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Jessica Drew Reading Order, the first Spider-Woman

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Spider-Woman / Jessica Drew Reading Ordere

Like Spider-Girl, the code name Spider-Woman has been used by multiple characters in the Marvel Universe. However, the original and most popular incarnation is Jessica Drew. Created by writer Archie Goodwin and artist Marie Severin, Jessica Drew made her first appearance in Marvel Spotlight #32 in February 1977. In that debut, she was portrayed as a mysterious agent of Hydra, suffering from amnesia and unsure of her true origins.

At the time, the creation of Spider-Woman was a strategic move by Marvel Comics to secure the trademark for the name before any rival publisher could claim it (like with She-Hulk). Despite the character being born of legal necessity, Jessica Drew quickly gained popularity with readers. This led to Marvel launching her own ongoing series in 1978, with the early issues written by Marv Wolfman. Wolfman revamped the character significantly, giving her the civilian identity of Jessica Drew and establishing her backstory.

Jessica’s origin is famously convoluted. The original version told in her solo series involved her being the daughter of scientist Jonathan Drew and Merriam Drew.? Her father and High Evolutionary built a lab in the fictional Balkan nation of Transia, where, after being exposed to uranium radiation, young Jessica was injected with an experimental serum made from irradiated spider blood and placed in a genetic accelerator to save her life. Over time, her backstory has been retconned multiple times, most notably by Brian Michael Bendis in the early 2000s, who reimagined her past and tied her more directly to Hydra and the espionage world, while changing the explanation for her powers.

Throughout her history, Jessica Drew has had a foot in both the superhero and spy worlds. Known for her enhanced strength, agility, venom blasts, and immunity to toxins, Jessica has worked as an agent for Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D., and S.W.O.R.D., and has operated as a private investigator. On the superhero front, she’s been a member of the Avengers, the Secret Avengers, the Web-Warriors, the West Coast Avengers, and more. 

Jessica Drew Reading Order:

Jessica Drew, Spider-Woman (1977 – 1983)

Following her first appearance in Marvel Spotlight #32, Spider-Woman soon headlined her own solo series, which lasted 50 issues, written by Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, Ann Nocenti, among others, with art by Carmine Infantino, Steve Leialoha, and more.

 

From 1979 to 1980, she starred in her own animated television series, Spider-Woman, produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Marvel Productions. In the series, Jessica worked as the editor of Justice Magazine by day and fought crime as Spider-Woman in her spare time. She was voiced by actress Joan Van Ark. Though short-lived, the cartoon was one of the first animated series to feature a female superhero in the lead role, further cementing Jessica Drew’s place in Marvel history.

During this series, Spider-Woman made a few appearances in other titles not collected in the essential editions. The most important ones are in bold:

Jessica Drew, Private Detective (1983 – 1999)

Following the cancellation of her solo series and the events in Avengers #240–241, Jessica Drew temporarily stepped away from her Spider-Woman identity. Depowered and seeking a more grounded existence, she relocated to San Francisco and began working as a private investigator. During this time, she was frequently accompanied by her best friend and roommate, Lindsay McCabe, and occasionally partnered with fellow heroine Tigra. Although she no longer wore the costume, Jessica Drew remained active in the Marvel Universe, primarily appearing as a guest star across various titles, often partnering with Wolverine.

It was also during this era that the mantle of Spider-Woman was adopted by a new character: Julia Carpenter. Introduced during Secret Wars (1984), Julia had powers derived from a different origin and wore a striking black-and-white costume.

Spider-Woman, featuring Jessica Drew (1999 – 2003)

The mantle of Spider-Woman was passed once again in the late 1990s with the introduction of Mattie Franklin, who became the third character to carry the name. Mattie made her first full appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #5 (1999), during a storyline where she temporarily impersonated Spider-Man to fill in for the missing hero. Her debut caught enough attention to launch a new Spider-Woman solo series later that year, written by John Byrne with art by Bart Sears.

This series brought together the legacy of the Spider-Woman name, featuring appearances from both Jessica Drew and Julia Carpenter, as well as introducing new elements to the mythos. Jessica played a significant supporting role in the early issues, appearing in the first eleven, and acted as a mentor figure to the younger, impulsive Mattie.

  • Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #5 (1999)
    Collected in Spider-Man By John Byrne Omnibus
  • Spider-Woman #1-8 (1999)
    Not collected yet.
  • Amazing Spider-Man #14 (2000)
    Collected in Spider-Man By John Byrne Omnibus. To read after Spider-Woman #8, as the story told continues in Spider-Woman #9.
  • Spider-Woman #9-11 (2000)
    Not collected yet.

Jessica Drew  returned in 2003 for a very dark six-issue story arc in Alias, in which private investigator Jessica Jones track down a missing Mattie Franklin:

Jessica Drew by Brian Michael Bendis (2004 – 2012)

After writing the Alias arc, Brian Michael Bendis placed Jessica back in the spotlight as a core member of The New Avengers in 2005, where she became a key player in many of the major Marvel events of the 2000s. Jessica’s origin was also revisited and redefined shortly after in the five-issue miniseries Spider-Woman: Origin (2006). Co-written by Bendis and Brian Reed and illustrated by the Luna Brothers, this modern retelling consolidated decades of conflicting backstory.

