A spider would become a beautiful Caucasian woman if that was what the High Evolutionary wanted --- and he did (at least as Archie intended)!

Spider-Woman shared the name with Spider-Man, but nothing else.  Her powers were different, her background totally different, and her comics much much less popular... Was she perhaps the first "feminine version" that wasn't a junior copy of the male?

I liked the Claremont version, also Stern bringing Jessica back to life in the Avengers.

She flies, and shoots
force blasts? How is that a spider?

***

She glides (rather than flies) with the help of her Hydra-designed high-tech costume and also shoots venom blasts which her body manufactures.  This was one of the things I found most "creepy" about her. Another was her "alarm-allure signals" which caused all the men around her to be attracted and all women repulsed by her.  She had to take medication to stop that from happening.  Creepy stuff.

Spider-Woman certainly had a darker flavor than other superhero titles.  I enjoyed that very much.  And Carmine Infantino's art was gorgeus.  She is a very evocative character, but it's very different than standard superhero stuff.  Unfortunately, many writers did not know what to do with her.

In many ways, she and Moon Knight are perfect examples of the horror/monster heroes that did fit the Marvel Universe that titles like Tomb of Dracula, Werewolf by Night, and others (no matter how good they might have been in and of themselves) did not.  I prefer my genres separate, and a "true" horror comic just does not fit with a superhero setting, although horror elements can certainly be introduced.

You are right, Chris -- Spider-Woman definitely had a horror flavor to it early on, particularly when Marv Wolfman was writing the book. I think that's why I didn't really like it as a kid, but having discovered it through the Essentials in recent years, I like it a lot.

When Mark Gruenwald took over the writing chores, it became much more of a traditional superhero book, but a good one.

The book lost a lot of steam after the first 20 issues or so. The whole premise of the book changes -- Jessica moves out of Los Angeles and goes to San Francisco, where she becomes a private investigator. Most of the supporting cast leaves, too. Spider-Woman never was quite the same after Gruenwald and Infantino left the title.

But I would highly recommend the first 20 or so issues.

I remember reading quite a few issues of her Swedish comicbook when I was younger... I should probably get that first Essential, and permit myself some nostalgia.

Btw, where is that beautiful Thor page JB posted from? And is that the first appearance of the High Evolutionary?

Joakim, the Evolutionary's first appearance was in THOR #134 and judging from the dialogue of that page it looks like it's likely from that issue.