Welcome back, nerd squad.
Spider-Man is one of the most popular characters in comics so it did not come as a surprise
when Marvel decided to capitalize on his familiar name and trademark by creating a new hero
to follow somewhat in his footsteps: Spider-Woman.
Thus Jessica Drew was born.
Originally her back story was that she was a spider who had turned into a woman.
From a ... radioactive woman-bite, maybe?
But later this was retconned and written off as too silly of a story, even for comics,
in the 70s!
And instead she was given the backstory of sick little girl whose father gave her an
experimental treatment based on spider dna to save her life.
Oh and the High Evolutionary was there too.
True story.
Later HYDRA would be blamed for her original backstory, as it was explained that they had
captured and brainwashed her into thinking she had once been a spider.
While Jessica Drew made her comic book debut in Marvel Spotlight issue 32 in 1977, she
is not as well known as Peter Parker's Spider-Man.
So we thought we'd share some info about her and her abilities as we count down the top
10 superpowers you never knew Spider-Woman had.
And if you like learning about comic books and the heroes and villains within their stories,
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And be sure to stick around till the end of this list where I will have some bonus content
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Alright, let's get counting.
10 Skilled Spy
Jessica Drew has been trained in espionage by HYDRA and SHIELD.
And actually is a fantastic spy.
Her training likely also came in handy in the Spider-Verse when she infiltrated the
Inheritors going undercover and impersonating Morlun's lover on Loomworld, who just happened
to look exactly like her.
Talk about taking one for the team.
Her assistance in the the Spider-Verse storyline however went to show just how formidable a
foe Jessica Drew can be.
All I'm saying is you wouldn't want to get on her bad side.
So when Varanke, the Skrull Queen was posing as Jessica Drew, when she went on a spy mission
for SHIELD would we call that that spy-ception?
Spies on spies on spies.
9 Super Sleuth
When you think of Jessica Drew, you may think of her more spider-like abilities.
But what you might have forgotten is that she's actually a registered private investigator.
That's right.
At one point, Jessica Drew moved to San Francisco and worked hard to get private investigator
license.
Not only that but she was good at it too!
During this time in her life, everything felt like it was going right.
She opened her own successful PI business.
Her vigilante persona was being praised by the city and she was referred to as the Dark
Angel of San Francisco.
And she fell in love with her landlord, David.
Unfortunately the last part didn't end up working out after David discovered that she
was a superhero.
And after a fight with Morgan Le Fey, ended up comatose and after being revived, powerless.
Harsh.
8 Insane Amount of Endurance
Jessica Drew is one of the few heroes who is known for fighting crime even while very
visibly pregnant.
I mean, sure other women have done it.
Sue Storm has also fought while "with child."
But none have gone quite as hard as Spider Woman.
While checking out an off world maternity ward, a very very pregnant Jessica found herself
fighting hard as it was invaded by Skrulls.
I kid you not.
Not only is that impressive enough, but she kicked some serious butt and almost handily
defeated them until she went into labour.
She managed to get away with some doctors, give birth and return--with stitches as she
had just had a c-section delivery--and take out the rest of the Skurlls.
Like I'm all for girl power, but this is an impossible level of endurance.
What is going on?
7 Glide
Many think that Spider-Woman can fly in the comics.
Which would be pretty cool, given she doesn't have Spider-Man's famous web shooters.
However this is not true.
What she can do however is glide glide glide.
This power of gliding through the air, looking like she is flying, is granted to her by her
suit design.
And is still pretty cool.
She once had a fight with the Hornet in mid-air and kicked his butt, which he definitely deserved.
Jessica Drew is the only Spider-Woman to have this design.
Many different Spider-Woman came after her.
But while she may have adopted the mantle, they all adopted different suits.
Spider Woman vol 1 #32
6 Psychic Shields
Jessica had psychic shields implanted by SHIELD and some strong ones apparently too.
These shields allowed her to resist attacks from Three-In-One who once joined with Emma
Frost in an attempt to take on a future alternate version of Jean Grey and allowed her to resist
and attack from Professor Xavier.
Which of course also surprised him, leaving her standing after many others were knocked
down.
5 Super Smell
As Spider-Woman, Jessica Drew has heightened senses but one you might be surprised to hear
about is super smell.
