Spider-Woman (vol. 3) #1
Spider Spider
Randolph Conroy is on the phone berating one of his employees when he is interrupted by Charlotte Witter, a woman whom he had a past with. He is surprised to see him and how much she has changed since he last saw her.[1] Although she is trying to seduce him, Randolph fears for his safety and presses the silent alarm on his desk. Unfortunately, she sees this and knocks Randolph out as guards enter the room. In response, massive spider-legs rip out of Charlotte’s back and incapacitate the guards with venom blasts before she flees with Conroy.
Meanwhile, Madame Web has organized a meeting with the three women who have held the mantle of Spider-Woman. As Web explains who she is, neither Jessica Drew nor Julia Carpenter are overly impressed with Web pulling them away from their lives. After introducing everyone to one another and going over their abilities, Madame Web ignores questions of her sudden age regression to focus their attention on Charlette Witter a fashion designer who has also become the evil Spider-Woman. She reminds them how Witter stole Jessica and Julia’s spider-powers and that her visions have told her that Charlotte must be stopped no matter what, even if they destroy her, saying that there can only be one Spider-Woman.
Soon, the evil Spider-Woman arrives at her hideout in an abandoned building in Greenwich Village where Witter changes into her Spider-Woman costume. She then reveals that Randolph is not her only victim as there are many men suspended from the roof bound in webbing. When Conroy tries to flee she snares him in psi-webbing and suspends him from the ceiling as well. He watches helplessly as she then drains the life out of one of the other men hanging from the ceiling.
Back at Madame Web’s, Jessica Drew suggests they do some old fashioned detective work to hunt down the evil Spider-Woman. Since Julia Carpenter is in a wheelchair following her earlier encounter with Witter attacked them earlier, it will just be Jessica and Mattie going out. As they walk the streets, Mattie learns why Jessica ceased being Spider-Woman and focus on being a private eye.[3] They return to the scene of their battle with the evil Spider-Woman to look for clues. That’s when Madame Web appears before them as a telepathic projection and commends the women on a good start and tries to use her psychic abilities to see if she can pick up Charlotte’s psychic imprint.
Meanwhile, Detective Phil Rodriguez of the 43rd Precinct is called into his captain’s office to give an update into his investigation into the Spider-Woman kidnappings as they are getting pressure from the press and the commissioner’s office. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have any leads and expresses his dislike of having to investigate superhumans. That’s when he is told of the recent kidnapping of Randolph Conroy and is told to keep it under wraps for as long as possible as this latest kidnapping has not been made public yet. Also looking for Spider-Woman is Spider-Man, who has spent the last week searching for her and his enemy Doctor Octopus after he last battled them. He decides to take a break so he can check in on Mattie Franklin, whom he thinks is still recovering in the hospital. However, he discovers that she is no longer there after he enters the room of another patient who understandably freaks out at the intrusion, prompting a hasty retreat. When doctors come rushing in to learn what the commotion is, they tell Spider-Man that Mattie was discharged into the care of a woman named Cassandra Webb. By this time, Rodriguez makes a break in his case when a beat cop tells him about reports of strange happening at an abandoned brownstone in the Village, a search of the owner brings up the name Andrew Ramsey, the first person to go missing.
As Spider-Man arrives at Madame Web’s and filled in on what’s going on, Mattie and Jessica arrive outside the brownstone that Charlotte has been using as her hideout. When they call out to Web for further instructions they discover the psi-link is no longer active and decide to go inside and investigate anyway. They are ambushed by the evil Spider-Woman who easily overpowers and disarms Jessica Drew and tosses her outside. This is just as Phil Rodriguez arrives on the scene. When Witter comes outside to finish Jessica off, Phil tries to shoot but only wings her shoulder. That’s when she grabs Mattie and flees up to the rooftops. There, Charlotte is attacked by Spider-Man but Witter uses her ability to enthrall the wall-crawler. As Mattie wonders what to do next she is contacted telepathically by Madam Web who suggests that Charlotte didn’t steal her powers, reminding her that the gifts given by the Gathering of Five aren’t easily taken away. Concentrating, Mattie feels her spider-powers returning, as does Charlotte who attacks Franklin. With the evil Spider-Woman preoccupied her hold on Spider-Man ends, but the web-slinger can only watch as the two women battle it out.
He is soon joined by Jessica Drew and Phil Rodriguez as the battle rages. Suddenly there is a bright flash of light and they discover that Mattie won the fight. Examining Charlotte they discover that she is now back to normal. Madam Web explains that Mattie absorbed all the powers that Charlotte had previously stolen. When they check on Mattie they are shocked to see that part of her hair has gone gray and her eyes have gone completely white. Mattie agrees that she took all the power from Witter, but it far too much for her to handle.
Recurring Characters
Spider-Woman (Franklin), Spider-Woman (Witter), Madame Web, Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Phil Rodriguez, Spider-Man
Continuity Notes
Charlotte Witter was genetically altered by Doctor Octopus as we saw in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #5-6.
Madame Web glosses over a number of things here are they in greater detail:
She states that Jessica Drew got her spider-powers after being genetically altered by the High Evolutionary and became the first Spider-Woman and how more recently she has been operating out of costume as a private eye. Drew first appeared as Spider-Woman in Marvel Spotlight #32. The origins of were detailed in Spider-Woman #1. She ceased being Spider-Woman after the events of Avengers #240-241.
Julia Carpenter is the second Spider-Woman. She first appeared in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6. He origins — that she got her powers via government experimentation — was detailed in Spider-Woman (vol. 2) #2.
Mattie Franklin’s powers and Madam Web’s newfound youth were both gained during the Gathering of Five ceremony that took place in Sensational Spider-Man #32-33, Amazing Spider-Man #440, Spider-Man #96, and Spectacular Spider-Man #262.
Lastly, Mattie mentions how she originally posed as Spider-Man, this was in Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #1-2. At the time, Peter Parker had retired as Spider-Man following the events of the Final Chapter story arc in Amazing Spider-Man #441, Spider-Man #97-98, and Spectacular Spider-Man #263.
Jessica became a licensed private eye while she was still a costumed hero in Spider-Woman #37. However, she continued this profession during a period where she lost her powers and they slowly began returning following Avengers #241. She mentions how she moved to Madripoor where she lived for a time. She relocated to the Asian country in Wolverine (vol. 2) #2. She operated out of Madripoor until Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 2) #5-6.
