Spider-Woman II
Spider-Woman---real name Julia Carpenter---is the second person to bear this codename. She is not a mutant, but received her powers from injections of spider venom given to her by government scientists under the control of Val Cooper. This gave her super-strength, the ability to cling to walls, and the capability to produce psionic webs. Her first adventure was in Secret Wars, when she was accidentally transported to Battleworld and fought alongside the heroes. Upon her return, Val Cooper placed her in Freedom Force and she served briefly with the team. She appeared to fit in and enjoy her work, but when FF was sent to arrest the Avengers, she believed it was wrong, did not want to help, and secretly cheered whenever any of her teammates were defeated in the fight. Mystique upbraided her for this, so Spider-Woman later crept into the prison in which the Avengers were being held, and freed them. Naturally, this was the end of her stint with FF. It was later stated that she'd disliked her teammates and their methods all along, but this is a bit of a ham-handed retcon; prior to Avengers annual 15, she was depicted as friendly with them and had no problems with their activities. In total, she had only four appearances with FF.
Since leaving Freedom Force, Spider-Woman drifted briefly before joining the West Coast Avengers, and then later enlisted with the Secret Defenders and Force Works, doing the general super-hero thing. A while ago, it was revealed that a new (evil) Spider-Woman stole the powers of both Julia and the original Spider-Woman, and Julia was in a wheelchair for some reason. However, she now has her powers and is in fine health --- although she got on the bad side of the government again for betraying the pro-registration side in Civil War, and was imprisoned by the authorities. Now calling herself Arachne, she is currently a member of Omega Flight, Canada's main superhero team.
Issues which highlight her character: Don't know. She's the only FF'er whose appearances I'm not collecting.
First Appearance: Secret Wars v.1 #6
Most Recent Appearance: Omega Flight #5
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Freedom Force and the distinctive likenesses thereof are Trademarks of Marvel Characters, Inc. and are used with permission. Copyright © 1999. Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
