Cerebra's Files
Spider-Woman
Real Name: Jessica DrewAffiliation: Avengers II, S.H.I.E.L.D.
Previous Affiliations: Hydra
Aliases: Dark Angel
Relatives: Jonathan (father, deceased), Miriam (AKA Merriem, mother, deceased)
Alternate-X Versions: None
Codename Etymology: Pronounced spī'dər-wŏŏm'ən [From Middle English spither, from spenwanan "to spin" + Old English wimman "female"];
Powers: Spider-Woman can cling to walls and has super-strength, -speed and -agility. Jessica can also generate bioelectric "venom blasts," that she used to startle, stun, or kill her prey. These sometimes left her depleted of energy. She also exudes pheromones, which cause a general feeling of "creepiness" around her, as well as the occasional attraction some men feel for her. Repressing these pheromones using drug therapy also repressed her powers, so Jessica decided to live with her sometimes unpredictable body chemistry. Recently, Jessica has also displayed a pheromones-releasing ability that can make people like her and perhaps even conform to her will.
Originally, she was thought to be a spider evolved into human form by the High Evolutionary, but that has since been disproven. She once also thought that she was Viper's daughter, but that too has been shown to be false. In fact, as a child Jessica lived with her parents and the High Evolutionary at Mount Wundagore, where she played with Philip Masters, the boy who would become the Puppet Master and the father of blind sculptress Alicia Masters. Unfortunately, Jessica became ill due to the uranium deposits in the mountain, and her father was unable to treat her. Refusing to give up, Jonathan Drew put Jessica into a stasis chamber, educating her with recorded tapes while he, and then the Evolutionary, searched for a cure. When Jessica emerged years later, she had only aged 14 years, and had also gained her spider-based powers thanks to her father's treatments.
As Spider-Woman, Jessica was with Storm and Kitty Pryde at the Dazzler concert where Caliban first appeared. Later on, Jessica's venom blast as well as her toxin immunities and other side-effects of her unique blood chemistry were removed by Dr. Strange. However, she kept her agility, strength and stickiness, and went into practice as a private investigator. It was in this capacity that she housed the X-Men when they were in San Francisco, and got involved in a fight with Freedom Force. Later on, Jessica and her partner/roommate Lindsay McCabe moved to Madripoor do work for Prince Baran. There she encountered Wolverine in his "Patch" identity, although she saw through the ruse almost immediately. Jessica found herself too often on questionable ground and so helped Logan to keep order and justice on the island. Eventually she returned to the States, but somehow ended up in a magical dimension. She was rescued by Lindsay and her successor to the Spider-Woman mantle Julia Carpenter, and appeared to get her venom blasts back. However, shortly thereafter, the evil Spider-Woman IV (a woman mutated by Doc Ock) stole her powers and Spider-Woman II and III's powers. These powers were eventually recovered and absorbed by Spider-Woman III, the young Mattie Franklin. Jessica returned to a somewhat normal life, although she found herself mentoring SW III at times.
However, money pressures caused Jessica to take a job with S.H.I.E.L.D. guarding super-villains in maximum security part of Riker's Island Prison in New York City. While acting as a guide for Matt Murdock and Luke Cage (Daredevil and Power Man), Jessica and her charges were embroiled in a massive battle, a breakout caused by Electro. Following the battle, Captain America, who assisted in re-capturing most of the criminals, asked Jessica to don her tights once more and join his new team of Avengers. Jessica accepted, but her reasons are ambiguous, as she was also being paid by Hydra at the time. Her dual allegiance became a problem when the Avengers encountered Viper in Japan as she was trying to recruit the Silver Samurai to her side. Viper made Jessica arrest her, but demanded that she be let go during transport, or she would reveal to Jessica's teammates exactly how she got her powers back. While aboard the Quinjet with Viper, Jessica secretly opened the hatch, allowing Viper to be sucked out of the plane. Unfortunately, Captain America was sucked out as well, and Jessica had to dive to catch him, just before hitting the water. After landing, Cap wanted to know who had subverted Jessica.
Jessica revealed to Cap that she was in fact a triple agent, working for Hydra and spying on S.H.I.E.L.D for them, but in reality reporting to Nick Fury, former head of S.H.I.E.L.D. who had gone underground and wanted her to keep tabs on the organization for him. Cap allowed Jessica to stay on, but after the start of the so-called Civil War, Iron Man divulged Jessica’s multiple allegiances to Director Maria Hill and they tried to get her to give up Cap’s location. Jessica refused, and was about to be incarcerated when Hydra attacked the Helicarrier and rescued her. On a secret island, Jessica’s field handler wanted her to assassinate Viper and become the new Madame Hydra, but Jess rebelled and blew up the base.
She eventually made her way back to the United States and found Cap’s underground Anti-Registration team and asked to join them, as she had nowhere else to go.
 Spider-Woman II |
 Spider-Woman III |
 Spider-Woman IV |
372