Spider-Woman #5
Spider-Woman #5 (2023 series, cover-dated May 2024) serves as the capstone of the opening 'Gang War' arc and pivots the series toward its next chapter by delivering the first in-continuity team-up between Jessica Drew and Bailey Briggs, a.k.a. Spider-Boy — two characters who share a uniquely parallel post-'End of the Spider-Verse' predicament of having been erased from the world's memory. The issue is also notable as Screwball's first extended confrontation with Spider-Woman, shifting the live-streaming villain — a character defined entirely by her relationship with Spider-Man — into the orbit of a different hero for the first time in any meaningful way. Together, these character dynamics made #5 the breakout issue of the volume's first trade, the one readers and critics most consistently singled out as the point where writer Steve Foxe found Jessica Drew's distinct voice apart from the surrounding crossover noise.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
The series was announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 and formally previewed in Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #31 before launching in November of that year; writer Steve Foxe, who had previously worked on X-Men Annual and Dark X-Men, described Jessica Drew as his favorite Marvel heroine and framed the Gang War crossover as the deliberate springboard for a story with 'lasting ramifications for some of her closest relationships.' Artist Carola Borelli, whose prior Marvel work included Wasp, drew all five issues of the inaugural arc, with covers by Leinil Francis Yu; the full arc — issues #1–5 plus Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #31 — was later collected as Spider-Woman by Steve Foxe Vol. 1: Gang War (2024 paperback, ISBN 978-1302957131). Issue #5 itself was edited by Ellie Pyle under executive editor Nick Lowe, with colors by Arif Prianto and letters by VC's Joe Sabino.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Released March 20, 2024 (cover date May 2024); written by Steve Foxe, art and inks by Carola Borelli, colors by Arif Prianto, letters by VC's Joe Sabino, cover by Leinil Francis Yu.
- First in-series team-up between Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) and Bailey Briggs (Spider-Boy); Briggs appears in a cameo/supporting role per character indexes.
- Screwball appears in a supporting role — her drones attack Spider-Woman and Spider-Boy, combine into a giant robot, and are ultimately used by the heroes to track and defeat her; this marks her first notable clash with Spider-Woman rather than Spider-Man.
- Gerry Drew (Jessica's son, revealed across earlier issues to have been aged up and brainwashed by Hydra under the alias Green Mamba) appears in cameo — underscoring the arc's central emotional stakes of a mother searching for her child.
- Captain Marvel / Carol Danvers appears in a supporting role, consistent with her role throughout the arc as Jessica's closest ally and confidante.
- The issue is the fifth and final chapter of the 'Gang War' tie-in arc; the preceding four issues dealt directly with the crossover event, while #5 operates as a standalone-feeling epilogue that sets up the series' second arc, 'The Assembly.'
- Collected in Spider-Woman by Steve Foxe Vol. 1: Gang War (2024 trade paperback, ISBN 978-1302957131), along with issues #1–4 and material from Amazing Spider-Man (2022) #31.
- The series is the seventh volume of Spider-Woman overall and the fifth to star Jessica Drew, per TV Tropes and League of Comic Geeks catalog data.
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Reprinted in Spider-Woman by Steve Foxe #1 (2024)
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