Jessica Drew

Concept and creation

Marvel Comics' then-publisher Stan Lee said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 (February 1977) and the start of the character's 50-issue, self-titled series (April 1978 - June 1983), that the character originated because

I suddenly realized that some other company may quickly put out a book like that and claim they have the right to use the name, and I thought we'd better do it real fast to copyright the name. So we just batted one quickly, and that's exactly what happened. I wanted to protect the name, because it's the type of thing [where] someone else might say, 'Hey, why don't we put out a Spider-Woman; they can't stop us.' ... You know, years ago we brought out Wonder Man, and [DC Comics] sued us because they had Wonder Woman, and... I said okay, I'll discontinue Wonder Man. And all of a sudden they've got Power Girl [after Marvel had introduced Power Man]. Oh, boy. How unfair.

Spider-Woman's origin and basic character were designed by Archie Goodwin, while her visual appearance was designed by freelancer Marie Severin.

Publication history

Original series

Though by most accounts, Spider-Woman was intended as a one-off character for the sake of simply establishing trademark, Marvel Spotlight #32 sold unexpectedly well and writer/editor Marv Wolfman was asked to take the character to an ongoing series.

In her first appearance, Spider-Woman was to be an actual spider evolved into a human as imagined by writer/co-creator Goodwin. Her debut was shortly followed by a four-issue story arc in Marvel Two-in-One in which Wolfman presented a different origin as he felt her original origin was too implausible for mid-1970s readers. During this arc and the premiere issue of her own comic, Spider-Woman was identified as the human Jessica Drew (combining the first name of Wolfman's daughter and the last name of fictional detective Nancy Drew), who had memories of being a spider implanted into her by the terrorist group Hydra. Her costume was also redesigned for her series to incorporate a long wig.

Wolfman introduced Spider-Woman's mentor Charles Magnus and archenemies Morgan le Fay and the Brothers Grimm. He left the series after issue #8, citing a heavy workload, but later admitted "If truth be told, I never felt comfortable writing her. I never found a handle for her and kept trying until I finally decided to leave the book". Neophyte Mark Gruenwald became the writer, while the series's regular penciler, comics legend Carmine Infantino, remained on board, having developed a fondness for the character and her stories. Gruenwald continued with the macabre themes Wolfman had used, while putting more focus on Drew's struggles to deal with her social awkwardness, shyness, and the negative reactions she produced in nearly everyone she met. The last of these is revealed to be caused by fear-inducing pheromones, a previously unrevealed ability. Gruenwald also introduced outgoing aspiring actress Lindsay McCabe, who became Drew's best friend and the mainstay of her supporting cast.

Marvel had been heavily advertising the series from the start, and during Gruenwald's run an animated TV series began airing. But Roger Stern, who replaced Wolfman as editor, recounted that Spider-Woman had already lost her status as a top seller by this time. Despite her differing origin and powers and Wolfman's deliberate effort to avoid Spider-Man guest appearances or crossovers, readers still tended to see the character as a female Spider-Man. "They saw her, and later the She-Hulk", Stern explained, "as running a good idea into the ground, much as DC had done in the '60s with its then-ever-growing families of Super- and Bat-characters".

Decline

For the next four years, she was limited to a handful of guest appearances. In 1988, she and Lindsay McCabe joined the supporting cast of Wolverine, appearing through the first 16 issues of the character's series, followed by brief returns in issues #27 and 125–128. She was never depicted in costume during her appearances in Wolverine, sticking with her civilian identity, though she did often use her powers to aid Wolverine.

In 1996, Mark Gruenwald returned to the character with a short back-up feature in Sensational Spider-Man Annual '96. Titled "The Return of Spider-Woman", it put Drew back in costume for the first time in over a decade and ended with a teaser for further Spider-Woman adventures in Spider-Man Team Up. Gruenwald died, however, before these stories could be written, and subsequent appearances treated "The Return of Spider-Woman" as non-canon. In 1999, Drew was again placed in the role of non-costumed supporting character, this time to the third Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin, for the first 11 issues of Spider-Woman volume 3.

