Martha Franklin (Earth-616)

Spider-Woman
Name	Martha "Mattie" Franklin
Current Alias	Spider-Woman
Aliases	Spider-Man
Affiliation and Relationships
Affiliation	formerly Excelsior
Relatives	Jerry Franklin (father); Mrs. Franklin (mother, deceased); J. Jonah Jameson (uncle); Marla Jameson (aunt, deceased); John Jameson (cousin)
Marital Status	Single
Physical Characteristics
Gender	Female
Height	5′8″ (1.73 m)
Weight	123 lbs (55.79 kg)
Eyes	Irises: Blue
Hair	Black
Origin and Living Status
Origin	Magic-based mutate; powers activated via taking part in the Gathering of Five ritual
Living Status	Deceased
Reality	Earth-616
Personal Information
Identity	Secret
Citizenship	American
Occupation	Adventurer
Base of Operations	New York, New York
Creators and Appearances
Creators	John Byrne, Rafael Kayanan
First
First
Death	Amazing Spider-Man #634 (June, 2010)
Death	Amazing Spider-Man #634 (June, 2010)

History

Spider Woman #1 (Variant Cover)

Overhearing a conversation between her father and Norman Osborn about a ceremony, Mattie took her father's place in the Gathering of Five. Granted the gift of power, Mattie was endowed with superhuman physical attributes, as well as the power of flight. When Spider-Man mysteriously disappeared for a few months from the superhero scene Mattie took to fighting the criminals in his name. When the real Spider-Man returned, Mattie fought Charlotte Witter and then became known as Spider-Woman with the blessings of Jessica Drew. She was sent to a boarding school, and fought several new villains while there and made a friend in Cheryl Lansing.

Mattie wasn't seen for quite a while, and eventually went missing. She broke into Jessica Jones apartment in a drugged stupor, but quickly fled. Investigating more, Jessica discovered Mattie was being harvested for drugs by her boyfriend and kept sedated. Apparently, Mattie was being used a source for Mutant Growth Hormone, a power-inducing drug that requires a super-powered individual's genetic material. With the help of Jessica Drew, Jessica Jones brought Mattie back to the safety of her uncle.

Mattie, Chris and Johnny's involvement in the MGH ring bust was revealed when Ricochet's later break-in at a Fujikawa lab resulted in Lightspeed being grievously wounded by Hollow (formerly Penance). The group was confronted by a woman leading armored guards and Delilah; they had come to reclaim Hollow. The matter was settled peacefully by Mickey Musashi; Mattie was frustrated about allowing the bad guys to leave. However, Mickey reminded her that she was undoing the damage for which she, Darkhawk, and Ricochet were responsible. It was revealed that another reason for her joining the support group was that she was secretly researching the Slingers. While over at Johnny's house she began searching around, looking for evidence when she was caught by Johnny whom she slept with in order for him not to get suspicious. Afterwords, she privately contacted the father of Dusk, in which she confirmed that the former Slinger named Ricochet had no knowledge of Cassie's whereabouts. Mattie and Johnny later arrived at Mickey's apartment, in which they learn about both Phil and Chris fighting each other in Darkhawk armor. After defeating Phil, she learned about Phil also making a deal with Fumiko Fujikawa (just as Mickey did) and decided to leave the support group, no longer trusting them, pointing out that they forgotten about how to be heroes in trying to overcome their heroic pasts. Mattie also admited that she regreted sleeping with Ricochet.

After the Civil War, she was listed as a potential recruit for the Initiative.

Grim Hunt

During the Grim Hunt, Mattie had been captured by the Kravinoff family, along with Madame Web. Knowing that she was going to die, she told Madame Web to tell Spider-Man that she didn't blame him and that she didn't cry. She is later sacrificed by Sasha Kravinoff in an attempt to revive her son, the Grim Hunter back from the dead. It was a success, but Vladimir was revived as a humanoid lion-like creature. It was then revealed that Martha was merely a test, and that they actually intended to sacrifice Spider-Man.

Attributes

Power Grid

Powers

Martha Franklin originally gained her superhuman powers from the Gathering of Five ceremony, where she received the gift of "Power." She later absorbed the powers of all the previous Spider-Women and Madame Web, possessing all of their powers for a short while. At the time of her death, Mattie possessed her original powers and those of Charlotte Witter.

Original Powers: Mattie possessed these powers after she participated in the Gathering of Five ceremony. Her physical abilities may or may not have been increased after she absorbed the cumulative powers of Charlotte Witter and the other Spider-Women:

Superhuman Strength: Mattie was superhumanly strong and capable of lifting about as much weight as Spider-Man, 10 tons. After absorbing the powers of the other Spider-Women, her strength may have increased to about 25 tons.

Superhuman Speed: Martha was capable of running and moving at speeds that are beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. She could easily catch up with accelerating cars while on foot.

Superhuman Stamina: Martha's advanced musculature produces less fatigue toxins during physical activity than an ordinary human. This allowed her to exert herself physically for much longer periods of time before fatigue began to impair her. At her peak, Spider-Woman was able to physically exert herself at her peak capacity for several hours before the build up of fatigue toxins in his blood began to impair her.

