Gwen Stacy
Attributes
| Eyes: | Blue |
| Features: | Visually Attractive |
| Hair: | Blond |
| Height: | 5'7" |
| Weight: | 130 lbs |
Powers
| Abilities: | Former beauty queen, model, danced well |
| Equipment: | Black head band |
| Limitations: | Cannot survive falls from high places |
| Powers: | Irresistible to Peter Parker and Professor Miles Warren (the Jackal)...and Kraven...and Norman Osborn... |
| Strength Level: | Normal human |
| Weapons: | She could give a nice smack in the face |
Summary
| Citizenship: | U.S.A. |
| Created By: | |
| Current Aliases: | None, she's passed on |
| Current Groups: | The choir invisible |
| Current Occupation: | deceased |
| Education: | College educated, did not live to graduate |
| Former Aliases: | Gwendy |
| Former Bases: | New York, New York |
| Former Occupation: | Student, model |
| Known Allies: | Spider-Man |
| Known Confidants: | George Stacy, Peter Parker |
| Known Relatives: | George Stacy (father), Helen (mother), Arthur Stacy (uncle), Nancy Stacy (aunt), Paul and Jill Stacy (cousins) |
| Legal Status: | Deceased |
| Major Enemies: | Green Goblin I, Jackal, Kraven the Hunter |
| Marital Status: | Single |
| Place of Birth: | presumed to be New York City, USA |
| Real Name: | Gwendolyne Stacy |
| Usual Bases: | Heaven |
Background
”Shadow of the Goblin”
Still in high school, Gwen was hanging out with Harry at his house. She was worried about her mother’s poor health and Harry consoled her. They were interrupted by Norman Osborn, who pretended to be sympathetic to her. Harry thanked his father for being kind and Norman replied that he wasn’t talking to him. Harry took Gwen to a party of a former classmate of his and he left her alone. She was approached by Sterling Bock, a member of a wealthy family. She declined him several times until he grabbed her and she told him her father was a cop. Her dad had taught her self defense and she knocked Sterling into the food table. The party goers applauded her, just before the party was interrupted by the Proto-Goblin.
They tried to run but Harry was grabbed by the creature and carried away. Harry was saved by a very young Spider-Man and made his way to the street. Gwen showed up while calling the police as Proto Goblin beat the stuffing out of Spider-Man. The police arrived and Goblin fled. (Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1)
On Peter's first day as a student at Empire State University, he was worry about his Aunt May's latest medical problems and unwitting ignored Flash Thompson, who had just been introduced to Gwen by Harry Osborn. Flash and Harry saw Peter as stuck up but Gwen was sure than there was more to Peter than they knew. Plus, she liked that he had won a scholarship to E.S.U. and found him to be attractive. (Amazing Spider-Man #31) She grew to see him as a challenge, as he kept brushing her off, either to pay attention to his classroom experiments or to see his aunt. Peter blamed the "Parker Luck" when Harry told him he was about as popular as Mao Tse-tung, realizing that he had been giving them the cold shoulder. (Amazing Spider-Man #34) Gwen became even more disgusted with him after he blew off another girl who invited him to a party, suddenly saying that he would be busy that night. (Amazing Spider-Man #36)
Her opinion of him did not improve when they crossed paths at a space exhibit, which was crashed by the Looter. Peter took off to change to Spider-Man when the thug arrived and Gwen mistook him for a coward. Looter escaped and the next day, Flash invited Peter to throw a football around until the rest of his pals showed up. Peter sarcastically replied that he could out throw Flash, which Gwen thought was hysterical. A few days later, Peter offered to walk to class with Gwen who asked him if he was slumming. He called her an icicle and she turned to slap him, but he caught her hand. Flash tried to come to Gwen's "rescue" and she told him not to bother with Peter. Internally, she realized that Peter wasn't the least bit afraid of Flash. (Amazing Spider-Man #37)
Things began to thaw between Peter and Gwen and her friends when he started chatting with Harry. He was depressed that his father, Norman Osborn, had been taking out his frustrations with his business on him. Flash and Gwen noticed Peter and Harry talking and slowly began to consider him to be better than they had first thought. (Amazing Spider-Man #39) She soon invited him to a party which he first accepted and then turned down, as he had promised to meet Mary Jane Watson on that night. Flash made a joke at his expense and Gwen called Flash "fatuous," a word he didn't understand. (Amazing Spider-Man #42)
Peter went to get a bite to eat at the Silver Spoon and ran into Flash, Gwen and Harry. Pete had missed class that day (he was fighting the Lizard) and Gwen offered to help him review what he missed. Mary Jane then showed up and persuaded Peter to go with her to a place she knew of with a band. A jealous Gwen told Flash to stop breathing on her. Perhaps to prove that she wasn't just a bookworm, Gwen went out dancing with Harry and Flash a few days later. (Amazing Spider-Man #46) She continued to try and upstage Mary Jane, dancing at Flash's going away party (Amazing Spider-Man #47) and wearing her hair like MJ. (Amazing Spider-Man #48)
