Introduced to protect a copyright, Spider-Woman was given Wolverine's original origin: she was a product of a genetic experiment , a spider evolved into a human female. When launched in her own comic with art by Infantino, she was an alluring Dark Angel with Arthurian connections in a DC-style mystery book. After an unlikeable spell as a bounty hunter, she was revamped by Chris Claremont as a private eye. Chris also decided to make her a pawn of the elder god Cthon. Oh, and the daughter of Viper, the former Madame Hydra. In the wake of the success of New Avengers, Bendis attempted to streamline the complicated backstory of one of his favourite characters.
Spider-Woman Origin follows the exploitation of Jessica Drew from child experiment to pawn of HYDRA. Bendis and his co-writer Brian Reed change the motivation of Jessica's father and throwsin a cameo from Marvel's own Humbert Humbert geneticist: Miles Warren, the Jackal. Many of the more outré elements of Jessica's story- the attack of Werewolf By Night Senior, the High Evolutionary and his New Men- are implied to be false memories implanted by Kirby's SHIELD villain Mentallo.
The implication is that the (unexplained) appearances of these characters in the story are hallucinations. Why include them at all, then? The false memories also invalidate elements of the origins of Wanda and Pietro but that's another story.
Jessica develops skills of deception and survival throughout the story, culminating in a confrontation with her father. However, these secret agent abilities make her very similar to the Black Widow, which is unfortunate. I sympathised with Jessica but knew that she would go on to be manipulated again, impersonated by the Skrull Queen herself. Her passivity and distress are, therefore, hardly very heroic qualities.
The art by the Philippines' Luna Brothers is bland and stiff. I think the aim was to try to evoke the look of a child's nightmare but it's very static. The cynical tone and plastic execution of this collection is disappointing; the Agent of SWORD book is much better.
White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion: It's unusual to read a female writer's work at Marvel. I often wish DC's Gail Simone were writing a regular series for Carol Danvers, Patsy Walker or (please!) Giant-Man and the Wasp. Fantasy author Tamora Pierce's six -issue series starring Bendis' version of the White Tiger is collected in this book.
WT , an early claim to fame for George Perez, was a Latino martial arts Marvel hero - think Iron Fist blended with the Black Panther. Although highly derivative, I was really keen on his late 70s appearances because of his simple design.
Pierce picks up on Bendis' Daredevil plotlines. Inheriting her uncle's tiger amulets, Angel De Toro, a disgraced FBI agent, comes up against the Yakuza and allies herself with Avengers Luke Cage, Iron Fist, Black Widow and Spider-Man.The major Marvel villains are a creepy new take on the Cobra ( the old Thor foe ) and the Lizard. There are also cameos for Daredevil. Deadpool and Emma Frost.
This feels so much like a Bendis New Avengers book, I'm surprised Angela never joined the team. Pierce would have made a seamless successor as scripter. The artwork, by Timothy Liebe, is reminiscent of Bendis' collaborator, Mark Bagley. It's a satisfying story, where the heroine's grit, determination and network of family and friends enables her to restore a heroic legacy. Unfortunately, this was all six years ago and this incarnation of WT never took off.
A new, younger version of White Tiger appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man animated series. I've read some negative comments about this show but I watched an episode on Youtube and found it genuinely funny. It was a re-telling of Simonson's Frog-Thor story, utilising the versions of Loki and Asgard we recognise from the movies. The young WT got a couple of action sequences.
Despite my issues with Spider-Woman's history, a little of Bendis' "urban noir" take would be appreciated on the DC big guns, particularly the frustrating Justice League.
Coming soon: The Trail of the White Worm
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