Jessica Drew

Jessica Drew in Spider-Woman v7 #1.

Jessica Drew is a female comic superhero who features in Marvel Comics.

Biography

Origin

Jessica Drew in Spider-Woman v1 #1.

Jessica Drew was a female human born in the modern age where she was the daughter of Jonathan Drew and Meriem Drew.

She came to suffer from radiation poisoning from the uranium at the site with this having developed over the course of months. Her father had placed her in cryogenic unit to slow down the rate of cell destruction. In desperation, her father looked to use serums based on spider-extract to save his daughter. However, the incubation period was said to take months with Jessica was unable to survive in that time. This was until it was decided to use the genetic accelerator to speed up the serum's effects. Around this time, the strain placed on Jessica's mother was so great and she was noted to had passed away. The process had to be repeated on numerous occasions over the course of years where she came reside among the New Men hybrids of the High Evolutionary. During her time there, she was hated by the other creatures of Wundagore for she was seen as a reborn human and not a true animal. (Spider-Woman v1 #1)

Due to this, she eventually decided to leave in order to seek out human civilization. She came to be captured by a HYDRA reserve unit under Count Otto Vermis's leadership who erased her memories, brainwashes her, and recruited her as a HYDRA agent under the codename Arachne. (Spider-Woman v1 #1) One of HYDRA's top agents, Jared was assigned to train her in combat and espionage and to seduce her. Once Jessica had become his lover, he allowed himself to be captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. so that she can be goaded into assassinating the agency's commander. The brainwashed agent Arachne was then dispatched by Count Vermis to attack S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Mediterranean headquarters where Nick Fury was hold Jared. Looking to free her lover, she came to accidentally kill Jared who revealed Hydra's deception. This saw Arachne turning against them and looking to get her revenge against Vermis only to be confronted with a revelation about her past. While battling Fury, Jessica accidentally kills Jared and learns HYDRA's true nature. She quits HYDRA and assaults the unit'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. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #32)

Spider-Woman

While living in her ramshackle apartment in London, she broke into a nearby convenience store looking for food, but she immediately started to regret her actions and dropped the cans of food. She did not want to doom her future by resorting to theft, so she left but not before she was spotted by Jerry Hunt, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. During her continued desperate attempts to find employment, she was recognized and then hounded by Hunt, and was forced to go dark. Weeks later, in order to disguise herself better, she dyed her hair black and created a secret identity for herself. After that, she went out on patrol despite not wanting to be a hero. She would encounter Hunt and the local police again, who were involved in a firefight with two thieves she had met before. She defeated the duo and managed to save Hunt's life by using her own laser-resistant blood. (Spider-Woman v1 #1) She was later approached by the mysterious sorcerer named Magnus. (Spider-Woman v1 #2) Magnus tutored her in the ways of civilization and informed her that her father was murdered, leading her on a hunt for his killer. Jessica traveled to the west coast of the United States to Los Angeles with Magnus, where they presented themselves as uncle and niece and began living with the Dolly family in North Hollywood. (Spider-Woman v1 #3) Her landlady disclosed that Jonathan Drew was a former tenant of hers, when he worked at Pyro-Technics for several months. (Spider-Woman v1 #4) But before they could end their clash, the Hangman barged in and took Jessica captive. (Spider-Woman v1 #5) She was distracted from this hunt when Morgan Le Fey's ghost again seeks the Darkhold, this time in person. During the battle, Hunt catches up with Jessica and they begin a romantic relationship. (Spider-Woman v1 #6) With his help, she identifies her father's murderer who dies immediately after confessing. (Spider-Woman v1 #7)

For a time, she struggled to find a sense of belonging and purpose in the world. Jessica met her first female friend, actress Lindsay McCabe, at a pop psychologist's therapy group. (Spider-Woman v1 #14)

However, Jessica's pattern of bad luck struck again when Ishima broke up with her after discovering the truth about her super-heroics. Not long afterward, Magnus recruited Jessica to travel back in time for a final strike against Morgan Le Fey. Jessica succeeded in destroying her archenemy, but not before Morgan cast a spell that separated her time-traveling soul from her body. Jessica falsely believed that she had died and asked Magnus to cast a spell which made everyone who ever met her forget about her. (Spider-Woman v1 #50)

