Issue(s): Spider-Woman #10
Cover Date: Jan 79
Title: "Things that go flit in the night"
Credits:
Mark Gruenwald - Writer
Carmine Infantino - Penciler
Alan Gordon - Inker

Review/plot:
Laying on the beach in the moonlight with Jerry Hunt, Spider-Woman sees a winged figure flying in the sky. She tries to follow her but can't keep up.

Spider-Woman ends up at a fancy party that Magnus was invited to. At the party, the moth-winged female attacks, using her strange powers to manipulate the guests' clothing.

Thinking she might be from Wundagore, Spider-Woman chases her, more to talk than stop her attack (which she couldn't care less about)...

...but Jerry, still trying to prove himself, shoots his gun, piercing the Gypsy Moth's wing.

Spider-Woman attacks Jerry and then goes to help the Moth, letting her leave instead of trying to hold her for the police, but the Gypsy Moth isn't interested in talking with Spider-Woman.

Gypsy Moth turned out to be a surprisingly enduring character, with a number of Captain America and West Coast Avengers appearances before eventually changing her name to "Skein" and becoming a Thunderbolt .

At the party, Spider-woman encounters a man who is not affected by her aura. I think he's supposed to be gay, and this is a clue about how her powers work, but we won't find out the details until issue #16.

Meanwhile, Jessica's landlady Mrs. Dolly is getting creepier.

Quality Rating: C+

Historical Significance Rating: 3 - first Gypsy Moth

Chronological Placement Considerations: N/A

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A

So, now we're 10 issues into Spider-Woman. And it seems like every issue brings in a new person who will eventually be in Night Shift.

There are several simple reasons why Night Shift is composed of Spider-Woman's rogues.

1) The "Dark Angel of the Night" has a lot of horror themed villains which is the Night Shift theme.

2) Spider-Woman was one of the few Marvel characters on the West Coast, so when coming up with a Los Angeles based villain team, it's mainly her characters who are available.

3) Gruenwald created Night Shift, so he naturally went back to many of the characters he created himself

That's some of Carmine's best art of this period. Perhaps inker Al Gordon earns a good share of the credit? Kudos for originality; Spider-Woman oft times has strange, off-beat antagonists, which I could see compelling the creation of Night Shift. Wax Man was another unique enemy for Jessica. I like how Jess doesn't have the typical superhero motivations and mostly here seeks a kindred spirit.

Gotta like Guenwald's attempts to introduce different types of villains. Gypsy Moth was pretty interesting. I like that she doesnt have traditional villain motivations (greed or even worse revenge). And her power is subtle compared to other villain powers.

Gypsy Moth won't appear again until Spider-Woman # 48 about 4 years later (except for one panel in Contest of Champions which was probably originally drawn around the same time here for the intended 1980 Treasury). This is an unfortunate mistake because I think Gypsy Moth could have been a good recurring villain for the title.

1) She's a female supervillain, and I believe a female superhero title should have a good number of female supervillains.
2) Gypsy Moth actually has an attractive design. A visually appealing costume (at least in later appearances that eliminate the skin windows) and an evocative name.
3) She has an interesting criminal motivation born out of social isolation, jealousy, and envy.
4) She has a unique set of powers that would make an interesting combat, although to truly be in Spider-Woman's league (with her strength and venom blasts) she'd need some kind of upgrade.

A big problem for the title is that Spider-Woman does not really develop a very good rogue's gallery. This is in spite of some strong contenders actually appearing in her title. If the title had seen returns of the Brothers Grimm (post ish # 12), Hangman, Gypsy Moth, Nekra, and Human Fly (Spidey's rogues gallery already has many great foes, and Fly was never utilized heavily so the Fly vs Spider theme could work well here), it would have been a solid start. Even the Needle had potential in terms of his look and horrific theme but needed lots of development.