Spider-Woman in the 1980s
Spider-Woman in the 80s wasn’t that hot. Michael Fleisher continued writing the character until issue #32 in which Spider-Woman continued to be a bounty hunter. He also took the relationship between Spider-Woman and her partner, Scotty McDowell, to insufferable levels when he goes to Karl Malus — a criminal scientist — and gains superpowers and becomes the Hornet.
Things got slightly better when Chris Claremont came on as writer from issues #34 to 46. Claremont moved Spider-Woman from LA to San Francisco where she dumped Scotty McDowell for a less annoying supporting cast. There she became a private detective. Notable stories were issues #37 and 38 which guest starred the X-Men and introduced Siryn, the daughter of the X-Men’s Banshee. In issues #42-44, Claremont tried to introduce the idea that Spider-Woman’s mother was actually Viper, the international terrorist and sometime leader of Hydra. This also somehow tied in to why Morgan le Fay was going after Spider-Woman and an apparent connection to the demon Chthon. Thankfully a writer with more common sense revealed that the Spider-Woman/Viper connection was nothing more than a ruse created by le Fay.
Still, Spider-Woman’s series was destined for cancellation and Ann Nocenti was hired to finish off the series. Issue #50 ended with Spider-Woman’s final battle with Morgan le Fay which ends with Spider-Woman not only sacrificing her life but also making it so nobody remembered who she was. This was upsetting to fans and eventually the writers at Marvel brought her back in Avengers #240-241. However, Jessica Drew (as Spider-Woman) wouldn’t see a revival until the 2000s when Brian Michael Bendis worked on New Avengers. Between then, Jessica Drew stopped acting as Spider-Woman and was strictly a detective and a supporting character going on to appear in the pages of Wolverine Volume 2, and the third volume of Spider-Woman as a mentor to the then-new Spider-Woman, Mattie Franklin.