Her smell is so good that she was able to tell that the Nick Fury she was talking to
in New Avenger, vol 1, issue 23, was an AI decoy as opposed to the real thing.
She commended Maria Hill on her improvements to the model but cited the smell as the thing
that tipped her off.
That's some Wolverine-level sense of smell.
Unless SHIELD AI's reak of oil of something which I sincerely doubt considering how many
other people they have succeeded in fooling.
4 Dimensional Travel
Jessica ended up getting her very own dimensional watch following the Spider-Verse events.
This device was listed as part of her equipment at the back of Spider Gwen vol 2, issue 7.
The weird thing though is in that issue it was Spider Gwen's dimensional watch that went
missing, not Jessica's.
Yet Jessica was concerned about being without a way to teleport home after her and Silk
of earth 616 had joined Gwen on earth 65 for brunch.
Spider Gwen's device was stolen and Jessica Drew, Spider-Gwen and Silk of earth 616 had
to team up to retrieve it.
It's just weird that at the end of the issue it acknowledges that Jess has one.
Cause she clearly didn't in that issue.
If she found out that she did, she would have teleported home to her baby in an instant,
I'm sure.
3 Pheromones
When Jessica Drew was first introduced she struggled a lot to deal with other people.
I mean of course she was basically raised in a tube and later brainwashed by HYDRA into
thinking she had been a spider so I kind of understand where that comes from.
She was known as socially awkward and often written as shy.
She ended up feeling isolated and removed from the world though we later found out the
reason she seemed to drive so many people away is because she unknowingly producing
fear-inducing pheromones.
This later was a forgotten power as Jessica took medication to help suppress it.
Later it was implied that the extra pheromones she produced were actually seductive in nature.
Or maybe she had just gotten better control of them?
But once again she used a fragrance to neutralize and mask her pheromones instead.
So this power is still not really often brought up or used.
Though one time she did use it to get Hulk to make her a sandwich.
2 Super Human Speed
Not only does Spider Woman have superhuman strength but she also has superhuman speed.
In Spider Woman vol 1, issue 40, she is fighting the Flying Tiger and swings and misses her.
Puzzled he wonders if she even moved and how he could have possibly missed.
Jessica reveals in a thought bubble that she is simply too fast for him to see, confessing
that she can move faster than one's eyes.
She also seems to be able to fall really fast in the comics for some reason.
Also that fight between her and Tiger has some crazy hilarious dialogue, if you haven't
read it already, you should.
"No, Tiger.
You're inept."
1 Venom Blasts
A unique ability that Spider Woman has that not many other spider people possess is her
venom blasts.
She can shoot bio-electric energy from her hands which allows her to shock an assailant
and often knock them out.
This power has the ability to target multiple people, travel through metal as it is an electric
current and even move through and leap to another target.
Like lightning.
And these things are powerful.
She's used these powers before to hurt Nul, breaker of worlds, stun an Aleph and even
kill someone, accidentally of course.
Thank you so much for watching, nerd squad.
I hope you learned some new things about Jessica Drew.
Her dialogue is often also just great.
Even in some of the older comics from the 70s!
One thing I have always loved about many of the spider people is how witty many of them
are.
It makes them such a delight to read and leaves you with a nice little chuckle.
Who are some of your favourites of the spider folks?
Are there any other super powers you found surprising when it came to Jessica Drew's
abilities?
If you could have any spidersona ability what would it be?
Let us know in the comments below.
And speaking of comments, it's time to turn some comments from one of our latest videos,
top 10 Black Flash Facts You Need To Know.
Ben Parrish writes, "Great video Miss Amanda.
I am the SPEEDFORCE."
Thanks for watching, Ben.
And I would say if you are the speed force we should watch out for you.
But we likely won't even be able to see you, if you are.
Too fast!
Zach Ba-ha-mutson suggests, "Maybe the Black Flash gets its powers from both the speed
force and the negative speed force.
That way it would explain why sometimes the Black Flash's energy streaks are red."
Touche.
Cause you're right.
They are not always consistently the same colour.
And it can effect speedsters who are using either force so that's a valid theory.
And that's all the time we have for comments today.
Be sure to comment below for your chance to get featured in a future list.
This has been top 10 nerd and I'm your host, Amanda McKnight, reminding you to stay nerdy,
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