Submitted by Ronald Byrd
Operating out of the disused Lakeland Ornamental Gardens and dressed in a sheer purple negligee with matching stockings and stilettos, Cobweb (the wealthy heiress Laurel Lakeland), assisted by her devoted chauffeuse Clarice, experiences a variety of adventures, many of them pastiches of pulp/romance material. Many in Indigo City (which is also protected by the Shadow-like Greyshirt, whose adventures are somewhat more traditional that Cobweb’s) believe that her career is “a cover for sex-kicks, or else a publicity stunt,” but her efforts seem sincere enough. Although one story claims that Cobweb first met Clarice when rescuing her from criminal circumstances, another depicts the two as having been children together, and in fact the rather flippant nature of “Tomorrow Stories” prevents any serious continuity from being established for most of the book’s characters. The general tone and nature of some of Cobweb’s stories, plus the intimate terms with which she and Clarice address each other (Clarice calls her by such names as “Gossamer One” and “Diaphanous One,” while Cobweb refers to Clarice as “my sweet” and remarks on how “radiant” she looks), suggest that the two are lesbians, but since the Cobweb series often satirizes the writing styles of earlier eras, it is unlikely that this will ever be anything but implied.
In the Greyshirt mini series, “Indigo Sunset” Cobweb and Greyshirt are shown to have a romantic/sexual relationship which happens with the knowledge of Cobweb’s chauffeuse Clarice. No definitive answer has been given to the length of this relationship or if it periodically recurs.
However, it has been stated that Cobweb and Clarice both have children together by parthogenesis (Google the term!) and follow their clan tradition of passing along their vigilante identities to their children, and returning to their ancestral home in Peru.
The Cobweb appears to be a skilled fighter and athlete. She first appeared in Tomorrow Stories #1.
Editor’s note: In the past several people have contacted me to tell me about the romantic/sexual relationship that happens between Cobweb and Greyshirt as shown in “Indigo Sunset” mini series, which I have not read. Their reasons were compelling and I believe sexuality is complicated. While creator Melinda Gebbie’s sapphic theme to the Cobweb mythos is readily apparent I’ve added “bisexual” and “pansexual” as tags.
The Cobweb is created by Alan Moore and Melinda Gebbie.
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