Drew made an appearance in a 2003 story arc in Alias, a series written by Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis would write most of the character's adventures for the next decade.

Revival through New Avengers

In January 2005, New Avengers was launched, ostensibly with Jessica Drew as a member of the titular supergroup, back in costume as Spider-Woman. Though this Jessica Drew would later be revealed as an imposter, this prominent exposure of the character opened the door for new attention to her original adventures. Firstly, on 21 December 2005, Marvel released the first issue of Spider-Woman: Origin, a five-part miniseries co-written by Brian Michael Bendis and Brian Reed, illustrated by the art team of the Luna Brothers, Jonathan and Joshua Luna. It was largely an extended retelling of Marvel Spotlight #32, though some details were changed.

Secondly, the original Spider-Woman series was reprinted in its entirety, along with Marvel Spotlight #32 and all her contemporaneous guest appearances, in a pair of Essentials trade paperbacks, the first released simultaneously with Spider-Woman: Origin #1, the second in 2007.

In 2009, the "Secret Invasion" storyline introduced the concept that, with the exception of some flashback scenes, all of Jessica Drew's appearances in New Avengers over the past four years were actually made by a Skrull imposter. Writer Bendis said he had this planned since New Avengers #1.

You can go back to issue #1 and see hints. [...] Now you know why the Spider-Woman series didn't happen. We thought about doing it and having her revealed as a Skrull in the first issue of her series. [...] I wrote it, but in the end I just thought it wasn't selling somebody what they thought you were selling them.

Following this story, the real Drew supplanted her doppelganger as a regular member of The New Avengers. She was also featured in another solo limited series during this time, which was published both in printed form and as a motion comic. It was written by Bendis with art by Alex Maleev and lasted 7 issues. Following the cancellation of New Avengers, Spider-Woman appeared as a regular character throughout the 2010-2013 Avengers series, from issue #1 (July 2010) through its final issue #34 (January 2013). She appears as a regular character in the 2014 Secret Avengers.

Spider-Verse and several new solo series

In 2014, Jessica was a key player in the Spider-Verse event. Spinning out of that event, a new fifth volume Spider-Woman series was started, written by Dennis Hopeless. In issue #5 the series featured the first redesign of Jessica's costume since it was created in the 1970s. This series was interrupted by Marvel's 2015 Secret Wars event, and ended with issue #10. Spider-Woman Volume 6 was relaunched several months later with a new issue #1, still written by Hopeless and continues the story from the previous volume. Spider-Woman, Gwen Stacy and Silk were the protagonists of the Spider-Women event. Spider-Woman issues #6 and #7 were the tie-ins. The ongoing was cancelled after 17 issues.

In the fall of 2019, Marvel announced a new ongoing with Karla Pacheco on writing and Pere Perez on art duties, the first issue was released in March, 2020. As part of the relaunch, the character received a redesigned costume that was created by Dave Johnson. From issue #11 onwards, she returned to her original 70's costume. During the Devil's Reign event, the comic series received two tie-ins with issue #18 and #19.

Fictional character biography

Origins

Spider-Woman was born Jessica Miriam Drew, daughter of American scientist Jonathan Drew and French citizen Miriam Drew, in London, England. At a young age, her family moves from their apartment in Paris, France to a lab built by her father and High Evolutionary near Mount Wundagore, where she becomes gravely ill from months of uranium exposure. To save her life, her father injects her with an experimental serum based on irradiated spiders' blood and Wyndham places her in a genetic accelerator due to the serums incubation period. Shortly after, her mother dies and her father leaves for the United States, leaving Wyndham to care for her. Her aging slows in the machine, leaving her 17 years old when she is removed.

