Spider-Woman #17 // Review
Jess is trying her best to settle into life after her brother tried to have her killed. She's going to find somewhere to unwind... she's going to find that on the set of an action film. (She's got a friend who is a stunt woman.) Too bad her arm is healing in a cast. Things are going to get complicated for Jess in Spider-Woman #17. Writer Karla Pacheco continues a very satisfying run with Jess in another issue sent across page and panel by artist Pere Perez. Color for the chapter is intricately handled by Frank D'Armata.
Jess is still suffering from a fight with her brother. (Fighting him messed with her healing factor. Family is always so complicated.) Thanks to Linda Carter--medic to the superheroes, she's got her arm in a cast. Carter tells her to take it easy, which is just precisely what Jess plans on doing. She's just going to hang out with a stuntwoman friend of hers. Is it Jess' fault that someone wants this friend dead? Is it her problem that this same person may want Jess dead? Absolutely. That arm may have some difficulty healing under the circumstances. Things could get ugly.
Pacheco finally manages to move Jess' friend Lindsay McCabe into the center of the panel for an issue. The stuntwoman who had served as a babysitter for Jess' son has shown a solid ability to defend herself in previous issues. It's a lot of fun to see an adventure that pairs Jess with Lindsay for a full issue. Pacheco's clever characterization of the distinct friendship between superhero and stunt woman is a pleasure. There are some distinctly clever moments in the script, including a two-page fight sequence between Jess, Lindsay, and a Frank Miller-sized pack of ninjas that plays out entirely in silhouette against a green screen. Fun stuff.
Perez's page composition continues to be a central appeal of his art in his latest outing with Spider-Woman. The artist's distinct way of getting across the specific kinetics of action and drama continues to find fresh approaches to the type of action that's been on comics pages for well over half a century. It feels new under Perez's pen. Subtle changes in emotion can be vividly read in the faces of every character. D'Armata's nuanced sense of color adds a classy layer of sophistication to the visuals that add mood and tone to Pacheco's story.
Pacheco has taken Jess to a surprisingly diverse set of places throughout the 17 issues of the series. From Wundagore Mountain in Transia to an orbital space station to...Hoboken. It's been a wild ride. Through it all, Pacheco has managed such a satisfying focus on Jess that the craziness of her life feels more like a refreshingly strange character arc than a series of weird locations. There's a remarkably fresh sense of continuity about it all that makes Jess seem much more believable as a human being than most comic book superheroes manage in a decade of regular adventures.