They finally stopped talking around the issue and went on a "date" (to a science expo) with Professor Miles Warren. The exhibition involved the unveiling of a device called the "nullifier," which was hoped could destroy enemy nuclear missiles in case of a world war. The expo was interrupted by Otto Octavius, who tried to steal the nullifier and sell it to an enemy country. He hoped that the money could be used to rebuild his criminal empire. Octavius escaped without the device and Peter made up a story about getting his camera to get pictures of the fight. Peter and Gwen were then dropped off at the Coffee Bean by Dr. Warren and Peter left her with the others while he went after Octopus. (Amazing Spider-Man #53)
After Octavius became a boarder at May's home, a fight with Spider-Man left a gaping hole in a wall. MJ and Gwen arrived to offer support . (Amazing Spider-Man #55) Gwen and Harry also stopped by the hospital to see Aunt May after she fainted during the Ock/Spider-Man fight at her home. They worried that Peter was hurt or worse, as he couldn't be found. (He had been kidnapped by Dr. Octopus.) (Amazing Spider-Man #58) Gwen and Peter were reunited after the police interrogated him regarding his kidnapping by Octavius, an interrogation led by Gwen's father, George Stacy. To celebrate his safe return, Gwen took Peter to the Gloom Room a Go-Go, where MJ was performing. Little did they know but the establishment was owned by Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin. He was luring patrons into a back room and using a machine to brainwash them into following his orders. Captain Stacy was one of his victims and Peter later went to ask Mr. Stacy what happened in the back room. The captain, under mind control, told him to butt out and even tried to attack the teenager. Peter accidentally knocked the old man over, just as Gwen walked into the room. George claimed that Peter attacked him and Gwen threw him out. Things got worse when Peter, as Spider-Man, took pictures for the Daily Bugle of Captain Stacy stealing confidential police records from the police archives. (Amazing Spider-Man #60)
Gwen confronted her father with the pictures in the newspaper and she decided to get him out of New York to protect him. They were found at the airport by Kingpin's thugs, who took them to Osborn Industries, where Fisk and the brainwashing device were being hidden. George was about to be brainwashed again when he and Gwen were rescued by Spider-Man and Norman Osborn. (Amazing Spider-Man #61) In a few days, George's memory fully returned and he told Gwen that Peter hadn't attacked him as he had said. Going for a walk, Gwen and her father noticed a commotion at the top of the Daily Bugle. Betty Brant and Ned Leeds were there and told Gwen that Spider-Man was fighting the Vulture. Worse, J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson and Peter were close to the battle, covering the story. The Vulture escaped, leaving an unconscious Spider-Man on the street with the crowd wanting to unmask him. (Amazing Spider-Man #64)
Captain Stacy stopped them and Gwen went looking for Peter in the wreckage on the roof. Naturally, she didn't find him there and worried what could have happened to him. She finally caught up with him and told him that she forgave him for the misunderstanding with her father. (Amazing Spider-Man #66) Things didn't stay cozy between them for long, as Gwen became bothered by the fact that Peter always seemed to disappear when there was trouble. Even when it came time to join a protest for cheaper student housing, Peter was nowhere to be found. He couldn't answer her, because the reason he always ran off during trouble was because he was going to change into Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man #69)
Gwen seemed to forget about Peter's "cowardice" after the Shocker assaulted her father at their home. The criminal came for the tablet of time, the same relic that the Kingpin had sought to posses. Gwen witnessed the thug escaping and later told Peter "I've never seen anyone as menacing as the Shocker!" She began warming to Peter again, until they met Flash at a soda shop. He was on furlough from the army and was acting like his regular obnoxious self, which Peter took offense to. Gwen had to stop the two before a fight broke out and told Peter "For a boy whose always missing when there's any trouble, its strange how hostile you can be to a man whose been in combat!" (Amazing Spider-Man #72) Oddly, she tells Harry to act like a friend to Peter after he brushes Harry off. (Amazing Spider-Man #74)
She began to suspect that Peter was seeing another woman due to his constant disappearances and broken dates. He promised that he would never betray her like that and she wanted to know what his secret was that always kept them apart. He said he wanted to tell her but that it wasn't the time or place. There was something he had to do and hopefully, if it turned out alright, he would tell her. Gwen agreed to wait. (Amazing Spider-Man #76)
