Spider-Woman #5
Spider-Woman Vol. 3 #5 (November 1999) marks the debut of Shadowcaster, the ancient Egyptian light-bending magician who serves as Mattie Franklin's first truly standalone antagonist — one entirely unconnected to the Spider-Man villain roster that had defined the series' opening arc. The issue also introduces Cheryl Lansing, Mattie's first genuine peer friendship, giving the teenage Spider-Woman a social world of her own rather than one borrowed from Peter Parker's supporting cast. Together these two additions signal writer John Byrne's effort to build Mattie a distinct rogues gallery and a civilian life that could sustain an ongoing series on its own terms. The issue's subplot — Jessica Drew's powers visibly beginning to return — plants a ticking-clock threat that would reshape the entire run, making this a quiet but structurally important pivot point in the short-lived volume.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The Spider-Woman Vol. 3 ongoing was written and plotted by John Byrne, with pencils by Bart Sears and inks by Randy Elliott and Andy Smith throughout the series; Ralph Macchio served as editor with Bob Harras as editor-in-chief. The series grew directly out of a three-part crossover launched in Amazing Spider-Man Vol. 2 #5 (May 1999), where Mattie Franklin made her first appearance as Spider-Woman, and it ran for eighteen issues before cancellation in December 2000 due to mediocre sales. Issue #5, cover-dated November 1999, also carries a backup reprint of the first chapter of 'Fast Lane,' a four-part anti-drug story produced with U.S. government funding and distributed as an insert across multiple Marvel titles in 1999–2000.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Shadowcaster, an ancient Egyptian magician whose power relies on bending light to render himself effectively invisible, introduced as the lead antagonist of a two-part story beginning here.
- First appearance of Cheryl Lansing, Mattie Franklin's classmate and the first peer friend she makes after moving in with J. Jonah Jameson and enrolling in a private school.
- Written by John Byrne; penciled by Bart Sears; inked by Randy Elliott and Andy Smith; colored by Steve Oliff; edited by Ralph Macchio.
- Cover-dated November 1999, published under editor-in-chief Bob Harras as part of the 18-issue Spider-Woman Vol. 3 series.
- The issue title is 'Shadows & Light,' and the central action takes place at the Manhattan Museum of Antiquities, where Shadowcaster steals artifacts from an ancient Egyptian exhibit during Mattie's school field trip.
- A key character-development beat reveals that Jessica Drew's superhuman strength is beginning to return — the first on-panel indication that the powers Mattie absorbed from earlier Spider-Women may be reverting to their original owners, setting up a long-running tension across the series.
- The issue contains a backup reprint of Fast Lane Part 1, a U.S. government-funded anti-drug story in which Spider-Man battles Mysterio, explaining the presence of Mysterio/Quentin Beck in the issue's character index.
- Mattie Franklin is the third person to use the Spider-Woman codename in Marvel continuity, having gained her powers by substituting for her father in the mystical Gathering of Five ceremony and receiving the gift of power originally coveted by Norman Osborn.
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