Drew is ostracized by the other residents of Mount Wundagore, the High Evolutionary's New Men, causing her to leave and seek human civilization. She is captured by a Hydra reserve unit under Count Otto Vermis's leadership who erases her memories, brainwashes her, and recruits her as a Hydra agent under the codename Arachne. Jared, a top Hydra agent, is assigned to train her in combat and espionage, and to seduce her. Once Jessica has become his lover, he allows himself to be captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. so that she can be goaded into assassinating S.H.I.E.L.D. commander Nick Fury.

While battling Fury, Jessica accidentally kills Jared and learns Hydra's true nature. She assaults Hydra's base, sending Count Vermis into a fatal crash, but not before he unlocks memory implants that she was actually an evolved spider and had killed a man before her association with Hydra. Despondent from these revelations, she wanders the woods where Vermis crashed until being recaptured and hypnotized by Hydra.

Origin retcons the spider-blood serum and genetic accelerator elements of the character's previous origin story. Instead, Jessica's powers derive from her mother's womb being hit by a laser beam containing the DNA traits of several different species of spiders (the Drews were trying to harness spiders' environmental adaptive capabilities to graft them into the human genome).

After Jessica's parents disappear under mysterious circumstances, Jessica is recruited into Hydra under false pretenses, where she is made into a formidable fighter and assassin. She is trained and mentored by Taskmaster, who trains her in many martial disciplines and more than seven different fighting styles out of his own "arsenal".

Spider-Woman

As Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew is ordered to abduct Alicia Masters, but clashes with Ben Grimm, allowing her to recover from her brainwashing and help save Masters. She and Grimm then encounter Modred the Mystic, who removes Hydra's memory implants and restores her memories.

Jessica moves to London, but struggles to adjust. She meets S.H.I.E.L.D agent Jerry Hunt, who becomes enamored with her. She is also approached by the mysterious sorcerer Magnus, who offers help. After defending him from Morgan Le Fay she relocates with him to Los Angeles, where he tutors her in the ways of civilization and informs her that her father was murdered, leading her on a hunt for his killer. She begins a relationship with Hunt, and together they find her father's killer, who dies shortly after confessing.

Eventually, both Hunt and Magnus part ways with Drew. She becomes a receptionist at a hotel, where she attended group therapy and took medication for her pheromones, before losing the job. Jessica forms a strong friendship with fellow patient and aspiring actress Lindsay McCabe and developed acquaintances with several other superheroes.

The next few months of Jessica's life are not covered by published stories. During this time, she becomes a bounty hunter working in partnership with paraplegic criminologist Scotty McDowell, and finds a police liaison in Captain Walsh. Her working relationship with Scotty fails, so she relocates with Lindsay to San Francisco.. She begins a romantic relationship with their landlord David Ishima, and sets up a practice as a licensed private investigator. Lindsay deduces her secret identity, but is unbothered.

Drew sacrifices her immunity powers to save Giant-Man and reveals her secret identity to David Ishima, causing him to leave her.

Jessica and Magnus travels in astral form to 6th century England to defeat Morgan le Fey. She is successful, but her body dies while her spirit was gone. At her request, Magnus places a spell over humanity to remove all memory of Jessica's existence. This spell fails, and Tigra and the Shroud discover Jessica's corpse. They contact the Avengers and Doctor Strange, who travel to the astral plane to defeat Le Fay, who wanted to claim Drew's body. Strange and Magnus reunite Jessica's spirit with her human body, though Magnus's life and Jessica's powers are sacrificed in the process, leading to Drew abandoning her Spider-Woman identity and continuing her life as a private investigator in San Francisco, assisted by Lindsay and, for a time, Tigra.

Secret Invasion

A Hydra agent known as Connely offers her powers back if she would rejoin S.H.I.E.L.D. as a double agent. Drew contacts Nick Fury who urges her to accept the offer, as a triple agent for S.H.I.E.L.D. The Hydra cell is in fact a team of Skrulls who abduct Drew, so that their current Queen Veranke could take her place in the New Avengers and assume her role as Fury's spy in preparation for the upcoming invasion.

After the invasion is repulsed, Tony Stark finds a Skrull ship in orbit with all the replaced heroes, including Drew.

