"Original Sin!" Spider-Woman 48 (February 1983)
"Runaway!" Spider-Woman 49 (April 1983)
"Lifeline" Spider-Woman 50 (June 1983)
(1983/02/02)

Reader Rating: Average; Thunderbolts Interest: High

Installments: "Original Sin!", "Runaway!", "Lifeline"

Summary: Gypsy Moth appears several times in a series of interweaving storylines:

In Los Angeles, Spider-Woman begins cracking down on drug dealing. This leads her to Gypsy Moth, self-styled "Queen of the Pleasure Junkies," who is running a cult of drugs and (implied) sex. Spider-Woman sacrifices her hair to beat the Moth, who then vanishes mysteriously.

Back in San Fransisco, Jessica is hired to trace a missing boy who, you will gasp to learn, turns out to have super powers. The boy, who is dubbed Poltergeist, is under the protection of Tigra the Were-Woman so, naturally, Spider-Woman and Tigra have to mix it up. As the encounter concludes, Tigra and Poltergeist also vanish.

In short order, Spider-Woman finds herself in the clutches of The Locksmith and Tick-Tock, who have captured all sorts of super-powered freaks to prove some point or other. His prisoners include Gypsy Moth, Poltergeist and Tigra. Gypsy and Spider-Woman work together to break loose, and the crowd heads back to Jessica's apartment to celebrate.

During the party, Spider-Woman is drawn into the past by her mentor Magnus, for a final confrontation with Morgan LeFey. LeFey's weapons include the spectral forms of Jessica's guests -- including Gypsy Moth. Spider-Woman defeats LeFey, but returns to her own time to discover her body dead. Her astral form ascends heavenward with Magnus.

The Locksmith's prisoners include Angar the Screamer, Daddy Longlegs, Dansen Macabre, The Enforcer, The Flying Tiger, The Hangman, Necra, Needle, The Shroud, The Tatterdemalion, and the Werewolf by Night,

Continuity: Sybil recalls her youth, the discovery of her powers, the way she created her wings, and the events that motivated her to terrorize Hollywood society. Sybil is last seen at Jessica's apartment, mingling with, among others, the Shroud and the Werewolf By Night. Shroud will remember Sybil for his soon-to-form Night Shift.

Comments: I come away from this comic wondering if writer Ann Nocenti and editor Mark Gruenwald hate their fans. Not only is Spider-Woman canceled with issue #50, but the character is killed, and memory of her is mystically erased from everyone on Earth. It's a baffling and despicable betrayal of those fans who stuck with the series for six years.

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This page was revised on August 20, 2005