After apprehending the Lizard with the help of the Human Torch (Amazing Spider-Man #77), Peter tried to call Gwen but she told him she couldn't make it. She didn't give a reason and Peter didn't suspect anything....until he passed a coffee shop and saw Gwen and Flash together. He assumed they were seeing each other but they were actually discussing him and his tendency to disappear suddenly. Later, she asked if anything was wrong and he told her to go talk about it with Flash. (Amazing Spider-Man #79) Flash later explained to him what was going on and Peter and Gwen reconciled by going to the Midtown Museum. Captain Stacy was seen there, heading for the private viewing room. A woman soon cried out that the paintings had been stolen right out of the frames. After JJJ took Peter and Gwen home, they found the captain in a state of confusion, not knowing he had been seen at the museum. Peter later realized that the thief must have been the Chameleon, which explained why his spider sense went off when "Captain Stacy" passed them at the museum. (Amazing Spider-Man #80)
After seeing Flash off to the airport on his way back to Vietnam, Peter and Gwen were involved in a random car accident. A truck was sideswiped by a speeding car, which made the truck collapse on top of them. Peter shoved Gwen out of the way, accidentally making her hit her head on the concrete and get knocked out. His spider strength kept the truck from crushing them but he bent a nearby parking meter so that it looked like it took the brunt of the crash. Peter realized that the car had sideswiped the truck on purpose and left a spider tracer on its back bumper. Gwen went to the hospital and Spider-Man followed the car to its hideout. There he found the Schemer, who was trying to overthrow the Kingpin. After the thugs were captured, Peter went to see Gwen in the hospital, whom threw him out for not being at her side sooner. (Amazing Spider-Man #83)
Some time later, Gwen and her father stopped by Peter's apartment, curious how he always got such candid pictures of Spider-Man when no one else could get close to him. Peter claimed it was luck and Captain Stacy was doubtful of that. Peter changed the subject and said he had photos developing in his dark room and he needed to check on them. While he was out of the room, he changed into Spider-Man and crawled out of the dark room window and around to the living room window. Spider-Man claimed to be looking for Peter, as he hadn't been splitting the money from the photos as "they" had agreed to. Gwen told Spider-Man that Peter left hours ago and that he would never not pay a debt anyway. Her father took her away as Spider-Man left, looking skeptical. Spider-Man took the opportunity to go looking for the Schemer and George and Gwen came back later, finding Peter gone. Gwen feared that Peter had been kidnapped and was relieved when he turned up. (Amazing Spider-Man #85 and #86)
“Unmasked at Last!”
Gwen's 19th birthday soon followed and every one (Mary Jane, Harry, George Stacy, Randy Robertson and others) was there, except Peter. He had been feeling weak and worried that he was losing his spider powers, sending him to his lab to test his blood. His weakness and dizziness got worse and he decided that his time as Spider-Man must be over. A feverish Peter arrived at the Stacy's and announced that he was Spider-Man. Gwen was shocked and Peter left, embarrassed to have hurt her. While a sarcastic Mary Jane told Gwen that she was either dating a nut or a masked menace, a still confused Gwen didn't want to hear it. "No matter what he is...what he's done...don't you dare talk about him like that!" Later, Peter found out he'd only had the flu. Realizing he had outed himself to everyone, he asked Hobie Brown, aka the Prowler, to stand in for him as Spider-Man at the Stacy house. The ruse worked, on Gwen anyway. (Amazing Spider-Man #87)
Then came the point of no return. Doctor Octopus had been on the run since he failed to kidnap a General Su who was on his way to the U.N. Ock escaped but Spider-Man hounded him across New York. It all came to a head during a fight on top of a tall building and a masonry smokestack was smashed by one of Octavius' tentacles and fell to the ground, hitting Captain Stacy. Spidey carried him away, promising to get him help but the old man made him stop when he called the vigilante "Peter." He knew Peter was Spider-Man and made him promise to look after Gwen because she loved him so much. (Amazing Spider-Man #90)
Gwen blamed Spider-Man for her father's death and swore that she would never forgive him. She wanted to help rid New York of costumed menaces like Spider-Man and turned to a former police officer named Sam Bullit for help. Bullit was running for District Attorney and was a no nonsense "law and order" type. He was arrested after it was fond out he was a bigot with ties to hate groups. (Amazing Spider-Man #92)
