If you are a fan of Spider-Man and his many allies, you may have heard of Spider-Woman, a superheroine who shares some of his powers and name. But did you know that the first Spider-Woman was not Jessica Drew, the spy-turned-hero who debuted in 1977, but a young Black librarian named Valerie who appeared three years earlier?
That’s right, Valerie the Librarian was the original Spider-Woman in Marvel Comics, and she had a brief but memorable career as a crime-fighter in New York City. Here is her story and some little-known facts about this forgotten heroine.
Valerie was a librarian who worked at the Midtown Public Library, where she often encountered Spider-Man and his enemies. She admired Spider-Man and wanted to be a superhero like him, but she had no superpowers or special equipment. She did have courage and determination, though, and she used them to protect her library from various threats.
One day, she got to become Spider-Woman when Spider-Man accidentally dropped his costume on her balcony while sunbathing on a nearby rooftop. Valerie found the outfit and tried it on, adding some suction cups to the gloves and boots to mimic Spider-Man’s wall-crawling ability. She then went out to patrol the city as Spider-Woman, hoping to help Spider-Man and stop some crimes.
Valerie’s first and only adventure as Spider-Woman happened in Spidey Super Stories #11, a comic series produced by Marvel and the PBS TV series The Electric Company. In this issue, she encountered the Vulture, one of Spider-Man’s oldest foes, robbing a jewelry store. She tried to stop him, but he escaped with his loot.
Meanwhile, Spider-Man suffered sunburn and couldn’t find his costume. He borrowed another from his friend Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, but it was too tight and uncomfortable. He then went after the Vulture, who had captured and tied him to a giant balloon.
Fortunately, Spider-Woman came to his rescue and freed him from his trap. She then helped him catch the Vulture with a double-web attack and delivered him to the police. Spider-Man thanked her for her assistance and asked her to return his costume, which she did. She then returned to her everyday life as Valerie the Librarian, but not before telling Spider-Man that she would always be ready to help him again.
– Spidey Super Stories #11: The debut of Valerie as Spider-Woman and her team-up with Spider-Man against the Vulture.
– Spidey Super Stories #14: Valerie helps Spider-Man stop Doctor Doom from stealing books from her library.
– Spidey Super Stories #18: Valerie joins forces with Spider-Ham, a spider bitten by a radioactive pig, to fight the April Fool.
– Spidey Super Stories #25: Valerie meets Web-Slinger, a cowboy version of Spider-Man from another dimension, and helps him defeat Mysterio.
– Spidey Super Stories #31: The final appearance of Valerie in the comic series, where she witnesses Spider-Man’s battle with Electro.
## Little Known Facts About Valerie
– Valerie was one of the first Black female heroes in Marvel Comics, predating Storm’s debut in 1975 by nearly a year.
– Valerie was also one of the first heroes to use suction cups to climb walls before characters like Nightcrawler and Daredevil adopted similar devices.
– Valerie never revealed her surname or origin story, leaving her background mysterious.
– Valerie never met Jessica Drew or any other Spider-Woman in the comics, but she did encounter other spider-themed heroes like Spider-Ham and Web-Slinger.
– Valerie appeared in 14 issues of Spidey Super Stories between 1974 and 1978, mainly as a supporting character for Spider-Man.
– Valerie also appeared in other media, such as The Electric Company TV show, where Hattie Winston played her, and the 2018 animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where she had a cameo as one of Miles Morales’ teachers.
