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moonpie's review against another edition
3.0
I like the IDEA of Spider-Gwen. I liked Greater Power way better than the last volume (although I see I gave that one three stars too -- take my word for it, I guess?) and there were parts of this volume that I really liked, but I haven't been hooked yet. Maybe if I were more of a Spider-Man fan it'd grab me faster.
thematinee's review against another edition
4.0
I could really be happy never leaving this level of the Marvel Multiverse. Samantha Wilson's Cap, Matt Murdock's compromised morals, and Gwen's all-around ass-kickery. Let's just make this place Earth One, shall we?
saeverra's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 for me - I liked this one, especially the scenes between Gwen and Harry
jagussow's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars. This is actually the 3rd Spider-Gwen volume ... She was introduced in the Spider-Verse storyline and then her next volume was numbered 0, for whatever reason. I feel inclined to say this, as if you pick this book up, thinking it a first chapter, you may not understand all the threads it picks up on. That said, this book, like Batgirl, is a breezy, fun read. A different artist had to draw the penultimate chapter in this book and I wasn't a fan of their style. Get it together Marvel.
fairywine's review against another edition
4.0
So, I remember basically taking a chance on Spider-Gwen: Volume 0 solely on the basis of “well it looks neat and I liked her in the Amazing Spider-Man movies. It was a chance that paid off, and I got a creative, feminist read with quite a lot of depth and character, especially for something that literally began because Spider-Gwen’s costume was so damn cool it earned her a chance at a series with that alone.
The real test of Spider-Gwen, Volume 1: Greater Power was if the series could maintain that quality and momentum. This one had a lot to juggle here: keeping up Gwen as a sympathetic, engaging lead, introducing new characters and backstory without it being info-dumpy, connecting how Spider-Gwen’s verse (Earth-65) relates and differs to the main Marvel-verse (616), developing the narrative without revealing too much or going too slow. And for the most part I feel it pulled it off.
Overall Latour does a good job balancing both the portrayal of Gwen’s personality, how that shifts slightly when she’s being Spider-Woman, and the conflict caused by trying to keep both sides of her life from bleeding into each other-often unsuccessfully. You see more about why she’s so guilt-ridden about Peter’s death, and given the context it’s very understandable why Gwen makes the choices she does. If they do slip up at times, it’s only when they’re trying to make her act more like Spider-Man, what with the quips and so on. The materials definitely at its strongest when Gwen’s being herself, not just “Spider-Man with boobs”.
I confess there were new elements that I liked quite a lot but also did have me kind of lost. For instance, Captain America in Earth-65 is an African-American woman. Now that’s awesome. But we get literally two pages on her backstory, and we don’t even learn her last name. It’s the same with Earth-65’s The Falcon, who is more like a classic teen sidekick here. I think I remember reading somewhere that he’s her opposite sex clone, and if that’s true it’s certainly not mentioned in the text. And Peggy Carter is this verse’s Nick Fury, eyepatch, longevity, and all.
Where I’m wobbling I guess on if someone familiar with Marvel comics would already know all this, as I’m not a terribly avid reader of them, or if they would be just as new to all this as I would. The lack of clarity wasn’t great, even if as I said I did really like these elements.
There’s also a bunch of plot threads that are clearly shaping up to be greater developing story arcs, and it was neat seeing those unfold. Matt Murdock (in this case not Daredevil and also evil?) has great interest in Spider-Woman, and given he figures out it’s Gwen in about three seconds, he’s clearly a force to be reckoned with. The police keep chasing after her, blaming her for the death of Peter Parker and being unaware of his brief time as The Lizard. Her old friend Harry Osborn, agent of SHIELD, returns to avenge Peter’s death against Spider-Woman. And apparently Gwen has a teleporter that allows her to go to the 616-verse any time, which allows for an appearance by Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman and a very tasteful, thoughtful discussion on the sad fate of 616-Gwen Stacy.
Overall it was really good and I’m looking forward to the next volume (or catching up on individual issues). It doesn’t quite rank a five star for the occasional shaky characterization moments, the times of narrative confusion, and the weird one-issue art shift that really didn’t match the story tone at all. But otherwise I thought it was a solid, enjoyable read, and one I’m going to be happy to be following from now on. Four-stars, and an unreserved recommendation to others wanting female centric superhero comics.
The real test of Spider-Gwen, Volume 1: Greater Power was if the series could maintain that quality and momentum. This one had a lot to juggle here: keeping up Gwen as a sympathetic, engaging lead, introducing new characters and backstory without it being info-dumpy, connecting how Spider-Gwen’s verse (Earth-65) relates and differs to the main Marvel-verse (616), developing the narrative without revealing too much or going too slow. And for the most part I feel it pulled it off.
Overall Latour does a good job balancing both the portrayal of Gwen’s personality, how that shifts slightly when she’s being Spider-Woman, and the conflict caused by trying to keep both sides of her life from bleeding into each other-often unsuccessfully. You see more about why she’s so guilt-ridden about Peter’s death, and given the context it’s very understandable why Gwen makes the choices she does. If they do slip up at times, it’s only when they’re trying to make her act more like Spider-Man, what with the quips and so on. The materials definitely at its strongest when Gwen’s being herself, not just “Spider-Man with boobs”.
I confess there were new elements that I liked quite a lot but also did have me kind of lost. For instance, Captain America in Earth-65 is an African-American woman. Now that’s awesome. But we get literally two pages on her backstory, and we don’t even learn her last name. It’s the same with Earth-65’s The Falcon, who is more like a classic teen sidekick here. I think I remember reading somewhere that he’s her opposite sex clone, and if that’s true it’s certainly not mentioned in the text. And Peggy Carter is this verse’s Nick Fury, eyepatch, longevity, and all.
Where I’m wobbling I guess on if someone familiar with Marvel comics would already know all this, as I’m not a terribly avid reader of them, or if they would be just as new to all this as I would. The lack of clarity wasn’t great, even if as I said I did really like these elements.
There’s also a bunch of plot threads that are clearly shaping up to be greater developing story arcs, and it was neat seeing those unfold. Matt Murdock (in this case not Daredevil and also evil?) has great interest in Spider-Woman, and given he figures out it’s Gwen in about three seconds, he’s clearly a force to be reckoned with. The police keep chasing after her, blaming her for the death of Peter Parker and being unaware of his brief time as The Lizard. Her old friend Harry Osborn, agent of SHIELD, returns to avenge Peter’s death against Spider-Woman. And apparently Gwen has a teleporter that allows her to go to the 616-verse any time, which allows for an appearance by Jessica Drew’s Spider-Woman and a very tasteful, thoughtful discussion on the sad fate of 616-Gwen Stacy.
Overall it was really good and I’m looking forward to the next volume (or catching up on individual issues). It doesn’t quite rank a five star for the occasional shaky characterization moments, the times of narrative confusion, and the weird one-issue art shift that really didn’t match the story tone at all. But otherwise I thought it was a solid, enjoyable read, and one I’m going to be happy to be following from now on. Four-stars, and an unreserved recommendation to others wanting female centric superhero comics.
chandraleereads's review against another edition
3.5
3.5/5 stars. I think I just wanted it to be a little more witty. It was still fun though.