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.