Bendis’s era on the Avengers was launched with Avengers Disassembled, leading us to his New Avengers in which Jessica Drew is an important member, back as Spider-Woman.

Event: House of M takes place between New Avengers #10-11. Jessica Drew made a few appearances, but this story doesn’t play a role in her personal history.

  • New Avengers By Bendis Complete Collection Vol. 2
    Collecting New Avengers (2004) #11-25, New Avengers: Custom #676 – Army & Air Force, Giant-Size Spider-Woman #1, New Avengers Annual (2006) #1, New Avengers: Illuminati (2006) One-Shot, and Civil War: The Confession.

Event: Civil War. This time, everybody and their uncle were concerned by it. New Avengers #21-25 are tie-ins.

Alert Event! Jessica Drew is one of the major characters of the Secret Invasion event, as revelations will put into perspective Spider-Woman’s actions during the past few years. And obviously, it’s a story that will leave some scars on Jessica.

Event: Siege. After New Avengers #61, Siege deals with the culmination of the “Dark Reign” storyline, and the end of the New Avengers title.

The end of the Dark Reign era was also marked by the end of the New Avengers title, but Brian Michael Bendis wasn’t finished with the Avengers and Jessica Drew, leading us into the Heroic Age, Fear Itself, and Avengers vs. X-Men.

Event: Fear Itself. Jessica Drew appears in the main series, as well as the Avengers #13-17 (ties-in).

Event: Spider-Island. Jessica Drew has a tie-in dedicated to her during this Spidey event.

Event: Avengers vs. X-Men. Jessica is present in the main event and numerous tie-ins, including Avengers #25-30.

Jessica Drew during Marvel NOW! (2012 – 2014)

In October 2012, Marvel launched its Marvel NOW! publishing initiative—a soft relaunch of its universe aimed at attracting new readers and shaking up the status quo. Amidst the lineup changes and new creative teams, Jessica Drew remained a prominent figure, continuing her role as an Avenger. During this period, she was featured prominently in Avengers Assemble, first written by Brian Michael Bendis and later taken over by Kelly Sue DeConnick.

Event: Age of Ultron. Avengers Assemble #14-15 are tie-ins, it is trivial for Spider-Woman.

Event: Inhumanity. All the issues in this collected edition are tie-ins to the event.

Spider-Woman also appears as a recurring character in several titles:

Spider-Woman by Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum (2014 – 2017)

Four to five years after Spider-Woman: Origin, and following her high-profile tenure with the Avengers, Jessica Drew stepped out of the team spotlight to reclaim her place as a solo hero. In 2014, Marvel launched a new Spider-Woman ongoing series written by Dennis Hopeless (with initial art by Greg Land), debuting as a tie-in to the Spider-Verse crossover event. The series began with Jessica caught in the chaos of multiversal threats alongside other Spider-heroes, but it quickly transitioned into a more grounded and personal narrative once the event concluded.

Dennis Hopeless’s work on the title is now collected in one book:

But here is a detailed reading order for this era:

Event: Spider-Verse. One of the most important Spidey events.

Following the destruction of the Marvel universe as we knew it (see the Secret Wars event), another Marvel initiative saw the launch of the new Spider-Woman title, still written by Dennis Hopeless and dealing with a very pregnant Jessica Drew.

Event: Civil War II. A new Civil War is putting heroes against each other. Spider-Woman #9-11 are tie-ins to this event in which Spider-Woman is neutral.

Spider-Woman during Fresh Start (2018 and beyond)

In 2018, Marvel launched its Fresh Start initiative, Jessica Drew returned to active superhero duty in this era, first as a member of a new supernatural-leaning team called Strikeforce. Written by Tini Howard, Strikeforce featured an eclectic lineup that included Blade, Monica Rambeau, Daimon Hellstrom, and others, with Jessica acting as a grounded yet sharp-witted voice among the darker, more mystical elements of the team’s missions.

Jessica Drew also became a recurring character in Kelly Thompson’s run on Captain Marvel. As such, she sometimes just appears on a page or two, or in a complete issue. The comics are optional reads because they are about Carol Danvers.

A new team of Superheroes! Created by writer Tini Howard and artist Germán Peralta, Strikeforce enters into action when the Avengers and other Marvel heroes can’t, doing the dirty jobs for them. The team features Angela, Blade, Daimon Hellstrom, Spectrum, Spider-Woman, Wiccan, and Winter Soldier.

Like a lot of Spider-people, Jessica Drew appears in the Amazing Spider-Man title for Nick Spencer’s storyline called “Last Remains”.

In 2020, a new Spider-Woman solo series was launched. Written by Karla Pacheco with dynamic, kinetic art by Pere Pérez, this run reintroduced Jessica with a new black-and-red costume and explored her complicated ties to her past, including a mysterious illness, her genetic history, and the truth about her parentage. This series lasted 21 issues.

Using the Gang War crossover event, when the gangs of New York started to attack each other to take control of the city, Marvel Comics launched a new Spider-Woman series by Steve Foxe and Carola Borelli. The first four issues are set during the event. Check out the Gang War reading order for more details. The series only lasted 10 issues.

The West Coast Avengers (1987-1989) Icon Reading Order Iron Man and War Machine have put together a new team of Avengers based on the West Coast, and Spider-Woman is one of the members, even if she has her doubts about some members of the team (like Ultron).

The story continues…

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