Spider-Woman #1

   Perhaps this would be a fine first issue if I were reading the Spider-Verse series.

   But I'm not, so for me, this was a terrible first issue. If you're a Spider-Verse fan, your mileage may vary.

   Let me say first that I'm a fan of the Jesssica Drew version of Spider-Woman, even though she's so rarely done "right."

   But in this issue she's lost in a crowd of Spider-dervied characters, which feels for all the world like the worst aspects of such "family" creations.

   Usually the worst offenders have been past issues of DC comics, with innumerable "Batman" and "Superman" derivatives - now Marvel is falling into the same trap.

   Of course, the Spider-Verse stories might be wonderful for all I know - but this doesn't give any indication of that.

   The issue launches hip-deep in the story already, as Spider-Woman is trying to protect another Spider-like woman named Silk along with a '30s pulp version of Spider-Man (I swear I am not making this up).

   They're in an alternate reality, being pursued by a couple of invincible villains who want to steal their spider-life-essence.

     I pity the fan who picks this up as his or her first issue, because he or she will be completely lost. The issue features mindless action, lots of characters with no introductions (look, it's Anya and Gwen, whoever they are), no indication about who the title character is, what she looks like under the mask or why we should care.

    Greg Land's art is beautiful to look at - he's a great choice to draw a comic loaded with lovely women - but that's not enough to make this comic compelling.

   Hopefully at some point this title will focus on the title character. Then it'll be worth $3.99 (maybe).

Grade: C

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