Gwen Stacy (Clone)
Attributes
| Eyes: | Blue |
| Features: | Visually Attractive |
| Hair: | Blond |
| Height: | 5'7" |
| Weight: | 130 lbs |
Powers
| Abilities: | Inherited from original |
| Limitations: | Not really human |
| Strength Level: | Normal human |
Summary
| Citizenship: | Multi-Cellular Organisms |
| Created By: | |
| Current Aliases: | Gwen Miles |
| Current Occupation: | Unknown |
| Dual Identity: | In the worst way |
| Education: | Donated by the original Gwen Stacy |
| Former Aliases: | Joyce Delaney |
| Former Bases: | New York, New York |
| Former Occupation: | Stem Cell |
| Known Allies: | Spider-Man |
| Known Confidants: | Peter Parker, Miles Warren, Warren Miles (clone) |
| Known Relatives: | Professor Miles Warren (creator), Gwen Stacy (donor), Warren Miles (husband) |
| Legal Status: | Experiment |
| Major Enemies: | Genetic Decay |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Place of Birth: | Test Tube GS-0029 |
| Real Name: | Test Tube GS-0029 |
| Usual Bases: | Preumably somewhere in New York State |
Background
”Dead Man’s Bluff”
As Peter Parker and Mary Jane were leaving the Daily Bugle, Peter swore he saw Gwen Stacy walking out of the lobby and to the street. The problem was that Gwen had already been killed by the Green Goblin. He ran after her, half expecting her to be another one of Mysterio’s (Daniel Berkhart) illusions. By the time he ran outside to see her, the woman had gotten through traffic and disappeared. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #142)
”And the Wind Cries…Cyclone!”
While web swinging through the rain, Spider-Man thought he saw Gwen entering a subway tunnel. By the time he gets there, she’s gone. He assumed he’s seeing things and still grieving her death. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #143)
”The Delusion Conspiracy”
As May Parker and Anna Watson walked Manhattan, they were glad that Peter and Mary Jane finally seemed to be working out. They discussed how tragic Gwen’s death had been and wondered why the young die and the old live forever. May looked across the street and sees a familiar blonde girl, making her think she was losing her mind. She fainted and told Anna to look after Peter because he was so delicate. Later, Peter came back from an assignment in Paris and Anna was waiting at his apartment. She told him May was in the hospital because of something she saw, which was inside his apartment. He ran inside and saw his dead girlfriend waiting for him. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #144)
”Gwen Stacy is Alive…And Well?!”
Peter stared at her in shock and then grabbed her by the coat and screamed that she was part of some sick joke. He shoved her into a wall and left to see his aunt. After fighting the Scorpion, Peter returned to the hospital and found MJ, Betty Brant, Ned Leeds, and Robbie Robertson waiting for him. Ned told him that the woman’s finger prints matched Gwen’s and they had checked Gwen’s grave. It hadn’t been touched. There was no way to say it but there were two Gwen Stacys. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #145)
”Scorpion…Where is Thy Sting?”
Peter walked “Gwen” to stay with Betty, who had agreed to look after her. She asked Peter if he still loved her and he hesitated, not sure what to say. She broke down and ran inside, leaving Peter to do some frustrated web swinging. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #146)
”Even If I Live, I Die!”
While Spider-Man was being held captive, the Jackal explained what happened to bring them all to this point. Miles Warren had loved Gwen, his student. When she was murdered he was devastated and blamed Spider-Man. (I never understood why he didn’t blame Goblin.) The class that Warren taught had donated their own cells for research and he used them to clone Gwen. (There had been many imperfect clones before this one was created, an important point later.) He used hypnosis and re-education to bring out her memories. Jackal then left Spider-Man, telling him to meet them all at Shea Stadium.
