I was a little troubled by how little I've been enjoying Marvel Comics of late. I've been hearing a lot of people on YouTube talking about 'the decline of Marvel', and I was chalking that up to Internet Gotta Bitch, but....maybe there's some truth in that. There really is a definite slide in quality with many of the books I've read.
Domino, Uncanny X-Men, X-23...all of these recent issues have been somewhat lacking, in terms of art and in slapdash storytelling. And so I'm relieved to find a Marvel book that I found little to complain about.
I've enjoyed Seanan McGuire's Rosemary and Rue, an urban fantasy novel about a faerie private detective. Yes, that may make you roll your eyes, but I found it to be a good story about loss, suffering, and modern day magic that didn't make me roll my eyes. She is a very good writer, and when I heard she was on Spider-Gwen, I wondered if she could make the transition to comic writing. Not every writer can--it's a different format, akin to writing a screenplay, and you have to shift gears. Sometimes ego doesn't allow for that, or an editor won't step in with a much needed red pencil. (I am--believe it or not--a playwright, with one show to my credit. I can attest to how difficult it can be.)
Anyway.
I needn't have worried.
This issue ties in with last summer's Spider-Geddon event, with Gwen having been dropped into yet another alternate dimension after a battle with the Inheritors. Desperate to get back to her friends, she runs into this dimension's version of the Green Goblin, and later, a very hurt and desperate Peter Parker.
She doesn't get on with either of them. She fights Goblin, and when she meets Peter, has to impatiently endure his tragic retelling of the origin story of this dimension's Spider-Man and Goblin. Gwen's anger is barely hidden, and her feelings towards Peter turn hostile when he begins to manipulate her to help save the Goblin, who--this being comic books--is of course this dimension's Gwen Stacy.
Neither Gwen or Peter come off well in this exchange. Both of them are worried about loved ones, and are short with one another. If there is nobility here, it's buried deep. Gwen may be a hero, but she is not always heroic. When Gwen hears of the selfish reason Goblin Gwen became a hero, she can see that selfishness in herself.
It's a good story, with no real promise of a happy ending. Had this been any other Marvel comic, I would assume everything wraps up perfectly in the next issue, but this is Seanan McGuire, and I'm not sure she really believes in happy endings.
My only issue with the story would be the art looking a little rough, but the page composition and storytelling are well done. I also think Marvel should stop trying to re-brand Spider Gwen as 'Ghost Spider' or what other generic name they think suits her better. Spider-Gwen is both a nod to Spider-Man's history, and it's just kinda stupid, which makes it the perfect comic book hero name.
It's an issue that deals with a lot of characters reacting to crisis, with everyone being real shitty to everyone else. In this age of Marvel characters either just shouting or making pop culture comments, it was very refreshing.
I'm curious to see how this story wraps up.
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