The Spider-Women face a threat unlike any they’ve faced before: One of their own!
Sorta… Your Major Spoilers review of Spider-Women: Omega #1 awaits!
SPIDER-WOMEN: OMEGA #1
Writer: Dennis Hopeless/Jason LaTour/Robbie Thompson
Artist: Nico Leon
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Previously in Spider-Women: Omega: “Cindy Moon and Jessica Drew got trapped on Earth-65 while visiting their friend and fellow Spider-Woman Gwen-Stacy for brunch… The architect of their otherworldly ordeal was none other than the Cindy Moon of Earth-65 who, unlike the Cindy Moon you know and love, is the leader of a dangerous terrorist organization called S.I.L.K.”
GWEN HAS SOME SELF-ESTEEM ISSUES
Things open with a very angry Earth-65 Cindy Moon destroying the home of Jesse Drew, Jessica’s alternate-reality counterpart. Jesse and his family escape unscathed, leaving Jessica to face off with Cindy and her power-gauntlet (which channels/duplicates the abilities of other superheroes and villains, a really excellent gimmick), leaving Jessica down for the count. She makes a pretty good showing of herself, though, allowing Spider-Gwen to take over, with the help of a big pile of vintage Rob Liefeld weaponry. With her powers still drained thanks to Cindy’s machinations, she is only able to hold off the villain for a little while, until the real Cindy arrives, sporting a classic Super-Adaptoid as armor. It’s a beautiful visual, and one that makes the battle even wackier, in all the right ways.
UNEXPECTEDLY CHARMING
The real star of the issue is the dialogue and character work, making it clear that all the heroes are clever, resourceful women, whether it be Jessica’s ‘catch-as-catch-can’ philosophy, Cindy’s quiet genius or Gwen’s quiet self-deprecation. Even evil Cindy is well drawn, the rare villainous genius who actually feels like a genius, and the denouement of the story is wonderfully written and drawn. Best of all, we end with our Spider-Women finally getting to sit and have brunch, with real-Cindy telling the story of how she trolled evil-Cindy and the heroes’ realization that it will certainly come around and bite them eventually.
THE BOTTOM LINE: I REALLY LIKE THESE GUYS
All in all, this issue is a lot of fun, and makes me want to seek out the rest of the crossover arc to get the full story. All three Spider-Women are shown to be likeable, relatable and heroic, and we get some development to Gwen that will hopefully lead to her becoming an even better hero. Spider-Women: Omega #1 even gets a pass for reviving the stupid final issue standalone “Omega” issue thing that I hoped had died with the 1990s, with well-done art and great character work, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. If nothing else, the idea of crossing universal streams just to have brunch with your friends is a wonderfully cute concept…
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