Review: "Spider-Woman" #1

I'm not much of a Marvel Comics reader. I have always been a DC Comics guy, with "Crisis on Infinite Earths" being my gateway drug. Over the years I've dipped my toes into the Marvel pool as events, characters, writers, and/or artists have piqued my interest.

I've read "Astonishing X-Men" and "Runaways" for Joss Whedon, "She-Hulk" for Dan Slott, and I'm currently reading "Captain America: Reborn" just to see how they manage Steve's return. I'm reading "Marvel Divas" because Girl Friday told me too. "Models, Inc." for the novelty of it; "Punisher: Noir" because it's awesome.

So why did I pick up a copy of "Spider-Woman" #1?

I'm not going to lie. I thought it was a continuation of the Jessica JONES story from "Alias" and "The Pulse," both written by Bendis. I thought that Alex Maleev's art reminded me a lot of the Michael Gaydos art from "Alias" and I grabbed the book up. I really liked what I read, and despite the mistaken identity, I will continue to pull the title because now I want to see what happens.

I didn't feel like I had to go back and read through Civil War or Secret Invasion to get where the book was coming from, and that was accomplished with minimal exposition. Jessica DREW is having a hard time dealing with the fallout from the aforementioned events, we're dropped right in as Jessica is recruited by S.W.O.R.D. and attacked by a Spider-Man suit wearing Skrull. I found it to be a clean read, and a great place to jump into the outskirts of the Marvel Universe.

This is not so much to show how much I am not a Marvel Guy, that I took mistook this Jessica (Drew) for the other one (Jones), nor will this turn into a long calculated analysis about how Marvel and DC (and their respective readers) are oil and water, and cross-over on the pull lists is never 50/50. That's an essay for some other blogger, because if I wanted to write a dissertation, I'd go back to school.

In the end, I think this teaches that even when you're dead-to-rights wrong over the reasons you choose a book, don't let that discourage you from reading it, or even enjoying it. You never know what you're going to find in those 22 glossy pages.

Are there any other Marvel titles out there that a noob like me would like? Leave a comment if you think of any.