Avenger and agent of S.W.O.R.D.

Jessica Drew joins the New Avengers. She also joins the Lady Liberators along with other female heroes to discover the identity of the Red Hulk. Alongside her work with the Avengers, Jessica Drew joins S.W.O.R.D., under an invitation by Abigail Brand. Her membership in the organization takes her on a number of missions eliminating hostile aliens operating on Earth.

Jessica is asked by Steve Rogers himself to join his team of Avengers, which she feels she does not deserve.

Jessica Drew becomes a member of the new Secret Avengers.

Spider-Verse and Post-Avenger life

During the "Spider-Verse" storyline, Spider-Woman is among the spider-themed superheroes brought to Earth-13 to form a resistance against Morlun and his family, the Inheritors. After being hunted by the Inheritors, she was sent by Spider-Man to the Loomworld, home of the Inheritors to gather more information on the Inheritors. Replacing her Loomworld doppelganger Loomworld, who was Morlun's lover, she was able to gather intelligence in regards to the Master Weaver and his role in the conflict, which helped the Spider Army ultimately win the battle against the Inheritors.

After the battle with the Inheritors, Jessica decided to quit the Avengers in order to start a new life and to focus on helping ordinary civilians. Jessica decides to help common people solve crimes, and enlists Ben Urich and Roger Gocking, the Porcupine.

Secret Wars

Knowing the universe will end soon, Reed Richards and Susan Storm choose Jessica and Natasha Romanoff to copilot a ship that will contain a handpicked few to restart humanity and escape the destruction of the universe. Their ship is shot down when the Children of Tomorrow from the Ultimate Universe invade, and she and the ship's passengers are killed in the ensuing explosion. This timeline and the resulting deaths were later undone.

Post-Secret Wars

In the debut issue of the new volume set after the Secret Wars, Jessica is in the second trimester of pregnancy and still works as a private investigator. Although there were various debates about the father's identity, after the baby's birth, Jessica admitted that, while she had been in a relationship over nine months ago that started her interest in a family, the man left before she could bring it up directly, prompting her to go to a sperm bank instead. She eventually gives birth to a son whom she names Gerry. Gerry also inherited her power set. After Porcupine is nearly killed by Hobgoblin, Jessica and Roger fall in love and start dating while continuing to raise Gerry.

During the "Spider-Geddon" storyline, Spider-Woman comes together with the Spider-Army again as she is part of Kaine Parker's group on their mission to claim the crystal containing Solus' lifeforce before Verna claims it. She escapes with the crystal during the fight with Verna and the Hounds. After returning to Earth-616, Spider-Woman is captured by Jennix, who takes the crystal and uses it to resurrect Solus. In the end, the Spider-Army manages to free Jessica and defeat the Inheritors, using cloning technology to revert them into babies.

In the storyline "End of the Spider-Verse", Spider-Woman is attacked by Spider-Man Noir, who had been controlled by Shathra. She is severed from the Web of Life and Destiny, effectively killing her. The Web is later cleansed of Shathra's corruption, resurrecting Spider-Woman. In the storyline "Gang War", it is revealed that Gerry Drew was kidnapped by Hydra during the period that Jessica was dead, rapidly aged into an adult, and manipulated into serving Hydra as Green Mamba.

