Spider-Gwen #1

by Tori B. on February 25, 2015

Here it is folks, after her explosive debut in Edge of Spider-Verse, Gwen Stacy’s popularity has skyrocketed and has landed her own series as Spider-Gwen. And she’s here to prove that she’s not going anywhere.

Writer: Jason Latour
Artist: Robbi Rodriguez
Colours: Rico Renzi
Letters: Clayton Cowles
Cover Art: Robbi Rodriguez
Publisher: Marvel

THIS.

This is EXACTLY what comics should be about and because of the sheer support, dedication, and love that has gone into Spider-Gwen, this series on its debut issue proves that it’s not merely a gimmicky series; Gwen Stacy has strength and is going to stick around for a very long time if we have anything to say about it.

Gwen Stacy captured our hearts in Edge of Spider-Verse #2 and her creative team is not one to be reckoned with. Not even reading Spider-Gwen yet, just looking at its pages overall it’s easy to see that everyone involved in this series’ creation took it to their a-game. Stylistically speaking it’s one of the most stylish series Marvel has out right now. Robbie Rodriguez has some amazing character design happening and it’s one of the reasons Spider-Gwen attracted the attention of so many. In addition there’s some very bold colouring from Rico Renzi (which is how this girl loves her comic colours) and wicked sound effect lettering from Clayton Cowles, all together this series is gong to an amazing bit of eye candy. It’s incredibly engaging and amazing to look at.

Luckily for us Spider-Gwen is more than just a visual joy ride. Jason Latour clearly wants the best for Gwen just us much as we do (okay maybe even a little more— he did give her life after all) but her story is cleverly crafted and Gwen Stacy remains to be a dynamic character. She has cool spider powers and can effectively kick villainy butt, but she still’s trying to learn how to balance that with the rest of her life or if she can at all. Her band, ‘The Mary Janes’ seem to be struggling with her just as much as she seems to be missing them but she has a whole city to look after (and to prove herself too). Not to mention her dad happens to be a police captain. Now that she’s made a rather infamous name for herself it’s also made her a target for some bad guys.

This is where Spider-Gwen gets REALLY interesting. It’s a new Marvel sandbox to play in essentially. Seeing as this is a universe we’ve never seen before literally ANYTHING can happen and it’s already beginning and it’s so intriguing. Matt Murdock made an appearance in Edge of Spider-Verse and Kingpin got a namedrop, this time around Foggy Nelson makes and appearance as well as a surprise (but not unwelcome!) name  for another police captain we’ll see.

So Gwen is on the tail of a new menace to New York, The Vulture, and while most of New York seems to think she’s in cahoots with The Vulture, she’s out to bring him down and prove once and for all she’s the good guy in all this. Whether she succeeds or not is up to the next issue but let it be said what she does accomplish, she does it in style.

Based on Spider-Gwen’s major success and fans’ determination for more, the creative team behind it all has clearly put their all in one of the more entertaining series to date. It’s humourous yet still with dramatic story and action, along with it’s bright colours and overall distinct comic style makes for a remarkably pleasurable read.

for extra enjoyability colourist rico renzi put together a playlist to jam to, to get into full spider-gwen mode

Our Score:

10/10

A Look Inside