Characters : Spider-Woman I (Drew)

Background

Jessica Drew is/was the daughter of Dr. Jonathan Drew, who was the lesser-known research partner of High Evolutionary. The two of them co-founded the distant high-tech city-state of Wundagore with the money they made from mining uranium. For Jonathan Drew, however, his achievements came with a terrible cost. His young daughter became sick with radiation poisoning.

Desparate, Drew injected his child with an experimental spider-serum, and used the High Evolutionary's genetic accelerator to trigger her recovery. Neither Jonathan nor his wife Merriem lived to see Jessica finally emerge many years later, healed, but with no memories or knowledge. A blank slate, Jessica was not ready to handle normal life, let alone the strange existence that she would be forced to lead by the uncanny powers that she had unknowingly gained as a side-effect of her genetically-enhanced recovery process.

Confused and naive, Jessica fled to a local village, where she accidentally killed a man who seemed strangely attracted to her. In fact, he was simply reacting to the pheromones Jessica now produced - which cause men to be attracted but which equally causes women to despise her. Jessica caused the man's death when she instinctively triggered her bio-electric blast - yet another of the strange powers she acquired during her long "sleep". Her other powers included enhanced strength, speed, and stamina. She can also crawl on walls and ceilings like Spider-Man does, and is immune to radiation and poisons. Later, using the "wings" built into her costume, she could glide on air currents.

Fleeing the angry villagers, Jessica fell into the clutches of Count Otto Vermis, who was in fact an agent of Hydra, the terrorist organization. Too naive to know wrong from right, Jessica was tricked into joining Hydra, taking the code name Arachne and being given her costume. Eventually, Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. showed her the error of her ways, and she abandoned Hydra, and set out on her own.

Lonely and confused, Jessica fled to London, where she struggled to stay out of trouble with the local police. She encountered the ancient sorcerer Modred the Mystic, who taught her about her past. She also first encountered the cross- time sorceress Morgan LeFay, who was to become her nemesis. Jessica later left England and move to the West Coast of the U.S., where Nick Fury helped her to gain her private investigator license, despite her shady background.

During an epic battle against LeFay, Jessica became stranded on the astral plane, and was only to return years later with the aid of Tigra, Doctor Strange, and several of the Avengers. She helped the Avengers a couple of times, saving the life of Giant-Man, before moving to Madripoor with her friend, B-grade actress Lindsay McCabe. By this stage, Jessica had lost her bio-sting and immunity powers. Regardless, she still managed to assist Wolverine in a number of adventures in Madripoor.

Jessica recently returned to New York when Charlotte Witter (the short-lived fourth Spider-Woman created by Doctor Octopus) absorbed her remaining powers. After a confusing series of battles and power-exchanges involving Julia Carpenter (the second Spider-Woman) and Martha Franklin (the third Spider-Woman), Jessica seems to have regained her formidable abilities, although there is some evidence that they are rather unstable. Regardless, she has taken a leading role in the ranks of the new Avengers, and seems destined to return as the one true Spider-Woman.

At an unknown time, Jessica was kidnapped by the Skrulls, a race of shape shifting aliens. Spider-Woman's identity was taken by the Skrull Queen, who infiltrated the Avengers as her minions took strategic positions around the world. Many other super heroes and their friends were infiltrated by the Skrulls during the Secret Invasion, some of which were Edwin Jarvis, Sue Storm (the Invisible Woman), Black Bolt and Elektra.

The Invasion was ended by Norman Osborn, who delivered the kill shot to the Skrull Queen. After becoming a world wide hero, Osborn took over S.H.E.I.L.D. and re-named it H.A.M.M.E.R. Osborn made deals with Doctor Doom, Loki, the White Queen, the Red Hood and Namor to rule the world. Meanwhile, Jessica was rescued from her Skrull captors and became a feared and hated young woman. She was looking for payback against the creatures that ruined her name and reputation and became a bounty hunter for the remaining Skrulls that inhabit the earth.

Appears In...

Here is the Full Appearance List (128 Apps) for Spider-Woman I (Drew).

By Dave Sippel (E-Mail) & The Editor (E-Mail)