Powers and abilities

After her mother, pregnant with Jessica, was struck with a beam of radiation containing the DNA of several different types of spiders, Jessica Drew developed superhuman powers patterned after several different types of spiders when she was born. Jessica is super-humanly strong and is able to lift around seven tons at her peak. She also possesses superhuman speed, stamina, agility, and reflexes. Jessica's body is more resistant to injury than an ordinary person's, allowing her to take far more physical punishment compared to the average human. Jessica also possesses superhuman hearing and smell, the latter of which allowed her to distinguish a life-model decoy from the real Nick Fury. Jessica's palms and soles secrete a special fluid that allows her to cling to solid objects, like a true spider. Jessica's physical makeup also makes her highly resistant to all terrestrial poisons, toxins, and completely immune to radiation. While she is typically rendered dizzy by the initial dose, she is completely immune to it after being exposed again. She also exudes a high concentration of pheromones that elicit pleasure and attraction from others, depending on unknown factors which might include gender and mood, although she typically uses a chemical "perfume" that renders these pheromones inert. This ability appears to be passive. Jessica's body also produces an inordinate amount of bio-electrical energy which she can discharge from her hands. She refers to these discharges as "venom blasts", although they actually have nothing to do with poison and typically cause pain and unconsciousness. Jessica can kill a person in the same way that a lightning bolt would and can pierce solid metals like steel by using her blasts at their greatest intensity. Jessica's Hydra-designed costume with its web-like wings, combined with her body's natural bio-electricity, allowed her to glide on air currents, but she seems to have gained the ability to fly after being replaced by the Skrull Queen, Veranke. Jessica has lost her powers in numerous ways and on several occasions, but after returning to Earth at the end of the Secret Invasion, Jessica's powers were restored and are greater than ever.

In addition to her powers, she is a skilled hand-to-hand combat fighter, and has trained in several styles of fighting including boxing, capoeira, judo, karate, and tai chi, learned under the training of the Taskmaster. She has also had training in fencing and the use of many other weapons. Jessica was trained by Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. in covert operations, stealth, espionage, and information gathering. She speaks several foreign languages, including Korean, Russian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German. Jessica has also received vocational training in undercover detective work and sometimes carries a Walther PPK handgun.