The spell was, however, faulty after Tigra and the Shroud discovered Jessica's dead body. They came to contact the Avengers and Doctor Strange leading to them travelling to the astral plane to battle Morgan Le Fay, who was trying to claim Jessica's body so she could return to the physical realm. Eventually, Doctor Strange and Magnus reunite Jessica's spirit with her human body, though Magnus's life and Jessica's powers were sacrificed to do so. In the aftermath, Drew came to abandon her Spider-Woman identity. (Avengers v1 #241)

Powerless

Abandoning her costumed identity, Jessica still worked with Lindsay at their private investigator's agency. She even helped the X-Men by providing them a temporary home after an encounter with the Beyonder. (Uncanny X-Men v1 #206)

Remaining in the island nation for about two years, Jessica eventually returned to the States. She had an encounter with Jillian Woods and the current Spider-Woman Julia Carpenter that seemingly restored her full powers. (Sensational Spider-Man Annual v1 #1996) Jessica Drew's life settles down until Charlotte Witter who was a villainess who had taken the Spider-Woman name where she stole Jessica's powers and leaving her near death. (Amazing Spider-Man v2 #5) Jessica was taken from the hospital to New York City by Madame Web. Jessica helped the renowned psychic Madame Web mentor a teenage Mattie Franklin, who had defeated Witter. Under Madame Web's guidance, Franklin absorbs from Witter the powers of all four Spider-Women and inherited the superhero mantle. (Spider-Woman v3 #1)

For untold reasons, Jessica moves back to San Francisco, resuming her private investigator practice there. (Alias v1 #17)

She would later attempt to infiltrate Hydra on her own and hired Hell's Kitchen criminals to rob a bank for funds as the organization was short on money. However, she was found out by Warbird and She-Hulk. She then teamed up with them to take down the Hydra cell she infiltrated. This was the beginning of her long-lasting friendship with Carol Danvers. (She-Hulk Sensational v1 #1)

Avengers

Later, Jessica sought a permanent solution to her fluctuating powers and thus accepted a deal with Hydra. In exchange, Jessica joined S.H.I.E.L.D. to spy on the counter-terrorist organization for Hydra. However, Nick Fury discovered this and thus used her to spread false intelligence. What neither Jessica or Fury knew, was that an enormous alien Skrull cell was in charge of the process to revive and stabilize her powers. After reviving her powers, Queen Veranke used her DNA to enable her to perfectly impersonate Jessica while she and her vast Skrull army were setting up the final stages of their pre-planned invasion of Earth. (New Avengers v1 #42) After the defeat of the Skrulls, Jessica was freed from confinement alongside the other Earth superheroes that had been replaced. (Secret Invasion v1 #8) Her return to Earth, however, was not as well-received as most of the other freed captives. A number of superhuman heroes and criminals were easily reminded of the Skrull queen Veranke, who had orchestrated the entire invasion against Earth. Their negative aspects on Jessica were immediately clear and threatening to her. Wolverine soon recruited her into the latest incarnation of New Avengers. A few of her new teammates were suspicious of Jessica at first. She immediately began working to prove her worth to the group assisting Luke Cage and Jessica Jones in search for their newborn daughter Danielle. (New Avengers v1 #48) In the aftermath, she had nowhere to go and decided to stay with the New Avengers whilst they were still outlaws due to the Registration Act. (New Avengers v1 #49) By this point, many people did not trust her due to her identity being used by the Skrull Queen Veranke leading to her being a pariah despite having no involvement in the invasion. During the Dark Reign, Norman Osborn was appointed the Director of national security after the disbanding of S.H.I.E.L.D. where he created his own agency along with a superteam of Dark Avengers that consisted largely of supervillains. In an effort to expose them, the New Avengers sought to lure them into an ambush and defeat them after temporarily depowering them through the use of Starktech. Spider-Woman volunteered to trick Osborn where she arrived at Stark Tower with her initially be attacked before convincing Norman that she was defecting. She returned with a tracker to the New Avengers ready to stage the ambush only to come under an surprise attack from the Hood and his gang of supervillains who Osborn had tipped about the superheroes location at the abandoned Hellfire Club. (New Avengers v1 #50)

