In the past year and a half Marvel have expanded their Spider-related titles in a way that they’ve never been able to do so before. Not only is there Peter Parker, Miles Morales and Miguel O’Hara swinging around as Spidey, but also three female-led Spider titles too. In April these three titles, Spider-Woman, Silk and Spider-Gwen will crossover for the very first time to make up the “Spider-Women” – an 8-part crossover of alternate reality action.
Jessica Drew (Spider-Woman) and Cindy Moon (Silk) are trapped in the alternate reality known as Earth-65. Luckily for them, they’re able to team up with a local in the form of Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Gwen. Forming a trio, these Spider-ladies must take on the criminal spy organisation S.I.L.K. – who’s lead by a familiar face. To make matters worse is that someone is posing as Spider-Woman and Silk in their home reality and causing all kinds of trouble.
Crossovers can be a bit confusing sometimes, especially if you’re not sure what issues you’re meant to read and in what order. Luckily for you, I’ve made up the Spider-Women Reading Order Checklist which aims at taking out the confusion of this crossover. Along with the reading order, I’ve included the creative teams involved as well as release dates. Keep in mind that sometimes comics get delayed without my knowledge. If this happens kindly let me know and I’ll update the list.
April
Spider-Women Alpha (Part 1)
Plot by Jason Latour, Dennis Hopeless and Robbie Thompson. Written by Robbie Thompson. Art by Vanesa Del Rey.
Available April 6th.
Spider-Gwen #7 (Part 2)
Written by Jason Latour. Art by Bengal.
Available April 13th.
Silk #7 (Part 3)
Written by Robbie Thompson. Art by Tana Ford.
Available April 20th.
Spider-Woman #6 (Part 4)
Written by Dennis Hopeless. Art by Javier Rodriguez.
Available April 27th.
May
Spider-Gwen #8 (Part 5)
Written by Jason Latour. Art by Bengal.
Available May 4th.
Silk #8 (Part 6)
Written by Robbie Thompson. Art by Tana Ford.
Available May 11th.
Spider-Woman #7 (Part 7)
Written by Dennis Hopeless. Art by Joelle Jones.
Available May 18th.
Spider-Women Omega (Part 8)
Plot by Jason Latour, Dennis Hopeless and Robbie Thompson. Written by Robbie Thompson. Art by Nico Leon.
Available May 25th.
Spider-Woman Trade Paperback Release
For those who’d prefer to binge on this story here is the collected edition you should read:
Spider-Women
Collects Spider-Women: Alpha, Spider-Woman: Omega, Spider-Gwen #7-8, Spider-Woman #6-7, Silk #7-8.
Will You Be Reading Spider-Woman?
Will you be reading the Spider-Woman crossover? Have you found the Spider-Woman Reading Order Guide helpful? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook or Twitter.
I’m just trying to figure out what happened in this damn crossover that messed with Gwen’s powers.
This is pretty helpful but sadly not quite what I’ve been looking for…
For me it all started when I discovered Silk in the mobile game Marvel Future Fight. I did some reading on when she was introduced and what came before and after and decided to start with Spider-Man’s »Dying Wish«, followed by Superior Spider-Man, Amazing Spider-Man (2014), and then finally Spider-Verse. Since I now have all those trades on my shelf, I decided to expand my personal Spider-Verse, so I went back until Spider-Island and got Spider-Men, Scarlet Spider (Kaine), New Warriors, Agent Venom, Minimum Carnage and almost everything else up to where I started with Superior Spider-Man.
Now I want to continue beyond Spider-Verse, so I got the Spider-Gwen/Silk Volume 0 trades, the Spider-Island/Spider-Verse/Renew Your Vows Warzones trades, as well as Spider-Man Worldwide, Web-Warriors, Spider-Woman’s “New Duds”, Silk’s “Sinister” and Gwen’s “Greater Power” trades after which I wanted to get Spider-Women. However when I read the last three trades, I got a little confused. In Spider-Gwen’s story Jessica is pregnant, in her own she isn’t and in Silk’s story she’s apparently still mad at Cindy for something that happened in Spider-Woman #5 – which isn’t in the Spider-Woman #5 that comes in the “New Duds” trade. So naturally I’m a little bit confused about the timeline. Spider-Woman’s Volume 2 (New Duds) obviously happens right after her issues in the big Spider-Verse Omnibus that I have, so I won’t have to buy her “Spider-Verse” trade that contains issues #1 – #4, but should I get “Shifting Gears” somewhere in between here? The numbering confuses me to no end… which runs lead into Spider-Women and how do I continue after that trade? On the Amazon page of the “Shifting Gears” trade it says »COLLECTING: Spider-Woman 1-5, Amazing Spider-Man 1 (Spider-Woman story)« – which Spider-Woman 1-5? The ones that cross over with Spider-Verse (doubtfully so) or the ones that explain why Jess is pissed at Silk? Should I place “New Duds” before the Secret Wars in my timeline along with Silk Vol. 0 and Spider-Gwen Vol.0? Is “Shifting Gears” the run that parallels “Sinister” and “Greater Power”? Cause that’s the feeling I’m getting now but I could use some confirmation.
Also sorry this got so long…
Hi Manostion, Spider-Woman is one of the many comics which has been affected by Marvel’s constant relaunch culture. As you mentioned there was a series that spun out of Spider-Verse, which then a new creative team and direction begun on the series with issue #5. This particular series ran for 10 issues and then was relaunched with a new number #1, which ran through to issue 17. As for the collected editions, they go as follows:
As for Silk and Spider-Gwen volume 0, they both happen before Secret Wars.
I really appreciate your articles on the order of Spider-Women and the Spider-Verse. I’ve been reading Spider-Gwen but recently learned about Spider-Verse and wanted to see how it all tied together and follow up with the three spider-women!
The art for Spider-Woman #6&7 is Joelle Jones with colors by Rachelle Rosenberg!