Cultural impact and legacy

Critical reception

James Whitbrook of Gizmodo referred to Jessica Drew as one of the "greatest Spider-Women of all time", writing, "There could only be one at the top of the list, and it's the one that really started it all. Created in a quick rush so Marvel could squat on the name to avoid rivals capitalizing on Spider-Man's success, Jessica Drew's story as Spider-Woman has seen her grow into a role and character that makes her so much more than the "female Spider-Man" her name might imply. Hell, she's always been her own damn hero—over the years since her debut, Jessica has been a super spy, an Agent of SHIELD, an Avenger, a private investigator, and many other things, but most importantly, she's never been in Peter Parker's shadow, willingly far removed from the world of Spiders to do her own thing. She's always been a kickass, witty hero that's every-bit deserving of Spider-praise as her distant friend Peter." IGN called Jessica Drew one of the "greatest Avengers of all time", saying, "after living a life full of subterfuge, murder, and entanglements with the terrorist group H.Y.D.R.A., Jessica Drew joined up with the New Avengers during the super villain breakout at the Raft. Ever a controversial member because of her mother (she runs HYDRA), she must constantly deal with the judgment of her teammates (they don't trust her). To make matters worse, during the event Secret Invasion an Earth-shattering twist revealed that the Skrull Queen Veranke had been impersonating her since New Avengers #1. Luck has often not been on Drew's side, but she has proven her ability to rise above adversity and be every bit a hero as the next member. She is not the only member with a soiled reputation; in fact, she is currently romantically involved with the bad boy of the Avengers, Hawkeye. Her super strength and agility combined with her Venom Blast stunning ability make her a formidable opponent, and her personality adds a refreshing lightness to the team." Chase Magnett of ComicBook.com described Jessica Drew as a "classic character", stating, "Spider-Woman's new costume replaces a skintight spandex suit from the 70's with a more wearable look including a customized leather jacket. This superficial adjustment reflects a much deeper change to the character. It has been decades since Jessica Drew was featured in an ongoing solo title (Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD was originally planned as an ongoing in 2009, but altered to a mini-series) and Spider-Woman #5 is concerned primarily with defining her without the Avengers or a team-up. Spider-Woman is striking out from her previous affiliations in order to "try living a normal life". Normal is a relative concept though, and it appears that working as an urban crimefighter and investigator may be as close as it comes. Rodriguez's gorgeous new costume design is not the only part of Spider-Woman that looks great. He toys with panel compositions and sound effects in such a way as to make the entire reading experience a joy. He is a comics craftsman with a style that is still entirely his own. Just like Jessica Drew he is showing off the flexibility and potential of someone who has been involved in superhero comics for many years. [...] Spider-characters like Silk, Spider-Gwen, and Spider-Woman are filling the gap left behind by a grown-up Peter Parker; they're also more reflective of the readers who are interested in comics and superheroes. There's still a place for Spider-Man and his classic friends like The Human Torch and Daredevil, but there are more opportunities new heroes to join them. All of these women and other new characters like Ms. Marvel and the All-New Ghost Rider represent a new wave of superheroes. They are following in the footsteps of Spider-Man: a hero of the people who reflects our own concerns and worries (while going on fantastic adventures). And as time goes on they are reflecting the men and women who love those adventures better every year." Abdul R. Siddiqui of Mic stated, "Critics love to argue that comics follow the traditional extremes of either portraying a damsel in distress or a femme fatale. However, if they were to actually study many of the prominent characters, they would see just how false this notion is. The best example to argue against such criticisms would be the role of Spider-Woman in Agent of S.W.O.R.D. In terms of portrayal, protagonist Jessica Drew neither dons the virtuous garb of the diminutive, shy lady in waiting nor the leather-clad battle armor of the fighting vixen. Instead, the protagonist spends much of the series in loose trench coats or wife beater shirts more suited to a cage fighter than an attractive woman. At numerous points, she is shown bloodied and beaten to an inch of her life. Certainly, the portrayal does not make her physically beautiful but there is an abstract allure. Also, in terms of characterization, she is neither entirely pure of heart nor is she the conniving type that so strangely fascinates men in power. Instead, she is a woman whose drive for revenge actually demonstrates deep-seated fears of loneliness and betrayal. Even the motion comic picks a voice actress whose take on the character is in no way sultry, yet it is strangely unique and filled with emotion. Therefore, it is safe to say that no traditional criticism of the unrealistic standards or insulting portrayal of women in comics applies to this character and she can therefore not be called a sexist caricature. Instead, she is an individual with so much depth beyond that material that she instead represents ideals. Plus, keep in mind that she also has the ability to control the men around her through pheromones she secretes from her body, once again demonstrating the Petrarchan desire for the female to rule the man who finds her beautiful."

Accolades

In 2009, IGN included Jessica Drew in their "Marvel's Femme Fatales" list.

In 2011, Comics Buyer's Guide ranked Jessica Drew 54th in their "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.

In 2012, IGN ranked Jessica Drew 20th in their "Top 50 Avengers" list.

In 2013, Den of Geek included Jessica Drew in their "5 Female Marvel Superheroes Who Need Solo Films" list.

In 2014, ComicBook.com ranked Jessica Drew's Ultimate Marvel iteration 3rd in their "7 Best Female Characters from the Spider-Man Multiverse" list.

In 2015, Gizmodo ranked Jessica Drew 22nd in their "Every Member Of The Avengers" list.

In 2015, Entertainment Weekly ranked Jessica Drew 25th in their "Let's rank every Avenger ever" list.

In 2015, CNET included Jessica Drew in their "15 most powerful female superheroes" list.

In 2015, BuzzFeed ranked Jessica Drew 16th in their "84 Avengers Members Ranked From Worst To Best" list.

In 2016, ComicBook.com included Jessica Drew in their "7 Big Marvel Superheroes Who Haven't Appeared on Film" list.

In 2017, Gizmodo ranked Jessica Drew 1st in their "Greatest Spider-Women of All Time" list.

In 2017, Nerdist ranked Jessica Drew 3rd in their "7 Best Spider-Heroes Who Aren't Peter Parker" list.

In 2017, Screen Rant ranked Jessica Drew 9th in their "28 Marvel Superheroes With Spider-Powers" list.

