Spider-Women (2016)

Today I’m staying home for all the pharmacists working right now.

Chronologically, this story comes before volume 2 of Spider-Gwen, a crossover between the titular parallel-Earth webslinger and her fellow Spider-Women Jessica Drew and Cindy Moon. This team-up offers some nice character exploration, good parallel-world hijinks, and plenty of cool action.

At some point, I’m probably going to have to go back and read the original Spider-Verse story, because I’m guessing that’s where Gwen met compatriots Jessica and Cindy (and I assume it’s also where she got the handy-dandy world-hopping device that she uses here to keep in touch with them.) Anyway, this story finds the ladies hanging out on Gwen’s Earth when they’re caught up in an unwelcome evil plot. Not only is Gwen’s world-hopping device stolen, meaning new mom Jessica can’t get back home to her baby, they also find themselves crossing paths with a mysterious villain who has it in for them big time.

I know that I say this whenever I write about Spider-Gwen, but I’m still loving everything about her comic being set on a parallel Earth. The differences between Earth-65 and Marvel’s main universe, Earth-616, are magnified even more here thanks to the presence of Earth-616’s Cindy and Jessica, because the question obviously comes up of what their counterparts on this Earth might be doing. Between the two worlds, we also get some Reed Richards, Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird, and J. Jonah Jameson action!

For all that this is a neat crossover featuring parallel-world shenanigans, it also digs into the characters of all three Spider-Women. Gwen is of course the one I know the best so far, and here we see her continuing journey from the last volume of her comic. But more than just Gwen’s own ongoing struggles, we also see her life through Jessica and Cindy’s eyes, which puts a different spin on things.

All I really knew of Jessica Drew going into this story was a vague awareness of her name, so she’s pretty brand-new to me. Being a superhero who’s also a new mom naturally offers interesting angles to explore, and the dynamic between the more experienced Jessica and the newer Gwen and Cindy is interesting too – Jessica has the track record to give advice on battle strategies as well as the more personal aspects of dealing with superhero life. And while I previously met Cindy Moon a.k.a. Silk in some of the Totally Awesome Hulk team-up stories, either those comics skated over most of her origin story or I just didn’t really pick up on it, because I got a lot of new Cindy information here, foundational stuff that informs her character hugely (and makes her visit to a parallel Earth even more of a headtrip for her.) I might be interested in checking out Silk sometime.

I’m also glad that, even though this volume isn’t specifically under the Spider-Gwen title, I still picked it up at its proper point in Gwen’s chronology because this crossover looks like it’ll have ramifications for Gwen going forward. I wouldn’t want to read her next volume and be scratching my head at the new developments!

Spider-Gwen, Vol. 1: Greater Power (2016)

Settling into Spider-Gwen now, after my initial Edge of Spider-verse introduction and more through crash course in Vol. 0. I continue to enjoy it, even as it continues to kind of defy what my brain expects it to be.

Just as Gwen is starting to get into a rhythm of balancing her regular life with her superhero life, she’s thrown for a hard loop from her past. There’s talk of a giant Lizard in the city, which pulls Gwen into her memories and guilt over Peter Parker’s death. The Lizard mutagen isn’t the only specter from her past to reemerge, and she wrestles with all of it. Meanwhile, her dad wrestles with being shut out of the investigation into Spider-Woman.

In Vol. 0, I liked the neat angle brought out by this comic being set in a parallel universe, and if anything, it gets even better here. Tweaked characters we saw last time continue to intrigue, and new ones pop up in uniquely-Spider-Gwen forms. So far, I’m getting the biggest kicks out of their versions of Matt Murdock and Captain America. And of course, the time devoted to Gwen’s past means more twists on the traditional Spider-Man mythos.

I also like that Gwen is really kind of a mess. She’s hounded by guilt and haunted by trauma, both of which gnaw at her as she also tries to protect the city from baddies while simultaneously evade the law-enforcement crusade against her. She very much doesn’t have all the answers, and she handles things badly. She gets in over her head, she lets her friends down, and she fumbles when faced with a major twist in the middle of a fight. But despite how hard she keeps getting hit, she refuses to go down, scrabbling ahead by sheer force of will.

And even though Gwen can be cynical and surly, and even though the ghosts of her past have made her withdraw quite a bit, she still manages to maintain a belief in basic human dignity. When she encounters Captain America in the field, even knowing she’s been labeled a wanted fugitive, Gwen stands her ground and defends her actions, relying on Cap to recognize the good in her. There’s something admirable about that.

Capt. Stacy has some good stuff in this volume too. He was in no way prepared for the world he’s been dragged into, but he’s doing his best to roll with the punches, examining the evidence as it is, no matter how wild and bizarre it might seem. As a quintessential honest cop in a city that can be anything but, he’s working to uphold his integrity while doing what he can to protect his daughter.

Spider-Gwen, Vol. 0: Most Wanted? (2015)

Into the Spider-Verse was the push I needed to loop back around and check out Spider-Gwen proper.  Having now checked out the introductory volume of the comic, I realize I’ll need to backtrack again at some point (the Edge of Spider-Verse comic that debuted Spider-Gwen is the jumping-off point for their parallel-worlds spider-team-up but doesn’t actually show their adventure together,) but I’ve at least got a better look at the character herself and the particular New York she inhabits.

Gwen Stacy, the against-her-best-efforts-infamous Spider-Woman, is still reeling from the death of her close friend Peter Parker, which she was mistakenly blamed for.  As the police hunt for her, her father – a police captain who knows her secret – does his best to protect her without condoning her vigilante work.  But of course, it’s not enough for Gwen to have enemies on just one side of thee law; she’s attracted the attention of Kingpin, who sics the Vulture on her.

This comic feels like it’s still figuring itself out, but it makes a good start here.  I like that it has some edge and angst to it.  Gwen’s personal life is a total mess – her relationship with her dad is strained, she’s been alienating her friends, and she’s plagued with guilt over the constant reminders she sees of Peter’s death, even though it wasn’t her fault.  (Side note:  I also didn’t expect Gwen Stacy to swear so much – comic-book symbol bleeps, but still.)  We only got Gwen’s origin story in quick flashes, and so we’ve pretty much gone straight to “being a superhero puts the weight of the world on your shoulders and can really mess you up.”

But, like Into the Spider-Verse proves, no matter how different they are, all spider-people have the same heart.  And so, Gwen keeps fighting the good fight.  Even when she’s not sure if she can, that doesn’t stop her from trying.  The police are out to get her, the media is painting her as a dangerous menace (J. Jonah Jameson, it seems, is a muckraking dick on every Earth,) and she has villains banging down her door.  But Gwen is a hero, and so she leans into the storm, regardless of the danger to herself.

Luckily, she’s not going it entirely alone.  The ongoing storyline with her dad is a pretty good one, a classic “I don’t love what you’re doing, but I love you and I’ll be damned if anyone hurts you on my watch” dynamic.  It’s an easy bet that their relationship is going to be central to the comic, and it’ll be interesting to see how they both continue to navigate this change in their understanding of each other.  Plus, Gwen gets a little extra moral support from the memory of a fellow spider-friend (further reason to check out the spider-verse team-up comic!)

As I was reading, I had to remind myself that it’s set in a parallel Earth beyond the whole “Gwen Stacy is the one who got bitten by the radioactive spider” thing.  In other words, that’s not the only aspect that’s different.  This volume starts playing with that, with appearances from some familiar comic-book characters in unexpected ways.  That’s definitely something I look forward to seeing more of in future installments.

Oh yeah, and her suit is amazing.  Peter Parker’s spider suit is iconic, but Gwen’s is gorgeous.  I love it so hard.