Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 4) #1 (Story 4)

Background

Three months ago, Jessica ‘Spider-Woman’ Drew quit the Avengers, in order to find a more grounded, street-level life. Throwing in with Ben Urich and Roger ‘the Porcupine’ Gocking, she traveled America to help the helpless.

Then the Secret Wars happened, and a year passed. Let’s see what’s happened while we’ve been away.

Story 'What to Expect'

Jessica and her bestie Carol ‘Captain Marvel’ Danvers are having a phone call. Jessica is walking the streets of New York (we see a bridge crossing in the background), groceries in hand, while Carol is in space fighting some unidentified malefactors.

The thrust of the conversation is that Jessica is not thrilled about being pregnant. As per the movie stereotypes, her body is behaving in uncomfortable ways, strangers refuse to keep their distance and act really helpful while also asking invasively personal questions, and Jess feels unprepared for her impending motherhood.

In mid-conversation, Jess kicks down the door to a cheap motel (do they have those in New York?) and uses her groceries as missile weapons against the three supervillains within: Goldbug, White Rabbit, and the Walrus. Turns out that with spider-strength and spider-agility, even fresh fruit is a dangerous weapon, and Spider-Woman takes all three out without throwing a punch, or a venom blast.

Carol isn’t pleased about this. “Jess, you’re six months pregnant! You can’t be… you need to take it easy.” Jessica refuses to listen.

And that’s it!

General Comments

This is a trifle. It’s in just long enough to tell readers about the new status quo in Spider-Woman - namely, that Jess is pregnant - and showcase Javier Rodriguez’ sublime art. Oh, and the Walrus’ presence here sets up Amazing Spider-Man (Vol. 4) #1 (Story 6) later on.

This little tale has no beginning and no conclusion; it just stops and starts. It feels less like a story and more like an excerpt from one, except it doesn't fit into the chronology of Spider-Woman (vol. 6) #1, which is set two months after this.

So I don’t know what it is, except for a sales pitch.

Overall Rating

I’m being generous with two webs, but - as I said - Javier Rodriguez’ work is consistently fantastic.

Footnote

I have to agree with Carol. Sure, Spider-Woman took out the bad guys, thanks to the element of surprise. But if things had gone a different way, Spider-Woman might have to had to slug things out in a three-on-one brawl, which is not advisable for any pregnant person, especially one on the verge of the third trimester.