Spider Queen

Spider Queen is the name of two different characters in Marvel Comics.

Publication history

The first Spider Queen debuted in Fox Feature Syndicate's The Eagle #2 (September 1941) and was created by Elsa Lesau. The character was later revived and adapted for Marvel Comics' 1993 Invaders mini-series by Roy Thomas, Dave Hoover and Brian Garvey.

The second Spider Queen debuted in The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 2 #15 (August 2004) and was created by Paul Jenkins and Michael Ryan.

Fox Feature Syndicate

Spider Queen was the secret identity of Sharon Kane, a "sworn enemy" of all wrongdoers. She fought crime in a red skirt and mask, light blue blouse open to the navel, and yellow sash, cape, and boots. She also wore a special pair of bracelets that fired spider webbing. Her detective boyfriend was Mike O'Bell.

Spider Queen appeared in only three issues of The Eagle, and that only as a backup feature. Her final Golden Age appearance was in The Eagle #4 (January 1942).

Marvel Comics

Shannon Kane

Spider Queen was briefly revived in 1993, as part of a Marvel Comics' four-issue mini-series featuring the Invaders. The story pitted the World War II super-team against the Battle-Axis, a group of minor Golden Age superheroes who were also Nazi sympathizers. The Spider Queen joined the Battle Axis because she opposed Communism, and believed the Nazis would destroy Communism. The Battle Axis were eventually defeated, and Spider Queen (along with the others) were taken into custody.^[1] In 1959, she briefly allied with a secret American intelligence organization called Icon. She was again taken into custody by a team of heroes led by Nick Fury.^[2]

Adriana Soria

The Queen (Adriana Soria) is a fictional supervillain in Marvel Comics and an enemy of Spider-Man and Captain America. Queen first appears as the main antagonist of Spider-Man: Disassembled.

Queen uses her abilities to summon all the people in the city with the latent insect gene to her. It causes Peter Parker's spider-sense to go mad causing Parker to black out. Meanwhile, Captain America is approached by Nick Fury requesting help. The Queen and her followers make their way to a building where they position themselves for the arrival of a guest. Spider-Man arrives on the scene as well as Captain America. Spider-Man runs up the wall to the roof to attack against Captain America's orders. When Spider-Man reaches the roof, he battles the Queen until she screams, sending him to the floor in pain. Captain America tries to save him, but is subdued by her followers. Queen uses Captain America's own shield against him. She then picks up Spider-Man who is unable to resist and kisses him.^[3] A short time later, Spider-Man awakens to find himself trapped by the Queen. Spider-Man and the Queen argue and she kisses him again. It is revealed that the first kiss went out on public television. In the grocery store, Aunt May tells Mary Jane. Outside the building, Nick Fury is told by General Hayes that Captain America has the situation under control. Unfortunately, Captain America is actually also the Queen's prisoner and being suspended upside down in webbing. Captain America breaks free and recovers his shield freeing Spider-Man. Captain America reveals he dated Adrianna Soria in 1945 as he battles with Spider-Man. Spider-Man chases the Queen only for her to convince some of her drones (brainwashed people) into committing suicide. The Queen then defeats Spider-Man with her mental power. S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopters launch a missile at her, but she uses her powers to turn it around. Captain America knocks the Queen of the building and accuses Spider-Man of being reckless. Spider-Man says that is how Captain America was once.^[4] Peter Parker lies in the middle of the pavement monitoring ants when Mary Jane confronts him about the kiss with the Queen, where they argue a little and forget about it. Spider-Man goes web-swinging in the hope of clearing his mind. He fails to discover what exactly the Queen did to him when she kissed him. Meanwhile, the Queen takes her drones to their underground hideout. Also meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D. regional HQ, Captain America gives a speech to a group of high-ranking officers including Nick Fury. Captain America says the Queen kissing Spider-Man is a problem, Captain America doesn't give exact details which annoys Nick Fury who sends a man to tail him. Back at his apartment, Spider-Man has a nightmare in which he is trying and failing to escape the Queen. He wakes and feels incredibly ill. Meanwhile, the Queen tells her drones that she hates Captain America because he betrayed their relationship in the forties. She mentions her origins. The Queen reveals that S.H.I.E.L.D. can't find her. Meanwhile, Mary Jane returns home to find that Peter has mutated so he has four eyes.^[5] Captain America goes to the veterans hospital to talk to an old friend named Tommy, they go for a walk (Cap pushes his wheelchair) at the mention of Ana Soria, Tommy sheds a tear. The Queen tells her drones that it is a case of survival of the fittest. In the middle of the wedding, Peter runs out and changes to Spider-Man without his mask, he finds difficulty breathing. Nick Fury emerges from the shadows and confronts Captain America. Captain America tells Nick Fury he won't give him any information on the Queen but Tommy asks him to. Captain America reveals that Ana (The Queen) was a part of a failed experiment in 1945 and that she was thrown in a crazy house after being exposed to nuclear radiation. Meanwhile, Spider-Man mutates even further into a monstrous humanoid spider. Tommy tells Nick Fury that the queen has a bomb that will wipe humans out in most of North America where she and her drones won't be affected by the radiation from the bomb, Captain America then reveals that the American government built the bomb.^[6] After having a brief confrontation, the Queen defeats Spider-Man. Arriving shortly thereafter, Human Torch reports to Mister Fantastic that there's no trace of the combatants. As Iron Man declares the heroes present are all under Captain America's orders, Cyclops counters that the X-Men are only there because Professor X is extremely scared of what could happen (he may have the same information as Captain America). Black Widow informs Fury a message was received from the Queen warning of a bomb that will imminently detonate. While there is hope in evacuating the city, the heroes instead continue their search and pray. Meanwhile, the Queen visits Spider-Man who is now a giant spider under her complete command.^[7] In a fit of rage, Ana destroyed the laboratory with her telekinetic powers and ordered her drones to activate the bomb. Ana left before she could see the spider's husk split open revealing a reborn Peter Parker. Peter Parker was for the most part unchanged, but seemed to gain additional spider-like characteristics. Spider-Man managed to disarm the bomb and Ana seems to have been killed in an unrelated explosion when S.H.I.E.L.D. attacked her subterranean base.^[8]

