User Profile

Biography

At a young age, Jessica Miriam Drew, daughter of Jonathan and Miriam, was lethally poisoned by radiation. In an attempt to save her life, her father injected her with an experimental serum based on irradiated spiders' blood. Because the serum did not have any apparent effect on her, the man who would come to be known as the High Evolutionary (Herbert Wyndham) placed her in a genetic accelerator. While in the accelerator, she aged at a decelerated rate. When she was finally released, decades later, Drew was only seventeen years old.

Jessica grew up on Mount Wundagore under the care of Bova. She eventually left when she did not appear to fit in. Her first few years were confusing as she adjusted to life among other humans. Eventually, HYDRA, under the control of Count Otto Vermis, found and recruited her. Through brainwashing and manipulation, she was convinced she was not human but actually an evolved spider. During this time, she went by the alias of Arachne. Finally, on a mission against S.H.I.E.L.D., Jessica learned HYDRA's true nature and turned on them.

Now going by the name Spider-Woman, Jessica used her new identity to track down her father's killer, starting her search in London. During this time, Jessica was recaptured by HYDRA and brainwashed into working for them again. This brought her into direct conflict with Ben Grimm.

In her early days as Spider-Woman, Jessica chose to keep her presence in Los Angeles a secret. She fought super-powered foes such as the Brothers Grimm, Hangman, the Enforcer, the Needle, Gypsy Moth, and the Waxman, while forming allies such as Werewolf by Night and the Shroud. Jessica also sought to discover the true nature of her pheromones, which appeared to produce a strong sexual attraction from men and repulsion from women.

Her search led her to the Hatros Institute and her first true job. Working as a secretary, she was able to gain free medical treatment to suppress her pheromones so that she could move effectively among people without producing any unwanted side-effects. The culmination of her time at the Hatros Institute led Jessica to her encounter with Nekra, and the loss of her job.

Unemployed, Jessica briefly considered stealing, but at the last moment decided against it. She came into contact with Spider-Man, who advised her to use her unique talents to help others in need. Jessica chose to heed his advice and become a bounty huntress. She worked closely with former FBI specialist, Scotty McDowell, who later became the Hornet. When their working relationship failed, Jessica moved with her best friend Lindsay McCabe to San Francisco where she set up a practice as a private investigator.

While working as a P.I. Jessica encountered the Viper in a battle. Two main revelations came out of it. The first was that Lindsay McCabe finally learned that Spider-Woman and Jessica were one and the same (although Lindsay claimed that she had known all along). The other was Viper's claim to be Jessica's real mother. Whether this meant she was actually Miriem Drew remains unknown, but the resemblance between the two was uncanny and even fooled other HYDRA agents. This revelation was later retconned in the Captain America comic to be simply a delusion of Viper.

In the last adventure of her comic book, Jessica engaged in a showdown with Morgan le Fey in the 6th century. She managed to vanquish Morgan, but Jessica's human body was destroyed. Jessica was believed dead and the sorcerer, Magnus, placed a spell over humanity to remove all trace of Jessica's existence. However, this spell was faulty, and Tigra and the Shroud discovered Jessica's dead body and contacted the Avengers and Dr Strange. It turned out that Jessica was in fact trapped on the astral plane, and was attempting to make contact with her body again. Morgan Le Fay (also trapped on the astral plane) attempted to foil the Avengers' attempts to revive Jessica, bringing Morgan in direct conflict with both the Avengers and Dr Strange. Eventually, Dr Strange was able to restore Jessica to her human body and trap Morgan, but it was not without a cost: Jessica appeared to lose all her super powers. Jessica was nevertheless grateful for returning to the land of the living, and continued her life simply as a private investigator in San Francisco, assisted by Lindsay McCabe and occasionally by Tigra and the Shroud.

Jessica Drew frequented Madripoor as a private investigator. During this time she had lost her ability to discharge bioelectricity, but found that her super powers were slowly returning. She still possessed superhuman strength and agility, and the ability to cling to walls. She was an ally and confidante of Patch (a former alter-ego of Wolverine).

Jessica Drew's life settled down until Charlotte Witter, a villainess going by the name of Spider-Woman, stole her powers. After the theft, Jessica returned to her life as a private investigator and served as a teacher and mentor to Mattie Franklin, a young woman who had assumed the Spider-Woman identity. Jessica began to regain her powers at this time; while investigating two cases with Mattie she made use of her restored superhuman strength and agility. Although she regained the bulk of her spider-powers, they were unstable. For example, her "venom blasts" worked efficiently in one fight, and then would fail her unexpectedly on another occasion.

When Mattie Franklin's was drawn into an highly abusive and parasitic relationship with a New York-based drug dealer who cannibalized her tissue to make the "Mutant Growth Hormone" (commonly known as "MGH"), Jessica didn't hesitate to investigate (despite the instability of her powers). An initial misunderstanding with local P.I. Jessica Jones--who shared many surprising similarities to Drew--turned into an alliance when the women teamed up to rescue Mattie from her captors.

After regaining her powers from the mysterious HYDRA agent, Mr. Conelly, Jessica became a member of S.H.I.E.L.D., and later joined the latest team calling themselves the Avengers. HYDRA's doctors restored Jessica's powers through a 17 month-long ordeal of operations that repaired her refined genetic make-up. (The operation provided her with the ability to fly, instead of just glide.) However, Jessica's complicity with HYDRA placed her under constant threat of having her powers stripped from her if she did not comply with their wishes. In recent issues of the Avengers, Jessica confessed to Captain America that she was actually a double agent, reporting directly to Nick Fury, director of S.H.I.E.L.D., while also acting for HYDRA.

Powers & Abilities

Jessica Drew possesses superhuman strength and can lift roughly 10 tons. Her agility, reflexes, endurance, and speed are likewise enhanced. Her hearing is hyper-acute.

She can cling to walls and other surfaces, and her enhanced musculature and stamina allow her to easily lift and carry an undetermined amount of weight while clinging to walls.

She is immune to all forms of non-corrosive toxins, and radiations. After an initial exposure that just makes her dizzy, her metabolism quickly develops an immunity to whatever toxin she came in contact with. Just like certain kinds of spiders, Jessica's body generates its own kind of poison, which she can release at will in the form of bio-electrical discharges that she calls "venom blasts." She can control the intensity of of her "venom blasts" to the degree that they can be enough to stun a person, or if she chooses, she can use lethal force at close range.

Her metabolism generates certain types of pheromones that ellicit attraction and/or repulsion in others; Jessica has stated that the release of her pheromones is due to her being nervous, but it is still unknown if other factors may also affect her.

Jessica is a highly experienced fighter in many forms of armed and unarmed physical combat including boxing, judo, karate, capoeira, fencing, and many other disciplines, learned from her training under the Taskmaster as a HYDRA assassin and later on as a SHIELD agent. She is also extensively trained in espionage, covert operations, stealth and use of weapons. She is a superb athlete and an Olympic-level gymnast. Due to her HYDRA espionage training, she is fluent in several languages, including Russian, Japanese, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean and German.

Recently, Jessica has shown the capability to engage in self-powered flight, without using her collapsable glider-wings. It is still unclear as to the range and extent of this power.

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