We need some fun things to worry about, and Marvel yesterday provided us with teaser images and catchphrases.
There is nothing sacred…
Stay tuned for more information about Marvel Comics next week.
Art by Paco Medina and Molly Hollowel teases the revival of Gwen Stacy, one of the third rails of comics history.
Or is that possible?
Peter Parker’s first (and perhaps great) love, Gwen Stacy, famously died in Spider-Man #121 as Spidie fought the Green Goblin and fought Gwen who fell off the bridge. The actual cause of Gwen’s death remains unknown for 52 years after the sad event. As Brian Cronin points out in his research on the subject, *snap* suggests that the shock of Peter’s Webb catching her broke her neck, but the Green Goblins say it He claims that it was autumn itself that he did that. In the film version, it is clear that she is alive before Webbing makes her soooo much appearance.
Gwen’s death was the first truly shocking death in modern comics, one death the comic never reversed. Bucky was another difficult exception to the “comic book death is the final” rule until Ed Brubaker came up with his amazing revival as a winter soldier. Jean Gray… Ah, a man I don’t know either. My history of comic continuity has been vague since the 90s, so I’m not on top of who was dead the longest, but Gwen is dead and that’s what it is. And that’s what it should be.
Except of course other times she was teased for being alive. These include the following, according to screen rants: “It’s the temporary ghost spirit, the multifaceted superhero of a parallel world, or more recently, the fantasy figure of Peter Parker.”
Back in the real world, Spider-Man has acquired a new creative team in April, including current author Joe Kelly and new teammates John Romita Jr. and Pepe Lalaz. And in May someone is going to stand on Gwen’s grave with a shovel. Something that is convincing.
Anyway, this comes back to all my meditations about the characters that have been going on in the comics for a long time. It’s been 50 years since Gwen passed away… Those who picked it up on the newsstand are now approaching retirement. Peter Parker’s guilt over Uncle Ben’s death (although there are many large-money versions of him running around), and his grief over Gwen’s death, as the characters revisited and for the current audience This is a basic tradition that is revised over and over again. Every generation gets the right Gwen Stacy death. Some may be worried that the threatened revival of Gwen is coming at a constantly accelerated pace, but that is the world we live in.
In manga, death is really shocking… It also requires a shocking attempt at a revival. Teasing Gwen’s return, he’s a true shocker who’s been tested, so why not try another swing in 2025?