Literary reception

Volumes

According to Marvel Comics, Spider-Woman #1 sold out in September 2009. According to Diamond Comics Distributors, Spider-Woman #1 was the 45th best selling comic book in September 2009.

Nick Winstead of ComicBook.com called Spider-Woman #1 "much-anticipated", stating, "This first issue is the first opportunity we've been allowed to see Jessica's deepest thoughts and feelings on her situation, and coupled with the scenes of quiet introspection are some very darkly drawn panels from Maleev, accenting the loneliness and self-imposed exile in which Drew currently finds herself. Brand's approach to her about taking the job as a sort of "alien hunter" is an intriguing new direction for her, given that her first solo series in the 1980s dealt so much with magical foes, mystery solving and encounters with costumed criminals. Brand's offer sparks Drew to take off to, of course, Madripoor, the epicenter of shady characters and criminals in the Marvel universe. [...] This first issue jumps out to an impressive start, and the pacing is quick and immediate, with the reader able to be engaged throughout. Maleev's art is the perfect compliment to the narrative, and there's a great amount of tension in what Drew tells us about her current life. Perhaps her new journey will reinspire her to carve out her destiny and identity, free of any other organization's machinery." Bryan Joel of IGN gave Spider-Woman #1 a grade of 8.2 out of 10, writing, "Spider-Woman is no doubt going to gain footnote status for spearheading Marvel's motion comics initiative. But what shouldn't be forgotten about the series in ten years' time is that its first issue is surprisingly good. Brian Michael Bendis bucks his own trend of decompression in this issue, and this issue shows Spider-Woman has a good deal on its plate. The book details Jessica Drew's mental status post-Secret Invasion, a run-in with Abigail Brand and subsequent drafting into S.W.O.R.D., and deployment on her first official mission. Bendis covers a lot of ground here, even finding time to give a quick refresher on Jessica's origin along the way. It bears mentioning that the issue is well-paced, and gives each plot beat and development room to do its thing. [...] Spider-Woman is off to a strong start. There's certainly room for improvement, but it's nice to know Jessica Drew isn't the next in the string of properties Marvel has given an ongoing series with minimal direction or reason."

According to Diamond Comics Distributors, Spider-Woman #1 was the 5th best selling comic book in November 2014. Spider-Woman #1 was the 45th best selling comic book in 2014.

Other versions

Age of X

An alternate universe version of Jessica Drew appears in "Age of X". This version is known as Redback and is a member of the Avengers, a group of mutant hunters who answer to Frank Castle. Drew later sacrifices herself to stop the Hulk from destroying a mutant sanctuary, having come to recognize that their persecution of mutants is wrong.

Earth-65

During the 2016 Spider-Women event, Spider-Gwen's interdimensional transporter is stolen by Jessica's male Earth-65 counterpart, Jesse Drew. In this universe, Jesse is married with a son and daughter, who are unaware he is actually Agent 77 of the criminal organization S.I.L.K. It is later revealed that Jesse is the son of two S.H.I.E.L.D. astronaut spies who had been sent to the moon to live on a secret base for ten years, during which they gave birth to Jesse. However, Jesse's father was a Russian double agent who is eventually killed by Jesse's mother.

Joining S.H.I.E.L.D. after high school, Jesse is sent back to the moon to renovate the base where he and his crew were attacked by alien spider creatures. Jesse escapes, but one of the spiders poisons him. Jesse is saved by the head of S.I.L.K., Cindy Moon, who uses her spider formula to save his life and give him superpowers. Moon deceives Jesse into thinking he needs the formula to survive, but it is later revealed that the formula merely lets him retain his powers. After learning of this, Jesse quits S.I.L.K. and leaves with his family.

Marvel Adventures Spider-Man

An alternate universe version of Jessica Drew appears in Marvel Adventures Spider-Man. This version is a freelance agent who arrived at Peter Parker's school as a substitute teacher when she discovered Peter's biology report mixed up with Hydra's bio-weapons plan. She is one of the few people who knew Peter's secret identity.