Gwen received a call from her Uncle Arthur Stacy in London, who invited her to move to England with them after he heard about his younger brothers death. She decided to think about it. Peter arrived, was stunned to hear her uncle's offer and decided to propose to her right there. He told her that he loved her but then remembered her hatred of Spider-Man. She saw the change in his expression and in exasperation asked him to leave. Meanwhile, Hobie Brown read about the death of Captain Stacy in the Daily Bugle and decided that Spider-Man had used him when he pretended to be Spider-Man at George Stacy's home. He went back to the home as the Prowler and fought Spider-Man in front of Gwen, who left for London. (Amazing Spider-Man #93)
Peter flew to London to meet Gwen, on funds from Robbie Robertson, who wanted pictures for the Bugle. He got pictures of Spider-Man saving the American ambassador to Great Britain from kidnappers. Only after the ambassador and his young son were safe did Peter realize the mistake he'd made by acting as Spider-Man. Gwen might have put two and two together if she knew that both Peter Parker and Spider-Man were in England at the same time. He left for New York as Arthur Stacy calmed Gwen, telling her that Spider-Man didn't seem so bad. He had risked his life to save the ambassador. She began to remember that her father had respected the web swinger and she realized that she had misjudged the vigilante. Still, she was disappointed that Peter hadn't come to see her. (Amazing Spider-Man #95)
Gwen returned to New York after feeling she had been too hard on Peter and went back to put things right. (Amazing Spider-Man #98) Still intending to propose to her, Peter went to the Daily Bugle and demanded a salary job from Jonah, who grudgingly allowed it. After getting pictures of a prison riot, Peter was unhappy to hear that staff didn't get paid until Friday. He had wanted to take Gwen out that night but she had no intention of going out with him. She had prepared a meal for them herself. (Amazing Spider-Man #99)
Yet another misunderstanding took place between them when Peter told Gwen that he would be out of town for a few days, not telling her he was seeking a cure for his six armed condition. When he didn't call her after two days, she got anxious and called Aunt May to see where Peter was. May hadn't heard that he would be out of town and Gwen went back to worrying. Spidey was also busy dealing with the Lizard and Michael Morbius. (Amazing Spider-Man #102)
Gwen went with Peter on his next adventure, this time to the Savage Land. Reports of a giant monster in the hidden Antarctic jungle reached New York and Jameson wanted to send an expedition. Peter went as photographer and Jameson insisted Gwen come along to get the women readers someone to follow. Peter was reluctant but Gwen insisted on coming. While there, they crossed paths with Sergei Kravinoff, Kraven the Hunter. Kraven had discovered the space creature, Gog, and was using it as muscle to take over the Savage Land. He also kidnapped Gwen, intending to make her his bride. Gog and Kraven were defeated by Spider-Man and Ka-Zar. (Amazing Spider-Man #103, #104)
After Peter and Gwen returned to New York from the Savage Land, they met up with Flash Thompson, who had returned from Vietnam. Flash seemed to have something on his mind and tried to tell Gwen what it was, but he was taken into police custody before he could. Spidey witnessed the sudden arrest and also witnessed the police car being attacked by a group of foreign Asian men. After Spidey rescued Flash, Gwen went to Peter to tell him what she had seen. They went to the Federal Building to see Flash but they were stopped when the same group of Vietnamese men attacked the building, kidnapping Flash. Peter began to make up a lie as to why he had to disappear when Gwen called him out on his cowardice. Peter was able to change to Spider-Man in another room and made a dummy out of his street clothes. He swung away with the dummy, looking like Peter had been kidnapped by Spidey. (Amazing Spider-Man #105-#108)
Gwen went to his apartment, were she told Harry that Peter had been taken. Aunt May was there, and she became panicky when she heard Peter was gone. Gwen lashed out at her, saying that Peter was a man, not a boy, and that May was coddling him. Gwen quickly apologized but May's feelings had been hurt. When Peter returned from his "kidnapping," May immediately began to fret and worry over him, making Gwen remind her of what she had said. May was embarrassed and left them alone, then left New York altogether. (Amazing Spider-Man #111) Gwen blamed herself for May leaving suddenly and poured out her heart to Flash. (Amazing Spider-Man #112)