In the aftermath, Drew felt ostracised on Earth due to the actions of Veranke who use her face in the attempted conquest of Earth. It was then that she came to be approached by Director Abigail Brand about joining S.W.O.R.D. with Spider-Woman ultimately accepting the offer. (Spider-Woman v4 #1)

With Osborn's defeat, Commander Steve Rogers went about forming a new incarnation of the Avengers with Jessica accepting the offer in joining the team. During their first meeting, Jessica expresses her doubts to Wolverine about being on the team, feeling she has not earned the role. Wolverine advises her if she feels that way, she will then have to work towards earning it then. During that time, Avengers Tower was visited by Kang the Conqueror who warned that the children of the Avengers would become a threat to the timestream in the future. (Avengers v4 #1) After recruiting the Protector and building a time machine, the time machine is destroyed by a furious Wonder Man. Once the dust has settled, an alternate version of Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen appear. (Avengers v4 #2) After Apocalypse's defeat, Jessica and a few of her teammates are sent into New York City to protect its citizens from the attacks coming from the timestream. (Avengers v4 #3) While in Washington Square Park, they come across Killraven and join forces to help the citizens. (Avengers v4 #4) Once their mission is completed and all the attacks have stopped, Jessica is the first to realize Killraven has not been returned to his proper future. (Avengers v4 #6) Later Jessica is present when Red Hulk comes to warn the Avengers that the Hood is seeking to collect the Infinity Gems. (Avengers v4 #7) She is present along with the rest of the Avengers when they confront the Illuminati in Attilan about their existence and goes with a team of Avengers to the ruins of the Xavier Institute to get to Professor Xavier's Infinity gem. (Avengers v4 #10) Spider-Woman, Ms. Marvel and Protector arrive in Brazil to help Red She-Hulk fight Hulk, who was transformed into Nul: Breaker of Worlds. (Avengers v4 #15)

On a S.W.O.R.D. mission, she investigated the landing of an extraterrestrial object on Earth when she was captured by the Intelligencia. They determined the object was a fallen Spaceknight and intended to interrogate Jessica for information. However, their base was attacked by the Avengers who came to recover their teammate. It was then that the Spaceknight activated where it was revealed that Ultron was within its form and reshaped it into a new body for himself as he escaped. (Avengers v4 #12.1)

When the coming of the Phoenix Force led the Avengers into conflict with the X-Men of Utopia over what course of action was needed, Spider-Woman sided with the Avengers and was there to invade the island. (Avengers vs. X-Men v1 #1)

Motherhood

Jessica Drew in Spider-Woman v5 #5.

Due to the severity of the event at hand, Jessica was one of the Spider-Heroes from Earth-616 recruited into the Spider-Army after defeating Looter and the Spiderlings, along with Spider-Girl, Spider-Man, Silk, and Scarlet Spider. (Amazing Spider-Man v3 #9)

Over the following year, she decided to have a child and became pregnant via artificial insemination. (Spider-Woman v6 #5)

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Jessica Drew was noted as a young woman with beautiful facial features. (Spider-Woman v1 #1)

By Hydra, she came to be referred to as Arachne but after separating from them she began to take the name Spider-Woman. (Spider-Woman v1 #1) Due to her ties to Wundagore, she also came to be referred to as a Childe of the Darkhold. (Spider-Woman v #40)

For a time, he memories came to be altered in order to make her loyal to Hydra. In that time, she was made to believe a Hydra soldier named Jared was her lover which drove her to fight for him. This was until she came to learn the truth and turned against the terrorist organisation. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #32)

Originally, she had no intention of becoming a superhero but had taken on the idea of using a costume to mask her secret identity. (Spider-Woman v1 #1)

She came to develop an attraction to Hawkeye with this being mutual from him as well. (Avengers v4 #13) The pair broke up after she caught him having a one night stand with another woman leading to Jessica no longer trusting him nor wanting to be in a relationship with Barton. (Hawkeye v4 #9)

