Review: Spider-Gwen #1
Spider-Woman Gwen Stacy is a wanted woman. The public blames her for the death of Spider-Man and her father, police captain Stacy, is desperately trying to reach her as she’s taken to the shadows.
The Vulture has attacked a police officer and there’s lots of pressure from the mayor to have this criminal apprehended. Thanks to his public support of Spider-Woman, Captain Stacy is relieved of his position as the head of the special crimes tasked force, but will stay on in an advisory capacity. His replacement, Captain Frank Castle, is already interrogating Aleksei, the man who tried to kill Captain Stacy. Using more than his charm and direct questions, Castle gets a name: Kingpin.
Meanwhile, Gwen is trying to scrape by. She caught the Bodega Bandit, but was only able to retrieve 78cents of what was stolen. She returns it to the dollar store, but the owner has no reward for her and suspects Spider-Woman is in league with the bandit. Gwen cannot catch a break.
She secretly watches her former bandmates struggle without her. The Mary Janes are having terrible luck trying to replace Gwen as their drummer. Music reporter Randy Robertson suggests MJ swallow her pride and ask Gwen back, but she refuses, which causes another band member, Gloria, to quit.
The cops suspect former OSCORP employee Adrian Tomes is behind The Vulture attacks and Gwen vows to bring him in to clear Spider-Woman’s name. She leaves messages all over town, taunting him. It works, but when the two begin to fight, Gwen discovers she may be in over her head.
Overall Thoughts:
- Of the three post-Spider-Verse series, the artwork in Spider-Woman remains my favorite. But the work here is striking and reminds me of the video game Jet Set Radio. The lines and colors feel gritty.
- Aleksei named Kingpin, but wasn’t it someone named Murdoch (with shades on) who instructed him to kill Captain Stacy? My assumption was that he’s Daredevil.
- This new captain is clearly trouble. He interrogates with his fists.
- I like the use of Gwen’s cell phone in this issue: she constantly ignores calls from her father and his unanswered call is the last image we see as she plummets to the ground.
- We don’t get too much of Gwen’s personality in this issue, not as much as was shown in Silk and Spider-Woman, but it’s a pretty solid start so I’ll definitely continue with the series.