While Gwen had asked Flash to stop antagonizing Peter, the jerk continued to mock him. Gwen had enough when Flash laughed at Peter's ulcer and she put him in his place. Also, Dr. Warren had spoken with her about May suddenly leaving and he told her not to blame herself. (Amazing Spider-Man #114) While Spider-Man tracked down his aunt, Gwen went looking for Peter at the Daily Bugle. Ned Leeds told her that he had found out information about May's whereabouts and he, Gwen and Robbie went to find her. When they arrived at Ned's address they heard gun shots and Robbie called the police. Doctor Octopus was inside, battling Hammerhead and Spider-Man. Ock was captured, Hammerhead escaped, May returned to New York and Peter was stunned that May was still loyal to Octavius. (Amazing Spider-Man #115)
Back in Manhattan, Peter confronted Gwen, wanting to know if she was really interested in he or Flash. She reassured him that she and Flash were just friends. Later, they attended a political convention for Richard Raleigh, who was running for mayor. Peter's spider sense went off at the rally and he noticed a crack in the support beam above he and Gwen. Cutting the power to the room, he crawled to the ceiling and tired to web the crack closed but the ceiling collapsed. (Amazing Spider-Man #116) The webbing managed to slow the crumbling of the ceiling and everyone escaped unharmed. (Amazing Spider-Man #117)
Harry began to start using drugs again and his condition worsened while Peter was in Canada looking for a man that had been in contact with Aunt May. Peter called Gwen to check on Harry and he found out that his condition had worsened. Gwen told him to come back as soon as possible. (Amazing Spider-Man #120) After Peter returned, he learned that Harry had been taking LSD and it had effected him extra hard as he had been depressed when he took it. Mary Jane and Gwen were at Harry's bedside but Norman Osborn threw them all out before Peter could see Harry. Back at her apartment, Gwen wondered to herself how Harry's life became so screwed up that he would do the things that he did. She wished that Peter was there and they could figure it out together. It was the last thoughts she had, as the Goblin soon arrived at took her to the bridge for the fateful battle with Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man #121)
There have been numerous repercussions from Gwen Stacy's murder. Norman Osborn was seemingly killed in the ensuing fight with an enraged Spider-Man. J. Jonah Jameson hired Luke Cage for $5,000 to capture Spider-Man dead or alive as revenge for Norman's death. (Amazing Spider-Man #123) Harry took over as the second Green Goblin. (Amazing Spider-Man #136) The death of Gwen also sent Professor Warren over the edge and he took the criminal identity of the Jackal. (Amazing Spider-Man #149) One of Miles Warren's clones took on a personae of it's own, calling itself Carrion. This creature blamed Spider-Man for the deaths of Stacy and Warren. (Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #29) Warren created many clones, but only one Gwen Stacy clone was successful and became a cornerstone of several Clone Sagas. After Harry and Norman abandoned the Green Goblin alias, the secret hideouts were discovered by Roderick Kingsley, who became the copycat criminal called the Hobgoblin. (Amazing Spider-Man #238)
Sins Past
Recently, two children of Gwen Stacy have shown up. Sarah Stacy and Gabriel Stacy were born to Gwen in Paris France, to keep them away from their father, Norman Osborn. Gwen had been drawn to Norman's power and felt bad for him when he seemed so distraught by his son Harry's drug addiction. Gwen had an affair with him, something she soon regretted once she realized how ruthless he was. It had long been thought that Norman had come to Peter's apartment looking for Spider-Man, but had really come for Gwen to force her to give him the children. The twins were only at seven months gestation when they were born, but seemed to have aged to full term infants. It was found that the Goblin serum in Norman's DNA had accelerated their aging. Even though Gabriel and Sarah appear to be in their twenties, they are really only children. (Amazing Spider-Man #512)
While it has been many years since Gwen's death, Peter keeps her close to his heart. After saving a gangster named Forelli from the creature known as Digger, Spidey was paid $10,000 for his services. Not liking to take money from a murderer, Peter anonymously donated the money to build the Gwen Stacy Memorial Library. (Amazing Spider-Man vol. 2 #54)
The Clone Conspiracy
Gwen was brought back to life years later, memories and all. She was revived by a man claiming to be the Jackal through a far advanced cloning technique. Gwen woke up in a cloning tube and was greeted by the Jackal who brought her up to speed on everything that had happened since she died. She was uncertain that she wanted to be a part of his research, but was intrigued by the advanced technology. Her commitment was guaranteed when Jackal introduced her to her reanimated father, George Stacy. (Dead No More: The Clone Conspiracy #1)
Quiz: Quiz on Gwen Stacy.
Image Gallery
Appearances
Thanks To
The assistance of the Marvel Chronology Project is gratefully acknowledged.
Some of the above information is extracted from the various versions of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe and the more recent Marvel Encyclopaedias.