What would happen if it was Gwen Stacy that was bitten by that radioactive spider instead of Peter Parker? That is what we find out in Edge of Spider-Verse #2.
Gwen Stacy is the drummer for a band called The Mary Janes. Their lead singer, of course, is Mary Jane Watson. I first knew that I would love this book when writer Jason Latour managed to turn her famous words to Peter Parker into the lyrics of a song they are playing at the beginning. The similarities between our Peter Parker and this Gwen Stacy don’t stop there. A quick flashback shows us how she got her powers and what happened that propelled her into being a hero. She has her own “Uncle Ben” moment, but you might be surprised to see who it was that died.
The magic of this story is that it has various different elements that converge into something special. Being a stand alone story, aside from whatever happens in Spider-Verse, it feels a bit rushed, but that doesn’t detract from the enjoyment.
Jason Latour does a masterful job of creating a script that tickles our memories of Spider-Man and the things that make him great and grafts them onto the young, female form of Gwen Stacy. However, she is not just a clone (sorry, poor choice of words), but is her own person. The touches that Latour throws in are there to make this story seem familiar while also charting it’s own path. It’s a difficult thing to do, but when it is done well it is a tasty morsel.
As much responsibility is on the writer to craft a character, it can all be torn down by horrible design work. Thankfully, that does not happen here. Robbi Rodriguez, with more than just a helping hand from Rico Renzi on colors, gives us a visual treat. The youthful feel of this book isn’t restricted to just the way the characters talk, but the way the world itself is presented. None of that is put to better use than with the Spider-Woman costume itself. It actually reminded me of Ben Reilly’s outfit with the spider sweatshirt over tights, but whereas that one is all kinds of wrong, this one manages to get it right. It’s mostly white and black with purple highlights in the hood and blue webbing and shoes. It is a beautiful design and actually makes perfect sense with the way Gwen is written.
I’m really looking forward to seeing more of her in Spider-Verse, but I have a feeling we will be seeing her beyond then. From what I’m hearing sales numbers are really strong and Marvel isn’t one to waste a good thing.
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