is sad to me. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkable eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered. The way that the hues and tones within the colours create the shading, highlights and shadow work are applied with aplomb.
There are a few layers in this story that have me a tad more than intrigued. The back-up and the suit for example as well as her son and the baby's father(?). It is a very interesting first issue and there is behaviour that is questionable and some that are entirely justified. Though she needs to get more for her services after all this! Alright this has me on board so let's see where the crazy train takes us next shall we.