Gwen Stacy’s Return From The Dead Has No Right To Be This Good

Gwen Stacy has somehow become one of Marvel’s most controversial characters, and it’s absolutely baffling how they’ve chosen to handle her. Originally, she was just Spider-Man’s girlfriend, and unfortunately became the biggest source of guilt for Peter when the Green Goblin tossed her off the bridge. Her death is called the definitive end to the Silver Age of comics, signalling a shift to the much darker topics of the Bronze Age. However, Marvel has never been content to let sleeping dogs lie, nor a quiet grave. Throughout the decades, Marvel has repeatedly and consistently beaten Spider-Man and his fans over the head with reminders that Gwen was Peter’s one and only love, and how much her death hurt him. 

Every couple of years, some villain or reality warper or embodiment of death will drag Gwen Stacy back into Spider-Man’s life in some convoluted and ephemeral way. She’ll dig the knife of her death even deeper into Peter’s heart. Either metaphorically with the awful “Sin’s Past” storyline, or occasionally more literally, as her most recent return in Marvel’s Gwenpool will no doubt show.

As of the new Gwenpool #1, instead of simply being content with her memory or her spirit, Marvel has dragged Gwen Stacy back to the world of the living for real, but she’s not the sassy yet compassionate girl fans remember. Now she’s a Deadpool and Wolverine fusion knock-off, equipped with a healing factor, her own sword-length Adamantium claws, and an edgy attitude that is straight out of the ’90s. By all rights, everyone should hate this comic’s premise as much as every other time Marvel forces Gwen Stacy into a story, and yet despite everything I think I kind of like it.

Gwenpool Actually has a Cool Opening Issue

The first issue kicks off with Gwen brutally dispatching three secret agents her boss, the mysterious Architect, sent to test her. She shows off her new powers and worse attitude, seeming to delight in their death. After, she is sent to take down three escaped Deathloks as her final mission before stepping into the grander Marvel Universe. Those Deathloks have beelined it to New York City, like all Marvel villains do, which is currently about to be destroyed by the alien, dragon tyrant Fin Fang Foom. Foom has taken down every hero and team available, up to and including the Avengers, leaving only Spider-Man, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), and Jeff the Land Shark as its defenders against a dragon that has taken down Thor.

[RELATED: Marvel’s Ultimate Gwen Stacy Is Almost Unrecognizable]

Everything seems lost, until the original Gwenpool herself shows up as the cavalry. She uses her fourth-wall breaking power to hop between the comic panels, lying in wait in the white space until there’s a wider shot of Foom, which draws him as much smaller. Gwendolyne Poole literally kicks the alien dragon back to orbit, saving the day from him. But something is still very wrong: Pete’s Spidey-Sense keeps going off to a nuclear level, and the tone of the comic changes from Gwenpool-style fun to dark and grim. People are beating each other up in the streets, and the Deathloks take the chance to try and gun down the three last-standing heroes, saying the “Great Reboot” is upon them.

Gwenpool is stunned by the grittiness, saying that kind of thing doesn’t happen in her comics. Her powers typically prevent that kind of tone, but suddenly, that’s clearly not the case. And just when the heroes are done for, the all-new, uber-violent Gwen Stacy shows up and snipes down the three rogue villains. Then, she sets her sights on the others, with Spider-Man ripping off her mask to reveal Gwen Stacy, who demands that nobody ever call her Gwenpool.

Gwenpool is the Best Kind of Irreverent Fun

As much as I wanted to hate this issue going in, I couldn’t help but enjoy myself. It’s the usual dumb fun and sheer comic book love that’s typical of a Gwenpool book, along with a legitimately shocking tonal shift that somehow doesn’t clash. Gwen Stacy is literally the dark version of Gwenpool, a killer who is exactly what fans who don’t know about Gwenpool think she is, and is the living embodiment of ’90s edgy comic bullcrap. Its plot is a stupid PR move and it knows that, and instead of trying to convince you it’s not, the comic revels in its weird setting and thrives on it.

Gwenpool was a legitimately fun read, and despite how much I hate the idea of dragging Gwen Stacy back as a monster who is definitely only going to hurt Peter Parker emotionally, I’m actually looking forward to the next one. I want to know who the Architect is, and I want to see more of the over the top violence that Gwen is dishing out on her pink-and-white clad counterpart. It’s dumb and I kind of love it! I hate the idea so much, but the execution is kind of sick. Somehow, this comic has convinced me to come back for the next issue. It is far from perfect, but it is exactly the right kind of exciting that it needs to be.

I still think Gwen Stacy should stay dead though.

Gwenpool #1 is on sale now!