Spider-Gwen #4

Background

Gwen defeated the Vulture and the Punisher.

Story Details

Spider-Woman came across two teens vandalizing a condo building that was under construction. "Hobie" was startled by her sudden appearance and sprayed her with some paint, which her spider sense failed to warn her about. He tried to run but started to fall off of a girder, making Gwen save both of them. They were surprised that she wasn't going to arrest them, but she was wanted by the police herself. Then they called her a hypocrite and called their work "Death from a Butt." (They had intended to paint a fat baby angel pooping a flaming devil. Arrest them anyway, Gwen.) They accused her of working with the cops and said the graffiti was meant to discourage a big company from buying up their neighborhood. They had also been painting Spider-Woman's face on billboards all over town with the words, "Who's responsible?" She let them go saying she'd be back.

She stopped by the Parkers house, reluctant to ring the bell but was met by Ben Parker. He invited her inside, where her dad was asleep on the couch. He got her some coffee and went to get May. She looked through a scrap book that was sitting out and saw the headlines of Peter's death and calling Spider-Woman a killer. May arrived and joked about Ben's awful coffee as Gwen was about to leave. She asked Gwen to stay, as she hadn't seen them in months. Gwen was still reluctant but May said they could all get through it together. May asked if she was visiting about Peter and Gwen said it was about Spider-Woman.

May started to explain that she kept a scrapbook about Peter's death and Spider-Woman because she knew that Peter had been in love with her, or at least the idea of her. Peter had been warm and funny but lived in his head too much. He hadn't been well for a long time. May had needed someone to blame and Spider-Woman made sense. She wore a mask and ran from the scene. Peter had started the scrapbook and she continued it after he died. Jonah Jameson painted Spider-Woman as a villain but May began to see her differently. The vigilante was trying to make things better, maybe over what happened to Peter. May began to empathize with the woman behind the mask, wondering if she spent too much time in her head, too. There was a lot about Peter that she didn't understand but she knew they had to keep living.

Gwen stood outside a concert hall that was going to host The Mary Janes, which also had a defaced billboard. Glory Grant found her there, wondering if she was still even in the band. Gwen wanted to be but she was working through a lot, considering Peter and her dad. Glory told her to shut up and handed her some drumsticks. They needed her and she needed to perform. She was soon on stage jamming with her friends.

At the police precinct, Jean DeWolff was tired of her coworker's joking about Frank Castle's arrest. She slammed him against a wall just as Castle arrived. He was in an arm sling and neck brace and told them all to get back to work. Jean started to ask how he was doing and he said that the order applied to her too.

General Comments

I read Spider-Gwen years ago when it first was published and only remember that after a while it seemed to go nowhere. The story never moved forward and nothing seemed to happen. Re-reading the early issues is nice, I can see why I initially picked them up.

The center of the issue is May's conversation with Gwen and their shared grief, not an uncommon theme in a Spidey book. It's almost as essential as the costume. The conversation feels contrived, though. May interrupted Gwen from saying what she wanted to say about Spider-Woman and then happened to have a speech ready that perfectly summed up what she was feeling. May's reasoning does make sense, that someone that suddenly starts fighting crime after a death must have a lot going on in their head. It's just too convenient for the story. It would have been more interesting to see May's reaction if Gwen had confessed her secret to her.

Overall Rating

I was going to give 2.5 webs but the question of what Castle will do now that he's free earned it another half web.