Spider-Women Alpha #1 Review

Spider-Women Alpha #1
Marvel Comics
Story by Dennis Hopeless, Jason Latour, & Robbie Thompson
Written by Robbie Thompson
Art by Vanesa Del Rey
Colours by Jordie Bellaire
Letters by Travis Lanham
Review By Hafsa Alkhudairi

Spider-Women Alpha is the beginning of a mini-event compromised of 8 comics. It includes Spider-Gwen #7 – 8, Silk #7 – 8, Spider-Woman #6 – 7, and Spider-Woman Omega #1. The comics set to be available throughout April and May. Dennis Hopeless, Jason Latour, and Robbie Thompson have created a story that is engaging from the first page. I am very excited to read the rest of the comics in this crossover!

Spider-Women Alpha starts off with Earth 65 and Spider-Gwen is being followed and that is the heart of the narrative. This could have made the comic very one-dimensional. However, the writers used the simplicity of the main plot line to produce a comic that addresses the relationship between Silk (Cindy Moon), Spider-Gwen (Gwen Stacey), and Spider-Woman (Jessica Drew). They also address issues each character is suffering through with well meaning discussions and direct visualization. It shows they have more depth to them than being a superhero. There are sacrifices their lifestyle has cost them. All those elements created a very interesting read and very relatable characters. AND it ends with a bang, in my opinion.

The relatability is counteracted by the jarring style of art and it works so well. The art is not clean but rough. Spider-Women Alpha is visually very appealing. It is busy with details and vibrant with colours. The shadowing is on point and creatively done with a sketchy finish. Add to that the beauty of the physical presence of sound. I found that choice in the art to be surprising and amazing. It is reminiscent of Manga’s physicality of sound. However, it goes beyond that to create imagery to show the loudness as well and sometimes how encompassing sound can be.

Although all those were amazing, the BEST PART of Spider-Women Alpha is the coffee shop. So keep an eye out for its name!

Verdict:
BUY IT! The story is interesting and multilayered. There is more than one storyline happening without causing any confusion to the reader. Of course, there is a focus on the main one that makes context irrelevant. So, you don’t have to be following any of the comics to follow this event if it follows Spider-Women Alpha’s methodology. But I would highly recommend this comic because the art blew me away! Visually, it may look rough but it works well for the verbal narrative. With its beautiful paneling, everyone should be rushing to the stores to grab a copy!