Spider-Woman #15 // Review
Jess has a complicated family that only seems to be getting more and more complex. Now she’s about to find out a little bit more about her niece Rebecca. And since Jess is a superhero, finding out a bit more about Rebecca will involve people who might be trying to kill both of them in Spider-Woman #15. Writer Karla Pacheco reaches rare form in action-comedy rendered for the page with a similar sense of wit and action by artist Pere Pérez. Night on the streets of an intricately detailed New York looks particularly good with the aid of colors by Frank D’Armata.
Jess has woken up in a helicopter. This is slightly distressing, partly because she’s actually piloting said copter, but mostly because there’s a bomb in it, that’s about to go off. She and her niece Rebecca have a lot to discuss, but they’re going to have to discuss it after they jump out of an exploding helicopter. And they’re also going to have to rescue Jess’ kid and relieve the babysitter. After all of this, Jess will find out that Rebecca is some kind of genius with her own apartment already going for her master’s degree. Things are going to get weird.
Pacheco’s usual wit is kicked into high gear in an action-comedy issue that is beautifully fused with the Marvel Universe in cleverly subtle ways. Jess is admirably rough-and-tumble as an action hero who can’t seem to find a peaceful moment. Pacheco is allowed to flesh out Rebecca in a way that makes her a HELL of a lot more interesting than many of the supporting characters. It’s a very deft balance of action, comedy, and drama.
Pérez firmly grounds the issue in a sense of place, time, and location. Much of the chapter takes place at night outside in Manhattan. Pérez has stunning draughtsmanship that can sometimes compromise emotional intensity against detailed precision, but the coloring bathes that precision in just the right mood. D’Armata does a beautiful job of making the light look totally believable, whether Jess is jumping out of an exploding helicopter or beating the hell out of a group of thugs while holding onto a toddler. D’Armata also does a really brilliant job of conjuring a dreamy pheromone-soaked flashback in gaseous reds. The drama hits with nuance. The action hits like a yellow-gloved punch out of nowhere in the middle of the night.
Pacheco and Pérez are doing some of the most clever superhero work on the comics rack right now. The sophisticated blending of drama, comedy, and superhero action is firmly rooted in the Marvel Universe in a way that makes everything feel that much more integrated. The whole ensemble of characters that Pacheco is working with is fun. In its fifteenth issue, the current series of Spider-Woman feels like it’s working on every level.
