Spider-Woman 1: Baby Talk

Female friendships! Kickass women! Truth about maternity and motherhood and being a new mom and just one embellishment about what is humanly possible immediately after a c-section.While it is part of my shtick to concentrate on women written books, I do make exceptions for women-led comics. It's a representation thing. So I picked up this comic while perusing Barnes and Noble on one of my few kid-less ventures out. My husband and son stayed with family between Christmas and New Years while I went back to work for the few workdays that existed in between, so I had no one to rush out of the house and no one else's timetable to consider while sitting in my favorite bookstore. I know, I know, I should love indie bookstores and mom and pop shops but this is my favorite. I move around a lot so those change but Barnes and Noble is everywhere in the US plus it has it's own nostalgia for me since I worked in one in high school. In the cafe. It's still one of the best jobs I've ever had. Anyway, getting back to Spider-Woman.I picked it up because it's a woman-led title and I thought it was semi-interesting that she was pregnant. And then I fell in love. As stated in the beginning, my little feminist heart fluttered.She's just so...... so...... every woman I've ever known who had a career she loved and wanted a kid and to be a good mom but wasn't really nurturing. Yeah, that includes me. Of course, as a fictional character and Avenger there were lots of differences in the situation, but she's just so..... representative of the mom-struggle. And it only gets better because I also read Spider-Women which was awesome and will be reviewed next week. Anywho, there is just all of that and then some more.Aside from the mom-struggle, the volume also features an incredible support system. I don't want to go into details and spoil anything but it seems to me that her friendship with Captain Marvel was fairly established already, so I won't consider that a spoiler. And it's a great friendship. Respect. Boundaries. Support. A helping hand. Someone who knows you well enough to know when they're needed and not butt in when they aren't. Someone to vent to about even the good things. What more could a girl want in a BFF?It's a comic, so I feel compelled to bring up the art as well. It's really well done. Nothing is particularly sexualized, which I love and appreciate. She's old enough to want to be a mom and she's not drawn like a teenager, which I also appreciate. Even in her not-pregnant frames, she's drawn like a full grown woman, on who has a few years under her belt but isn't old either. I love that. And her pregnant look is pretty awesome. Hero shirt is open with an undershirt and belly poking out. Pretty sure every woman who's gotten to that stage of pregnancy has done that with some outfit that they just can't cram that belly into anymore.Getting back to the story-line part of it, she also acts like a grown up and is treated respectfully as an experienced person to not mess with. Well, unless the other person is an idiot minion of the villain who can't see past a big, pregnant belly. But that's their mistake. Do we all really get treated like little fragile dolls who couldn't possibly have ever done anything other than be fragile when we're pregnant? I guess it's not just me. She's expected to not fight crime while pregnant, I was barred from standing on a step stool. Seriously.So, to sum it all up, Jessica Drew and Spider-Woman are among my new favorites and this is definitely a title that I plan to keep up with in the future.

Major Spoilers Ahead, You've Been Warned.This was an okay read. I'm not too familiar with this character, this was the first Spider Woman comic I've read. It was a unique story I'll give it that, a pregnant superhero, I don't think that's ever been done before, at least not for a long time, and it's nice to know there's some kind of story line that's original and hasn't been rehashed so many times it's cliché. But wow is it all over the place. Okay so one moment all Jessica can do is complain about how having a baby is ruining her life, and in the first issue she says she never wanted to be a mother, making it seem that she didn't plan on getting pregnant. And we're left wondering who the baby's father is, the big hook for getting people to read this, but later in the fifth issue after she's had the baby and kept the identity of the father a secret from everybody, she tells Captain Marvel that there isn't technically a father at all, she deliberately put herself in this situation by going to a fertility clinic and like a single woman in a '90's sit-com gets pregnant using an anonymous sperm donor. It felt like such a cop out to write it that way. They had a real opportunity to make this a good in depth story, but instead they take the easy way out and don't even explore the who the father is direction that everyone was probably expecting and they had all the set up for established. Like they set up the whole who is the father foundation, and then it suddenly popped into their heads, hey Jessica is a modern woman, who says the baby needs a father at all? The other reviewer who said similar things was right, it's a nice attempt at this kind of story line, but just wasn't all it could have been. If you're looking at this comic wanting good storytelling, nice art, and good action, look elsewhere because you're not going to find that here, it'll just be another mediocre book that will ultimately be forgotten.

Fun story about a pregnant single parent superhero. Some of the topics touched on felt familiar (as someone who has been pregnant before) where the writer was drawing on more than just the stereotype of being pregnant. I totally understand that reading about pregnancy in comic books doesn’t pull a large demographic, so it did feel pretty quick and focus on week 35 and on. I do wish this book had hit on more of the reality of pregnancy/newborn stages, mainly because this isn’t a huge repeating event in comic books. The cameos were fun. All and all, I am glad I bought it to add to my collection.

I adore this book. It's one I know I'll read many more times. I reviewed the next book, Civil War, similarly:Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, is relatable and delightful and heroic and entertaining. This book is truly about the life of a superhero - it covers the superhero angle while being grounded in the normality of life. And c'mon, she's becoming a mom! You gotta read it to believe it.Yes, the art is swell. Perfectly matches the characters, story, and overall feel.Whether you're a long-time Marvel fan or new to comics, this is a great book to get in on. (FYI it's the third, there's Spider-Verse, New Duds, then the numbering restarts the Shifting Gears trilogy with this volume of Baby Talk, Civil War, and Scare Tactics.)

After the hiatus following Secret Wars the new Jessica Drew Spider-Woman comes back with the old creative team of Dennis Hopeless and Javier Rodriguez. And she comes back – this is no spoiler, because you see it on the cover – pregnant. The investigative team of Ben Urich and former Porcupine Roger Gocking are still with her and Jessica prepares for maternity leave.Well, if you want to make your prenatal medical checks in the intergalactic hospital recommended by buddy Captain Marvel, be sure that problems are on their way. I do not want to spoil anything, but believe me that how those complications come up and are solved is a lot of fun. There is a firework of odd ideas paired with a solid suspense story. If you liked Dan Slott’s She-Hulk run, you will not be disappointed if you try out Hopeless’ Spider-Women. Dialogues are witty, especially in the Jessica – Carol scenes, Rodriguez’ pencils are striking again, especially in the scenes about motherhood. You can start reading right here, but you would have still more fun, if you read the “Spider-Woman: New Duds” volume first.The only problem I have with this book is that the “Avengers Don’t Kill” policy evidently does not include intelligent space aliens any more. In times when xenophobia rises its ugly head everywhere I think this is not a good development at Marvel. Anyway excellent read, verily recommended.This volume includes Spider-Woman vol. 6 #1-5 and the Spider-Woman story from Amazing Spider-Man vol. 4 #1.

This one of several from the all new all different marvel line that I've read, and so far I've liked all of them. Including this one. Heck, especially this one. I didn't like the art style at first but it grew on me as I read through. As much as this is Jessica Drew's story, I really loved Captain Marvel in this. Their relationship was presented strongly and it made for a good read. Definitely buying more from this series.

Great Start to a fantastic book