Nick Peron

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Spider-Woman (vol. 5) #7

A woman is paying for her groceries when she gets a text message. It contains a photo of Procupine in captivity. She responds with “good” and continues her shopping. This message has been sent by a woman in a subway car where the Porcupine is being held prisoner. However, this isn’t Roger Gocking, but Jessica Drew — aka Spider-Woman — in disguise. As her captor gets a response, she leaves the subway car and tosses in a grenade of knock out gas inside, putting Jessica to sleep.

Jessica wakes up shackled in an interrogation room. The woman from the subway car begins grilling the “Porcupine” about doing what “he” is told if he wants his daughter, Kalie, to remain safe. When she gets no reply, the frustraited interrogator storms out of the interrogation room and leaves in her car, unaware that Spider-Woman had slipped out of her prison and hidden in the trunk.

At that moment, Ben Urich and Roger Gocking are eating a diner waiting for word from Jessica. As if on cue, she calls and tells them about the situation. She asks them to track her phone to figure out where she is, but she figures she is somewhere upstate. She also tells them about the service station/interrogation room where they can find Roger’s Porcupine costume.

Jessica then impatiently waits for the car to finally stop. When she climbs out of the trunk she finds herself in a sleepy town called Moon’s Hollow. However, there are plenty of women and children here, but no men. Realizing that she is going to stick out like a sore thumb in her costume, Spider-Woman borrows some clothes from a nearby shop in order to blend in. That’s when she spots the woman who kidnapped her driving off and follows her car on foot. She is led to a nearby home and when she is busy peeping in the window she is caught by the owner and her daughter. Jessica instantly recognizes Olivia, the Porcupine’s girlfriend, and his daughter Kalie. Before she can make up a story, Olivia gives her the best cover story when she assumes that she is Erin Dyker, Diamond Head’s wife. She then invites “Erin” into her home to explain everything to her.

At that same moment, Ben Urich and Roger Gocking have arrived at the gas station outside of Moon’s Hollow to recover Roger’s Porcupine costume. Looking around, they also notice that this town doesn’t have any men. As they try to make sense of this situation, something massive arrives that is so tall it overshadows them.

Meanwhile, Olivia leaves her daughter in the care of one of the other mothers and shows “Erin” around town. They first stop at the local garage where Rebecca Clyde hones the skills she learned souping up getaway cars for Señor Suerte. Jessica immediately falls in love with a vintage motorcycle that is up for sale. She is also introduced to Bertie Pug and Lyla Bray who also work in town. When they ask “Erin” what she thinks about their setup, Jessica admits that she actually expected that they were all prisoners of Doctor Doom or something. This gets some laughs and they explain that the founder of Moon’s Hollow, a woman named Cat, is hardly Doctor Doom. When they find out that “Erin” hasn’t met Cat, they decide that she is the next person for their new guest to meet.

Soon they arrive at Cat’s mansion and inside they are shocked to find both the Porcupine and Ben Urich beaten and chained up in the main hall. That’s when Cat arrives in a massive mech suit and introduces herself to Spider-Woman. As she prepares to attack, Cat asks the intruder if she is impressed to meet her.

Recurring Characters

Spider-Woman, Ben Urich, Porcupine, Cat, Olivia Gocking, Kalie Gocking, Rebecca Clyde, Lyla Bray, Bertie Pug

Topical References

  • Dated pop-culture references: True Lies