Gwen Stacy #1 was released on Feb. 12, 2020. — **Gwen Stacy #1** was released on Feb. 12, 2020.

By Zack Quaintance — Since reading Gwen Stacy #1, I’ve been torn about how broad this book’s appeal is. It is, essentially, a prequel to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s Amazing Fantasy #15 / Amazing Spider-Man #1, way back in the 1960s, and it’s a prequel that centers on Gwen Stacy, a character who as the backmatter for this book notes did not appear in Spider-Man’s world until Amazing Spider-Man #31 (crazy, right?).

Common sense dictates that the audience for this comic is a bit narrow, to put it mildly. At the same time, however, I also know that the fanbase for Spider-Man, especially the early days of the character, is a dedicated and ravenous one. For example, on this very blog, we had a post that sort of looked back at Amazing Spider-Man #1, running through its plot and talking about the differences between that launch issue and what superhero comics would later evolve into. It’s a fine post, but, mysteriously, it somehow continues to do quite well on our site analytics, with readers presumably coming to it by googling classic Spider-Man comics.

So, now as I work to evaluate this comic, I’m keeping that sustained and almost obsessive level of interest in mind. All that said, I think you have to evaluate Gwen Stacy #1 on two fronts, first through its value to those long-time fans of the franchise, and second to potential newer readers who have seen the Spider-Man films and waded into comics, albeit not as completely as those who know every Ditko-drawn panel from the early days.

The comic itself — which is written by Christos Gage, illustrated by Todd Nauck, colored by Rachelle Rosenberg, and lettered by Joe Caramagna — feels acutely aware that it will have this dichotomy of audience. I’m just not entirely sure that it succeeds on either front. If you evaluate this story entirely separate from the Spider-Man mythos, it feels subdued and a bit plodding. Gwen is running for class president, and just sort of generally managing life in New York City as the daughter of a prominent police captain who gets pulled into a conflict with organized crime that also involves police corruption. There is much solid narrative material there, but it all feels hemmed in by having to also accommodate the latter audience as well as this story’s place within continuity. If you’re a new curious comics reader — or someone who fell in love with Spider-Gwen / Ghost-Spider — I suspect this may all feel just a bit duller than is ideal.

Gwen Stacy #1, however, does a much better job of catering to the reader who has read early Spider-Man comics several times. There are plenty of inside references and callbacks ( callforwards?) to those stories, and the whole thing feels like a great expansion of the early Spider-Man world. The only issue I see for that crowd is that it’s really hard to place this story in time. Obviously, the first Spider-Man books were heavily rooted in the ‘60s, and this comic can’t quite be that, lest it make it evident that Peter Parker is currently an octogenarian or getting close. But it can’t quite root itself firmly in the modern day either. The result is that setting for this story has a Billy Pilgrim from Slaughterhouse Five thing going on — it’s unstuck in time.

Overall: Gwen Stacy #1 tries to appeal to both new fans of the character’s Ghost-Spider iteration as well as long-time readers who know the early Stan Lee and Steve Ditko comics inside and out. It’s an inherently tough line to straddle, but the book does an admirable job. 6.5/10

Gwen Stacy #1
Writer: Christos Gage
Artist: Todd Nauck
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $4.99
Solicit: The First of Gwen Stacy's AMAZING Adventures!
Gwen and Peter may not have met until AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #31, but that doesn't mean Gwen's life began on that page. Learn the never-before told origin of Gwen Stacy, top of her class, daughter of the Police Captain and, as her friend Harry Osborn calls her, "The Beauty Queen of Standard High." But she's way more that you even know! Gwen's got a science brain, a nose for trouble and a no-quit attitude that always gets her in trouble. In the early Marvel Universe, that's a recipe for disaster. Don't miss Gwen, Captain Stacy, Harry and Norman Osborn, Crimemaster, Wilson Fisk, Jean DeWolff, Yuri Wantanabe and even Spider-Man!

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.