Spider-Man arrived at Shea and was taken by surprise by Jackal, who drugged him. When he woke up, he was in the outfield along with his clone, who of course eventually named himself Ben Reilly. Ned Leeds was tied next to a bomb, which Jackal claimed only the real Spider-Man could disarm. The bomb would know if it was near the clone. As the Spider-Men fight to get to Ned, Gwen told Jackal that she hated him. In a moment of clarity, he saved Ned but was killed in the explosion. Spider-Man, Ned and Gwen’s clone left, thinking that the Spider-Clone was dead. Afterwards, Gwen’s clone decided to leave New York to find out who she was. (Amazing Spider-Man (vol. 1) #149)
”Return to Sender”
She subsequently reappeared many years later. Spidey found her being attacked by two guys in armor, in a flying saucer type craft. The clone escaped as Spider-Man dealt with the creatures, who disappeared in a flash of light. Mary Jane later found Peter at their apartment, looking through his photo album of Gwen pictures. Mary Jane told him that she knew she could never compete with Gwen (Peter even semi agreed to himself that he still loved Gwen) and Peter told her that she was the one he loved now. So it was awkward when the clone found them at their new apartment, after she had called Betty Brant (who was understandably surprised to hear Gwen Stacy's voice years after she had died) to find out where Peter had moved to.
Gwen was conflicted about Peter; she still trusted him but panicked after seeing part of the Spider-Man costume exposed under his shirt. Peter went after her, after MJ told him "Help her. And when you're done, come home to me with a clear heart--or don't come home at all." Peter found her and tried to find out what was going on but they were caught by the guys in armor. Spidey managed to jump through the teleportation field just before it closed. He arrived on the spaceship of a race of beings called The Celestials. The clone was taken to a device called a "gene tester," while Spider-Man dealt with the Young Gods and the ship's security forces.
After managing to survive the battle, Spider-Man rescued the clone from the gene tester and was confronted by the High Evolutionary. The Evolutionary wasn't really interested in Gwen Stacy, but in the clone. He wanted to know how a mere university professor had created a clone in such a quick amount of time. The answer was, he hadn't. Miles Warren, the High Evolutionary "presumed", had kidnapped a woman of similar age and genotype to Gwen Stacy and infected her with a genetic virus to make her appear to be Gwen.
The High Evolutionary was indifferent to whether or not Spider-Man and the clone believed him and transported them back to earth. Gwen refused to believe that she was yet again someone else entirely but her existential agony was ended by Daydreamer (later called Dream Weaver), one of the Young Gods. She had sensed the clone's agony while on the ship and used her powers of illusion to end the "illusion" in Gwen's mind that she was a clone. The young woman walked away, remembering nothing. Peter went back to MJ, telling her that Gwen was gone and had been for a long time. (Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 1) Annual #8)
(”Joyce Delaney" returned at the start of the Clone Saga. Apparently, the High Evolutionary had been wrong or lied in his presumption that "Joyce" wasn't a clone, as she again looked and believed herself to be the original Gwen.
”Lives Unlived”
Searching for clues as to what the Jackal was up to, Peter (wearing Ben Reilly's Scarlet Spider costume) looked up all of the available info on Warren at the Bugle's library. He found an article on one Dr Warren Miles (wonder how no one saw through that alias) and headed to the address in New Jersey. Searching the house, Peter came across Gwen and was momentarily caught off guard. Gwen was furious to see him and swiped at him with a broom, which he dodged. Miles stunned Peter with a taser and escaped with the Gwen clone.
Miles and the clone had been married for a while, but he had always known that one day a Spider would show up. The two fled and Peter/the Scarlet Spider gave chase. Seeing that they were being followed, Warren Miles tried to weave through traffic to escape, only to crash into the side of the George Washington Bridge. All three were surprised by the appearance of the Green Goblin (Phil Urich), who snatched "Gwen" out of the car and flew her to the top of the bridge's pillar.
Peter raced to save "Gwen," while a frantic Warren Miles shot recklessly up at the Goblin. The Gwen clone fell from the pillar in the confusion, but was caught by the Scarlet Spider, who saved her by swinging down to catch her instead of snaring her with his web.