Powers and abilities

Originally, Jessica Drew was an ordinary human being until a serum was used on her physiology that was based on spider-extract. A genetic accelerator was used to speed up the bonding to her body making her half spider. (Spider-Woman v1 #1)

Nick Fury came to classify her as a Power Level 8. (Secret War From the Files of Nick Fury v1 #1)

Jessica also possesses superhuman hearing and smell, the latter of which allowed her to distinguish a life-model decoy from the real Nick Fury. (New Avengers v1 #23)

It was said that she gained a spider's agility and leaping prowess. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #32)

She was able to adhere to surfaces allowing her to walk up walls. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #32)

Spider-Woman was able to fire venom bolts from her hands where at a certain range they were not fatal. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #32)

With the finely spun wings of glistening filament she was able to glide through the air. (Marvel Spotlight v1 #32)

She was trained and mentored by Taskmaster who trained her in many martial disciplines and more than seven different fighting styles out of his own 'arsenal'. (Spider-Woman Origin v1 #2)

Notes

• Jessica Drew was created by Archie Goodwin and Marie Severin where she made her first appearance in Marvel Spotlight v1 #32 (February, 1977).
• On the characters creation, Stan Lee noted in The Comics Journal v1 #42 (October, 1978; p. 55) that, "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."
• Brian Michael Bendis noted in an interview] that, "Originally, "Alias" was going to star Jessica Drew, but it became something else entirely. Which is good, because had we used Jessica it would have been off continuity and bad storytelling. So, when we were putting together "New Avengers," I put her because I had all these ideas for her and thought this was a place where I could finally do it and no one will be mad or care. She's an interesting female character who hasn't seen the light of day in a while and I think she's got this great costume."

Alternate Versions

• In House of M v1 #2 (2005), an alternate version of Jessica Drew appeared in the House of M reality that was designated as Earth-58163 in the Multiverse.
• In Ultimate Spider-Man v1 #98 (2006), an alternate version of [[Spider-Woman (Ultimate Marvel)|Jessica Drew appeared in the Ultimate Marvel reality that was designated as Earth-1610 in the Multiverse.
• In Age of X: Universe v1 #1 (2011), an alternate version of Jessica Drew appeared in the Age of X reality that was designated as Earth-11326 in the Multiverse. This version went by the codename of Redback was a silent, cold blooded killer who did not speak and simply followed orders. Captain America described her as the best killer in the USA with her being noted as being responsible for killing Mr. Sinister

In other media

Television

• In Spider-Woman, the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman featured in the setting of the animated television series where she was voiced by actress Joan Van Ark.
• In Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Jessica Drew did not appear but her costume was shown in the animated television series in the episode "The Triumph of the Green Goblin" where it was being worn by Firestar at a costume party.

Video games

• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman appeared as a playable character in the video game where she was voiced by actress Tasia Valenza.
• In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman appeared in the setting of the video game where she was voiced by actress Elizabeth Daily.
• In Marvel: Avengers Alliance, Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman appeared in the setting of the Facebook video game. During the events of the story, she became one of the Worthy and took on the identity of Kurth: Breaker of Stones.
• In Marvel Heroes, Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman appeared as a playable character in the setting of the MMORPG video game.
• In Spider-Man Unlimited, Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman appeared as a playable character in the mobile video game where she was voiced by actress Laura Bailey.
• In Marvel Avengers Academy, a teenage version of Jessica Drew as Spider-Woman appeared in the setting of the mobile video game where she was voiced by actress Kiernan Shipka.
• In Marvel Future Fight, the Jessica Drew Spider-Woman appeared as an unlockable character in the setting of the mobile video game.

Appearances

• Marvel Spotlight v1: (1977)
• Marvel Two-in-One v1:
• Spider-Woman v1:
• West Coast Avengers v1:
• Wolverine v2:
• Spider-Woman v3:
• Amazing Spider-Man v1:
• Alias:
• New Avengers v1:
• Mighty Avengers v1:
• Secret Invasion v1:
• Siege v1:
• Avengers v4:
• Secret Avengers v3:
• Spider-Woman v5:
• Spider-Force v1:
• Captain Marvel:
• Spider-Woman v7: (2020)
• Spider-Woman v8: (2023)

External Links

• Marvel Database Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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