Marvel Zombies

A zombified alternate universe version of Spider-Woman appears in Marvel Zombies.

MC2

In the MC2 reality, Jessica does not regain her powers after losing them. She marries and has a child Gerald (or Gerry for short). She learns that her radioactive blood caused Gerry to develop a crippling illness. She attempts to use the same genetic treatments her father gave her to save him. As Gerry "incubated" in a genetic accelerator, Jessica's husband blames her for Gerry's health and divorces her. When Gerry emerges from the genetic accelerator, Jessica learns that her son had gained spider-like powers (superhuman strength and agility as well as the ability to organically produce webs), but that his illness had not been cured.

What If...?

An alternate universe version of Jessica Drew from Earth-79101 appears in What If...? #17. This version succeeded in killing Nick Fury after the accidental death of Jared. She escaped and came back to Hydra headquarters but was pursued by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents led by agent Valentina Allegra de Fontaine. Spider-Woman (still known as Arachne) became a supervillain who wanted to know her real origin, just like the Earth-616 version. Otto Vermis is still alive but captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. and Agent Val chase Arachne to get revenge for Fury's death.

Spider-Verse

An alternate universe version of Jessica Drew from Earth-001 appears in Spider-Verse. This version is a servant of the Inheritors and lover of Morlun.

Ultimate Marvel

The Ultimate Marvel incarnation of Jessica Drew (a composite character of Jessica and Ben Reilly), known primarily as Spider-Woman and the Black Widow for a time, as well as by the alias of Julia Carpenter, has been an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., a member of the Ultimates and New Ultimates, and a supporting character for both Peter Parker and Miles Morales. A clone of the former with all of his memories and personality, she has heightened agility, strength, reflexes, a precognitive danger sense (spider sense), the ability to stick to walls, and organic webbing she can shoot from her fingertips.

In other media

Television

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears in a self-titled television series, voiced by Joan Van Ark.

Film

Jess Drew / Spider-Woman appears in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023), voiced by Issa Rae. Described as an "original creation" and "wholesale reinvention of the concept" of the comic book Jessica Drew, this version is an African American Spider-Woman who rides a motorcycle and serves as a leading member of Miguel O'Hara's Spider-Society and mentor to Gwen Stacy / Spider-Woman. A composite character of the Earth-616 and Earth-1610 Jessica Drews, she has the spider-powers and fingertip-webs of 1610-Jessica from Ultimate Spider-Man and the pregnancy of 616-Jessica from Spider-Woman: Spider-Verse. Furthermore, alternate universe comic book-accurate incarnations of the Earth-616 and Earth-1610 versions of Jessica Drew make background cameo appearances as additional members of the Spider-Society.

Jess Drew / Spider-Woman will appear in a self-titled spin-off film.

Video games

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears as a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance, voiced by Tasia Valenza. This version is a member of the New Avengers who lacks super-strength.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears as a boss and assist character in the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable versions of Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, voiced by Mary Elizabeth McGlynn.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, voiced by E. G. Daily. This version is allied with the Anti-Registration movement and assists players before being captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. She also serves as a boss for the Pro-Registration campaign.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, voiced by Grey DeLisle.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Avengers Alliance. She later appears as one of the Serpent's Worthy, Kuurth, Breaker of Stones.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Heroes.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears as an unlockable playable character in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, voiced by Kari Wahlgren.

Multiple incarnations of Jessica Drew appear as unlockable playable characters in Spider-Man Unlimited, voiced by Laura Bailey.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears in Marvel Pinball, as part of the "Women of Power" DLC pack and the A-Force table.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears as an unlockable playable character in Marvel Avengers Academy, voiced by Kiernan Shipka.

Miscellaneous

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears in the Spider-Woman: Agent of S.W.O.R.D. motion comic, voiced by Nicolette Reed.

Jessica Drew / Spider-Woman appears in the Wolverine: Weapon X motion comic, voiced by Lisa Ann Beley.