Essential Spider-Woman, Volume 1 contains Marvel Spotlight no. 32 (Spider-Woman's first appearance), Marvel Two-In-One nos. 29-33, and Spider-Woman nos. 1-25. In the original story, writer Archie Goodwin and illustrators Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney introduce the character, here named Arachne and working for HYDRA against the forces of SHIELD. She learns the secret of her origin and rethinks her alliegences. Though a brief origin, Marvel primarily created her to pre-empt Filmation's plan to create an animated Spider-Woman who would capitalize on Spider-Man's fame. Despite these motives, the character was a hit and writer Marv Wolfman and illustrator Carmine Infantino further explored her possibilities in a series of stories with the Thing from the Fantastic Four in Marvel Two-In-One before developing a stand-alone series.
This reprints all of Wolfman's stories as he added details to Spider-Woman's origin, building up a life for Jessica Drew outside of costume, and tried for a tone between action and horror to define the character. Many of the stories draw upon classic fantasy, including the Arthurian legends. Though Wolfman alternates between these more traditional superhero elements and something with more atmosphere, the creativity and ideas he explores are great fun. Beginning in issue #9, Mark Gruenwald took over writing the Spider-Woman stories, introducing characters like the Needle, Brothers Grimm, and Nekra. The Shroud, a Batman-like hero, also makes an appearance here. Infantino's art helps link these stories with Wolfman's earlier work while Gruenwald successfully matches the thematic tone. Unfortunately, Gruenwald departed after issue 20, and Michael Fleisher took over for the five issues that conclude this volume. Fleisher drastically changes the character, having Jessica Drew work as a bounty hunter with new associates who hadn't appeared previously. New artists Frank Springer and Mike Esposito draw the characters in a manner that doesn't match the tone of previous stories, though Steve Leialoha's illustrations for issue 25 high-quality and closer to Infantino's work.
This paperback volume reprints the stories in their original size with finished inks, but no color. The coloring in this era of comics took into account the cheap paper used and, without significant retouching, it would look garish. By omitting the colors and using cheaper paper, Marvel also made it possible to include more stories for a cheaper price. Those who want to see some of these stories in full color should check out Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman Vol. 1. ( )