Spider-Woman has just come face-to-face with the pieces of the past that keep haunting her, and she has finally overcome all of them in brutal fashion.
WARNING: The following contains major spoilers for Spider-Woman #19 by Karla Pacheco, Pere Perez, Frank D’Armata, and VC’s Travis Lanham, available now from Marvel.
Jessica Drew’s entire life has always been a series of glorious triumphs and utter disasters with little in-between. This is one of those utter disaster times as her most hated nemesis, Queen Veranke, has returned to torment both Jessica and her family in the pages of Spider-Woman #19.
Seemingly back from the dead, the Skrull Queen wastes no time going after Gerry, Jessica’s infant son. Thankfully, Spider-Woman and Captain Marvel catch up to the villain, leaving Jessica to confront all of her demons, conveniently wrapped up in one violent, green woman.
While Carol takes Gerry to safety, Veranke attempts to strike where it hurts the most on every possible front. Jessica struggles against the lies, the guilt, and the literal gut punches, but does not fold. Even a last-ditch effort to get inside Spider-Woman’s head involving the Skrull speed round shifting into people closest to Jessica yields nothing. Veranke and, by extension, the readers witness just how far Spider-Woman has come over the past several years.
When Veranke couldn’t overpower Jessica, she resorted to taking on the form of Ronin in an attempt to play into Spider-Woman’s guilt. After taking on Jessica’s appearance and assuming her life back in 2008’s New Avengers #42 by Brian Michael Bendis and Jim Cheung, Veranke orchestrated the Skrull Invasion of Earth right under the noses of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. This directly led to the then apparent death of Bobbi Morse, aka Mockingbird, who was at the time married to none other than Clint Barton.
A myriad of other betrayals carried out by the facsimile Spider-Woman was more than enough to ruin the real Jessica’s reputation and relationships with her colleagues. As devastating as Veranke’s ploy was for the rest of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Jessica’s awaking only to be alienated if not detested by her teammates resulted in years of self-loathing. Frequent run-ins with the remnants of the Skrull invasion that followed only exacerbated those traumas, not to mention anxiety-inducing interactions with old colleagues who had grown overtly unnerved by Jessica’s very presence.
From the looks of things now, however, Jessica Drew has overcome the ghosts of the people she couldn’t protect, as well as the remorse she felt for someone else’s misdeeds. Even as she acknowledges that Clint probably hasn’t ever forgiven her for what he went through, Jessica knows full well that the pain “she” inflicted upon him wasn’t really her. Nor was anything Veranke did while wearing her face something that Jessica feels the need to continue holding herself responsible. Even while staring into the battered face of her closest friend, Spider-Woman has no qualms with ending her latest battle with Veranke brutally, making it perfectly clear that she has finally moved on from hating herself or wallowing in guilt.
From the looks of things now, however, Jessica Drew has overcome the ghosts of the people she couldn’t protect, as well as the remorse she felt for someone else’s misdeeds. Even as she acknowledges that Clint probably hasn’t ever forgiven her for what he went through, Jessica knows full well that the pain “she” inflicted upon him wasn’t really her. Nor was anything Veranke did while wearing her face something that Jessica feels the need to continue holding herself responsible. Even while staring into the battered face of her closest friend, Spider-Woman has no qualms with ending her latest battle with Veranke brutally, making it perfectly clear that she has finally moved on from hating herself or wallowing in guilt.
Veranke might have expected to find the same troubled or despondent hero she had reduced Jessica to so many years ago, but that assumption couldn’t have been further from the truth. Since then, Spider-Woman has come face-to-face with the absolute worst parts of herself and her family. She also came to terms with the fact that the sins of others are not her burdens to carry. The road towards self-acceptance was easily the most difficult that Jessica Drew has ever traveled. Thankfully, it is quickly proving to be the best trek she could have ever made.
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