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Attributes

Height: 5'10"

Weight: 130 lbs

Eyes: Green

Hair: Black (dyed)

Features: None

Summary

Created By: Archie Goodwin, Sal Buscema

Real Name: Jessica Drew

Current Aliases: None

Former Aliases: Arachne

Dual Identity: Known to S.H.I.E.L.D.

Current Occupation: Avenger

Former Occupation: Hydra Agent; Bounty Hunter; Private Investigator

Citizenship: British by birth; Now naturalized U.S. Citizen

Legal Status: No active criminal record

Place of Birth: London, England

Marital Status: Single

Known Relatives: Jonathan (father, deceased); Merriem (mother, deceased)

Known Confidants: Modred The Mystic, Magnus The Magician, Nick Fury, Tigra, Lindsay McCabe, Wolverine, Madame Web

Known Allies: The Shroud, Werewolf by Night, Spider-Man, Avengers

Major Enemies: Morgan Le Fay, Viper

Usual Bases: New York

Former Bases: Wundagore, London, Los Angeles, Madripoor

Current Groups: Avengers

Former Groups: None

Education: Did not complete high school

Powers & Paraphenalia

Strength Level: Can lift 7 tons.

Powers: Super-strength, speed, endurance. Wall-crawling. Bio-electric "venom blast" (25 foot range, 1 hour re-charge).

Abilities: Can glide using her costume's "wings". Immune to poisons and radiation. Pheromones that attract men and repulse woman.

Equipment: Chemical spray which neutralises her pheromones.

Weapons: None

Limitations: None

Background

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 existance 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 organisation. 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 sorceror 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 licence, 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.

Thanks To:

The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.

Character Appearances