Miles, standing on his car and still in a panic, fell off of the side of the bridge. Upon finding the body, Peter realized that "Warren Miles" was just a clone of Miles Warren. Peter had only wanted to talk to him about what he knew about the whereabouts of his maker, a secret that he would have to wait for. (Web of Spider-Man (vol. 1) #125)
"Maximum Clonage"
After the Jackal returned from his supposed death, Peter and Ben were desperate to know which of them was the real Peter Parker. They had been led to believe that Ben was real and that Peter was the clone. This put Peter into a very compromised emotional state and he fell under the Jackal's control. Jackal told him to find Gwen and gave him her address. She was waiting for him, knowing that he would send someone for her. Memories had begun to return to her after the clone of Warren died at the bridge. Warren hadn't told her much but now she knew better. She told Peter to keep his mask on. Seeing Spider-Man again was difficult enough but seeing Peter would be too much. She told him that he couldn't understand what it was like to have a lifetime of memories turn out to be fake and torn away from you. He understood better than she expected, he said. She said they should get back to the Jackal, they had a lot of unfinished business. (Spider-Man (vol. 1) #61)
As they swung back to the Jackal's lab, Peter's spider sense went off to the point of being painful. He fell in mid swing but caught them both. He told Gwen that Mary Jane's personal spider tracer had been activated, along with about a dozen others. She was surprised to hear that he was married but told him to go help his woman. They arrived at Peter and MJ's apartment and MJ was still stunned to see what looked like her long dead friend. Gwen was glad to see that they had gotten married and she had missed Mary Jane. They said that they both considered each other to be friends. (Spectacular Spider-Man (vol. 1) #227)
MJ told Peter than she used the tracer to bring him home, where he belonged. He told her that he wasn't good enough for her or their unborn baby and Gwen tried to convince him that they were different and didn't belong there. They needed to work together against the Jackal. (This is one of the most frustrating parts of the Clone Saga. There were so many different writers at the time for each book and they didn't always follow what had come before. That's why there is such a sudden attitude shift in Gwen.) Peter agreed that he wasn't like MJ and he and Gwen went after the Jackal.
They went back to the lab and found it in shambles. Jackal, Kaine, Spidercide and Ben had already fought and left for the Daily Bugle, where Jackal planned to release his Carrion virus and kill humanity. The lab's automated security system activated but Spider-Man defeated it quickly. He found a computer that had information about Jackal's plans. They arrived at the Bugle and Gwen screamed at Jackal that he had given them life as clones and blamed him for "Warren Miles" death, leaving her a widow. He deserved to die and she was going to do it. Spider-Man was surprised at her death threat and thought she had only wanted to meet him. He had been lied to yet again. After Jackal had been webbed up, Gwen showed up with a gun and planned to kill him. Jackal was stunned at her hatred. If she had loved a clone of him, she should love him too. She loved the man, not the monster and she was going to stop all of the lies and manipulation.
Ben tried to tell her not to do it and she told him to stay out of it. It was a clone matter and didn't involve him. Jackal was impressed by her threat to kill the Spiders and knew he should never underestimate himself. Mary Jane showed up to help but her sudden arrival provided the distraction Jackal needed to shove Gwen away and grab her gun. However, he shoved too hard and she fell towards the edge of the roof. She dangled from a broadcasting antenna and Jackal crawled out to save her, after shoving away the Spiders. The antenna couldn't hold both of them and he fell to his death, while Scarlet Spider webbed her to safety. She wouldn't mourn his death, but she knew that she couldn't have killed him. They remembered that they had a virus bomb to destroy and afterward, Gwen slipped away. She wanted to move on and being in New York just made her think of her old life. When Peter realized she was gone, Ben told him that he needed to focus on his wife. (Maximum Clonage Omega)
”Sibling Rivalry”
It turns out that "Joyce Delaney" moved to London several years ago. She lived an empty life, knowing that she was still just a clone. That ended suddenly, when another Gwen clone shot her in her apartment from across the street. This new clone, called Eve, was the first clone of Gwen and was an imperfect copy. She confronted the Jackal after murdering "Joyce" and was killed when Jackal's base collapsed after a battle with the Tarantula, Kaine Parker. (Superior Spider-Man Team Up #2)
Quiz: Quiz on Gwen Stacy Clone.
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.