Well, it might not have been what I wanted, but it wasn't terrible. Weird how that could apply to most comics these days.
But anyway, let's look at Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #3.
The Evil Gwen story is brought to an end, with Spider-Gwen finally confronting the grieving (and now mad) Gwen Stacy of this unnamed dimension. The thing Spider-Gwen has been searching for for three issues is finally realized, and she can finally rejoin all the other Spiders in last summer's Spider-Geddon for some end of maxi-series punching.
First off, I liked that they took three issues to tell this story. It could easily have been done in one, but I appreciated the space Seanan McGuire was given to give some flesh to the characters. I also liked even in this last issue, no one really comes off as totally wonderful. Spider-Gwen just wants this shit dealt with. Peter and MJ just want their Gwen back, and will manipulate Spider-Gwen to do just that. And even Evil Gwen, once cured, isn't all sweetness and light. When handing Spider-Gwen the goober that will allow her to return, she pricks her hand with it to get her DNA to trigger said goober. The following exchange really summed up the character interplay in this story:
Spider-Gwen: "Ow!"
Not Evil Gwen: "Sorry."
Spider Gwen: "You don't sound sorry."
Not Evil Gwen: "Oh, because I'm not."
This was a story about loss and fear, both with Peter and MJ's concern for their Gwen and having lost that dimension's Spider-Man, and with Spider-Gwen's fear for her friends. It's also telling that when MJ got her Gwen back, she hugged her. When Spider-Gwen was hugged by Peter for agreeing to help, she didn't like it. It's interesting how even the most common expression of warmth sets Spider-Gwen off.
The art was also okay, but did look rushed in places. Lack of detail in some panels gave things an emptiness that felt distracting. The colorist employed full colour blocks to hide this lack of detail, and was used way too much. I did like the New York night time scenes as Spider-Gwen and MJ swing across the city--some nice light effects were employed there, which I enjoyed. But overall the book felt like it needed just a couple of more weeks.
The cover art was good, and it might be nice to see this artist tackle an entire issue.
So, as I said, it might not have been what I wanted, but it wasn't terrible. But even with a good writer, this comic showed the rushed approach I see too much in Marvel Comics these days. Maybe this whole idea of monthly comics needs to be scrapped, but that's a discussion for another day. At least it was a decent read.
No comments:
Post a Comment