Spider-Woman IV
First appearance: Amazing Spider-Man volume two #5

Charlotte Witter, the latest woman to bear the title of "Spider-Woman", started out as nothing more than a wealthy fashion designer, until she was taken by Dr. Otto Octavius, better known as the sinister scientist Dr. Octopus, and transformed into a multi-armed menace. Sent by Doc Ock to take care of Spider-Man and take away the powers of the other Spider-Women, the new Spider-Woman ran into Martha "Mattie" Franklin instead, and she and Spidey were on the run from the evil Spider-Woman. (Franklin, by the way, had recently been involved with a ceremony led by Norman Osborn, called the Gathering of Five, wherein Franklin was granted super powers, and just prior to the arrival of the fourth Spider-Woman, she had begun to use that name herself, making Franklin the third Spider-Woman, Witter the fourth.) With assistence from the Black Cat, Spidey and the good Spider-Woman were able to subdue Witter, and learn of Dr. Octopus' involvement, and in the process, shut down his undersea lab. The evil Spider-Woman got away, but resurfaced soon after, kidnapping her old associates from the world of fashion design. Franklin teamed up with the now-powerless Spider-Women, Julia Carpenter and Jessica Drew, and the mysterious psychic Madame Web, and was able to take some of Witter's power away, into herself. Franklin now had some of Witter's powers, and defeated and unconcious, the evil Spider-Woman was taken into the care of the now youthful Madame Web, who was in fact Witter's mother!

A short time later, Witter awoke from her comatose state and took away Madame Web's youth as a means of repowering herself. Witter then returned to her original objective: Eliminating Spider-Man. Peter Parker on the other hand was grieving after learning that his wife Mary Jane had been killed in a plane explosion, and was in shambles. Luckily for Peter, Mattie Franklin was paying him a visit for support, and she and Spider-Man were able to stop Spider-Woman's threat, though barely.

Since her repowering and escape after her last encounter with Spider-Man, the evil Spider-Woman has not been seen, but is likely either continuing her revenge plots against her former colleagues or back in hiding with Dr. Octopus.

Powers and Abilities: The fourth Spider-Woman, has super strength and four spider-like limbs spouting from her back. Though strong, Spider-Woman needs to be repowered and gets her strength from feeding off the energies of meta-humans, or, in the case of normal humans, sucks them dry like a real spider does it's prey.

REFERENCES: Spectacular Spider-Man #262, Amazing Spider-Man volume two #5-6, Peter Parker: Spider-Man volume two #5, Spider-Woman volume three #1-3, Spider-Woman volume three #8-9, Amazing Spider-Man volume two #14

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