Queen returns as the main antagonist of the Spider-Island storyline, alongside the Jackal. Adriana resurfaces as the Spider Queen where she is the benefactor of Miles Warren/Jackal and his servant Tarantula (a mutated version of Kaine) in a plot to spread spider-like powers throughout New York and control the hosts of those powers.^[9] As the mutations of Homo Arachnis sprout all over Manhattan, the Spider Queen declares the world her new kingdom.^[10] The Spider Queen ventures out to meet her subjects. She then reflects on her history leading up to this point, especially when she was defeated by Spider-Man and Captain America. Recently, she had captured Captain America and had him mutated into Spider-King to stand as her consort. On cue, Spider-King has returned. Unknown to her, it is actually Venom in disguise. Spider Queen comments that there is no cure for the Spider-Virus which Jackal fully confirms.^[11] At her lair in Central Park, Spider Queen hears telepathically from J. Jonah Jameson that there is a "cure on the Horizon." As Mister Fantastic is about to administer a cure to the virus to Sajani Jaffrey, the Queen reaches out to her telepathically and transforms her into a spider. Mister Fantastic and Spider-Woman subdue her and inject her with the cure which works and turns her back to normal. Spider Queen begins to panic when she realizes that not only is Sajani back to normal, but Spider-King (who she sent to destroy the anti-venom cure, not knowing it was Venom working undercover) has changed back into Steve Rogers. Jackal knows Peter is working for Horizon and sends Tarantula to destroy the cure. After Tarantula is regressed back to Kaine, the Queen yells at the Jackal in anger and accidentally kills him with her sonic scream which is now much stronger than it used to be. Madame Web realizes that her interference has made the Spider Queen even stronger.^[12] A clone of Jackal returns to Spider Queen's hidden lair and informs her that Anti-Venom is curing people. Spider-King (who is really Venom in disguise) volunteers to kill him.^[13] At her lair under Central Park, the Queen is getting a manicure from a clone of the Jackal, who has transformed into a spider-monster. She listens to the news on a monitor when the Jackal clone accidentally breaks her nail. Before she punishes him, she sees Venom clinging to the ceiling above her. He fires a bullet that hits her point blank but it bounces off of her. She then takes the gun from him and shoots the clone in the arm and throws Venom to the ground. They begin to fight during which she tells him about her time in the marines. She uses her sonic scream on Venom which tears the symbiote off his body. Luckily, the Jackal clone comes to his aid and bites her in the neck. Flash falls into the puddle of symbiote and tries to gets it to bond with him again. It does but not fast enough for him to recover his father’s letter, which is consumed in a fire. After Spider Queen kills the Jackal clone, she searches for Venom, who has made his way to the surface. The Queen catches up to him and knocks him to the ground and starts to beat him until he’s close to losing consciousness.^[14] Captain America arrives in Central Park where Venom is fighting Spider Queen. Spider Queen gets the better of Captain, but he is saved when Venom stabs her in the back with Cap’s shield. Spider Queen appears to be dead but instead transforms into a 28 ft. spider-like monster. Regardless, Captain America and Venom stand ready to fight. Captain America and Venom then lead the Spider Queen's monster form to Union Square and sends out a message to the other heroes to assemble there. Spider-Man and Kaine (who is wearing Spider-Man's stealth suit) arrive and join the heroes in fighting Spider-Queen's monster form. When Spider-Man uses Doctor Octopus' Octobots to cure the transformed civilians, Spider-Queen begins to weaken. As the Queen continues to lose strength, Ms. Marvel and Kaine perform a move she and Spider-Man practiced where she throws Kaine towards Spider Queen’s head. Madame Web realizes that she read her prophecy wrong where Kaine is the one who is supposed to kill the Queen. Spider Queen tries to use her sonic scream on him, but the stealth suit protects him from it as he tears through her head. The heroes then all attack at once to make sure she’s dead as the Spider Queen explodes. Iron Man did an autopsy on the body where it confirmed that the Spider Queen was Adriana Soria.^[15] The Jackal that the Queen disintegrated was merely another clone of Jackal as he and one of his clones drive one of the heavy trucks to Spider-Queen's corpse. Jackal tells his clone that he kept his distance the entire time and rigged a computer to say that the killed Jackal was the original. Jackal also says he's "bristling with ideas, all new ways to plague our "Mr. Parker".^[16]

Jackal later stole one of Spider Queen's limbs and used her DNA to create several clones where he named one of them Spider-Princess. The clones were destroyed in a battle against Alpha and Spider-Man.^[17]

During the Secret Wars, the domain of Spider-Island exists where Spider Queen was triumphant over Spider-Man and now leads Manhattan.

Powers and abilities

The first Spider Queen was an accomplished acrobat. She wore special bracelets that could shoot out a web-like substance (similar to Spider-Man's webfluid).

The second Spider Queen has super-strength, telekinesis, a sonic scream, and can control insects and anyone with the "insect gene", and transform into a monstrous spider-like creature. She has military training and is adept in several forms of armed and unarmed combat.

References

External links

• Spider-Queen I at Marvel Wiki
• Spider-Queen II at Marvel Wiki
• Spider Queen I at Marvel Appendix
• Invaders mini-series info at the Grand Comics Database