Marvel Masterworks: Spider-Woman, Volume 1 contains Marvel Spotlight no. 32 (Spider-Woman's first appearance), Marvel Two-In-One nos. 29-33, and Spider-Woman nos. 1-8. In the original story, writer Archie Goodwin and illustrators Sal Buscema and Jim Mooney introduce the character, here named Arachne and working for HYDRA against the forces of SHIELD. She learns the secret of her origin and rethinks her alliegences. Though a brief origin, Marvel primarily created her to pre-empt Filmation's plan to create an animated Spider-Woman who would capitalize on Spider-Man's fame. Despite these motives, the character was a hit and writer Marv Wolfman and illustrator Carmine Infantino further explored her possibilities in a series of stories with the Thing from the Fantastic Four in Marvel Two-In-One before developing a stand-alone series. This reprints all of Wolfman's stories as he added details to Spider-Woman's origin and tried for a tone between action and horror to define the character. Many of the stories draw upon classic fantasy, including the Arthurian legends. Though Wolfman alternates between these more traditional superhero elements and something with more atmosphere, the creativity and ideas he explores are great fun. This hardcover volume reprints the story in their original size with retouched color for a crisp, clear image. ( )