Review: Spider-Woman #9
Previously in Spider-Woman #8
Did someone say, “Road Trip?”
Embracing her new mission of helping normal people on a smaller scale, former Avenger Jessica Drew sets out on a cross-country road trip with journalist Ben Urich. They have case files of people in need of assistance when the police either don’t believe they need it or are unwilling to give it. Unfortunately for Jessica, former super villain Roger Gocking (Porcupine) is along for the ride. How else is he supposed to learn to be a good guy, Ben reasons.
After a few short days, they’ve solved a few cases with Jessica doing most of the heavy lifting. Roger just gets in the way and almost gets people killed. Fed up, Jessica insists he stay in the car during the next case and puts him on nighttime driving duty so she can get some rest.
As he drives and the others sleep, Roger thinks about how all he ever wanted to be was a good guy, a hero, a cowboy. This is why he decides to pull over for the night in historic Dodge City, nestled in Western Kansas. A camera in the town’s statue immediately picks up that an Avenger is in the car, and a shadowy figure in a cowboy hat watches as the trio pulls into the parking lot of a strip mall filled with souvenir shops.
They are attacked, Roger is shot, and Jessica is forced to take on a half dozen gun-toting cowboys. The mystery man steps from the shadows revealing a sheriff’s badge pinned to his chest. He’s impressed with Jessica’s abilities, but he’s not done with her. He appears to have the town under mind control and orders others to contain her.
Jessica wakes up in a meat processing plant and is nearly sliced up alongside a cow. She demands to know who he is, but he’s more interested in asking her questions like, why she’s there and who else knows about it. She charges him, but he takes her down with a stun gun and more of his minions appear, ready to carve Spider-Woman up.
This series continues to be gorgeous - every page is so vibrant and full of beautiful details. The montage of cases were particularly well-drawn, with lots of color and funny bits you’ll need to view a few times to catch them all. At times, Jessica is way too hard on Roger - the poor man IS trying - so it’s a good thing Ben is there to make sure cooler heads prevail. Now that Roger is shot, I’m wondering if that will change the way Jessica treats him. Although, he IS the one who picked Dodge City as their resting point, sooooo…