Superhuman Durability: Spider-Woman's body was physically tougher and more resistant to some types of injury than the body of a normal human. Her body was more resistant to impact forces than anything else. She was able to withstand great impacts, such as falling from a height of several stories or being struck by an opponent with superhuman strength, that would severely injure or kill a normal human with little to no discomfort. After absorbing the powers of the other Spider-Women, Mattie may have become bulletproof.

Superhuman Agility: Martha's agility, balance, and bodily coordination were all enhanced to levels that were beyond the natural physical limits of the finest human athlete. She was extraordinarily limber and her tendons and connective tissues were twice as elastic as the average human being's, despite their enhanced strength. She had the combined agility and acrobatic prowess of the most accomplished circus aerialists and acrobats. She could also perform any complicated sequence of gymnastic stunts such as flips, rolls, and springs. She was able to easily match or top any Olympic record at gymnastics apparatus such as flying rings, climbing ropes, horizontal bars, trampolines.

Superhuman Reflexes: Her reflexes were similarly enhanced and were about 40 times greater than those of an ordinary human.

Flight: Martha was able to propel herself through the air through sure act of will at an unknown maximum speed.

Spider-Woman/Madame Web Powers: The following powers were absorbed by Mattie after she reabsorbed her own powers from Charlotte Witter. They included the powers of Jessica Drew, Julia Carpenter, Madame Web, and Charlotte Witter.

Superhuman Hearing: Originally belonging to Jessica Drew, the first Spider-Woman, Martha's hearing was superhumanly acute and enabled her to detect sound at virtually any frequency, and she possessed the potential to detect, sort out, and correctly identify sounds through thick steel doors, and across considerable distances.

Superhuman Sense of Touch: Originally belonging to Julia Carpenter, Martha's sense of touch was developed to the point that she could have sensed vibrations like a spider on its webs. Her senses were so sharp, that she could have detected a hollow area under a solid steel floor by walking over it.

Wall Crawling: Originally belonging to Jessica Drew, Martha's limbs could adhere to surfaces via electrostatic attraction. She could have held and carry a considerable amount of extra weight while sticking to walls without falling off; it's safe to assume that the weight she was able to carry was dozens of times her own, and the limits of how long she could have done this before fatigue sets in were unknown.

Immunity to Toxins, Poisons, Drugs, and Radiation: Originally belonging to Jessica Drew, Martha's metabolism rapidly created powerful immunities to all forms of toxins, poisons and drugs, after an initial exposure that usually made her dizzy. Her body was totally immune to radiation.

Venom Blasts: Originally belonging to Jessica Drew, Martha's body possessed an inordinate amount of bio-electricity that she learned to channel and discharge through her hands, in controlled bursts of what she called "Venom Blasts". These energy projections varied in power; they mostly affected the nervous system in humans. Martha was able to regulate them from simply a stun to potent enough to kill an average-sized man in the same way that a lightning bolt could kill him.

Pheromone Secretion: Originally belonging to Jessica Drew, Martha's metabolism generated certain types of pheromones that elicited attraction and/or repulsion on others, depending on unknown factors which might have include gender and mood.

Psychokinetic Webbing: Originally belonging to Julia Carpenter, Martha possessed the ability to utilize psionic-based webbing (psi-webs), although it required a lot of concentration to manifest. By using psychokinetic energy, she was able to bind ambient free-floating molecules into strands of solid force. Her psi-webs could be used to wrap enemies, or focused into narrow web-lines that she could have swung from. Due to its psychic nature, these psi-webs could have been used in ways Spider-Man's webbing never could, such as causing webs to form from a distance, or controlling the movement of her webbing mentally. She was able to create webs of psionic energy able to hold up to 10 tons. The web had to have been anchored by at least two surfaces.

Psychic Spider-Legs: Originally belonging to Charlotte Witter, Martha possessed four psionic spider-legs growing from her back. Having them grown out was their natural state, but Martha could conceal them in her back with concentration, though this left her with feelings of pressure. On occasion, Martha was shown firing brilliant bursts of energy from the legs that left her enemies stunned.

Telepathy: Originally belonging to Madame Web, Martha possessed moderate telepathy that allowed her to read minds and project thoughts.

Prescience: Originally belonging to Madame Web, Martha was able to perceive the future as precognitive flashes.

Template:New Power Grid

Weaknesses

Mattie has cat allergy.

Notes

• Mattie gained her original powers during the Gathering of Five ceremony.
• Mattie is the third woman to use the name Spider-Woman.
• Araña received her powers the same way Mattie did.

See Also

• 57 appearance(s) of Martha Franklin (Earth-616)
• 4 appearance(s) in handbook(s) of Martha Franklin (Earth-616)
• 4 minor appearance(s) of Martha Franklin (Earth-616)
• 9 mention(s) of Martha Franklin (Earth-616)
• 5 mention(s) in handbook(s) of Martha Franklin (Earth-616)
• 50 image(s) of Martha Franklin (Earth-616)
• 3 quotation(s) by or about Martha Franklin (Earth-616)
• 1 item(s) used/owned by Martha Franklin (Earth-616)

Links and References

• Comicboards: Question about Mattie Franklin
• Wikipedia: Spider-Woman
• Marvel Directory: Madame Web
• Spider-Woman Fanpage
• Marvel Encyclopaedia: Spider-Man, New York, 2003, p184

References

Mattie