- Written by Jason Latour
- Art by Robbi Rodriguez
- Colours by Rico Renzi
- Letters & production by VC’s Clayton Cowles
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Last week the first issues of ‘Edge of the Spider-verse‘ (reviewed here!) bought us a story featuring an already established version of Spider-Man from various forms of media and brought him in to the continuity of the current ‘Superior Spider-Man‘ comics. This week the build up to Novembers ‘Spider-verse‘ story beings us a twist on a famous character from Spidey history… Gwen Stacy.
Modern fans of the hero might be less familiar with the character up until her including in the ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’ film franchise. I, for one, am more familiar with Mary Jane Watson due to the 90s cartoon series and the previous iteration of the film franchise but that’s to those more recent films I now count myself amongst the legions of Stacy fans.
Here Gwen is instantly thrust in to job of Spider-Woman after being bitten during practice with her band: The Mary Janes… yes we’re mixing up the female characters in the franchise and throwing them together.
Unlike last weeks issue #1 this issue doesn’t feature an appearance by either the ‘Spider-verse‘ villain of the Superior Spider-Man himself. Instead this is an entirely self contained story about the Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman which only ties in to the wider arc in its very final panel.
Gwen spends much of the story on the run from the authorities, including her father, due to her involvement in the death of Peter Parker. It’s a character defining moment for Spider-Woman but not one which is allowed too much time to be dwelled upon in just this one issue. This is just another glimpse at a Spider-character who is going to become important to the story further down the line.
There’s nothing standout about the story in this book although it’s not dull either. This is essentially a condensed origin story which quickly throws the character from spider-bit to fully fledged vigilantism. The story moves along at a fast pace throughout and I’ve no doubt that you’ll have read the issue in a matter of minutes and be craving more which is going to be exactly what Marvel wants to bring new fans in to the fold before the big event begins.
The most striking element of the story is the costume which appears exactly as featured on the above cover. On a side note could the front cover look any more like Emma Stone without being an actual portrait?
In fact the artwork far outweighs the story in this book. Rodriguez draws a colourful, kitschy story which is almost pop-artish in nature. It zips from panel to panel in a very colourful nature without every straying too far from the titular hero.
This issue is set firmly in the present day although not our universe but it’s clearly so close to the Earth that we know that no time is devoted to the environment in which Spider-Woman exists. Backgrounds are fairly plain but allow the focus to be on the characters and foreground elements at all times which is where the real beauty of the issue lies.
It’s not quite as exciting as last weeks ‘Edge of Spider-Man‘ #1 but still another great take on the hero who with a little development could play a pivotal role come November.
3 stars
