REVIEW: ‘Spider-Woman,’ Issue #12

Spider-Woman #12 is published by Marvel Comics, written by Karla Pacheco, with art by Pere Pérez, colors by Frank D’armata, and letters by Travis Lanham. After besting the Twin Blades of Toledo(not Ohio), one of the two brothers who comprise the pair of swordsman managed to escape. Jessica Drew is now heading out to Ryker’s Island Penitentiary to see if she can convince her captive to tell her where his brother is hiding.

Power. Without it, nothing gets done. With too much of it, power can quickly transform into the ends instead of the means. The dangers and pitfalls of power’s corruptive influences are the focus of many stories. The obsessions that can form around the pursuit of power have brought great individuals low, torn apart countries, and set brother against brother. And yet, people seem to be incapable of learning from the failures of others, and the attempts to hoard power continue.

Spider-Woman #12 focuses its tale on Jessica as she visits the captured half of the Twin Blades of Toledo Luis. He’s asked to see her, and Jess is hoping she can find out where his errant brother has disappeared to. When Jessica arrives, Luis first regales her with the history behind the twin swords he and his brother wield. There forging, misuse, and acquisition by those who had suffered under that misuse. This origin sequence does a good job of delivering a different origin for the newest bad guys in Jessica’s life. Coming up with unique backstories for villains has got to be a struggle given the number of them out there. Pacheco manages it though.  Not only does this origin separate itself from the many generic “I got exposed to X science experiment” origins, but it also adds some nuance to the motives and attitudes of the Twin Blades of Toledo.

Once the origin reveals wraps up, Spider-Woman #12 takes a twist when the prison devolves into a riot with Jessica caught in the middle. With numerous prisoners loose, including her swordsman, Jessica quickly has her hands full trying to assert control over the situation. Throughout this scuffle, we get to enjoy some of Jessica’s trademark wit. The puns land as hard as any punch as Pacheco delivers on Jessica’s unique sense of humor.

While Pérez’s art continues to deliver throughout this book, I particularly enjoyed the approach taken to the origin story. With the roots of the Twin Blades going back centuries, Pérez flexes some artistic muscle and deliveries some panels that take the look of a classic style of painting and adapt it to the comic book form.

The art of Spider-Woman #12 improves further through D’armarta’s strong colors. The colors in this story do an excellent job of bringing the story a bit of extra energy.

Rounding out the book’s visuals is a superb job on letters on the part of Lanham. The numerous sound effects throughout this story are delivered with an outstanding style. They consistently enhance the moments of this story, instead of simply describing a sound.

Spider-Woman #12 ends its story on an unexpected turn that will undoubtedly be a big focus for Jessica moving forward. Since this creative team has already shown such a depth of skill with Jessica’s story thus far, I have no doubt what comes next will be just as great.

Spider-Woman #12 is available now wherever comics are sold.