Spider-Gwen (Vol. 2) #24 Review

“I was afraid the Venom was MY shadow. The price to stay Spider-Woman…Turns out there are darker outcomes.”

Hold onto your cowboy hats, True Believers! The Wolverine from Earth-65 is wearing the Venom Symbiote! Even with the help of Kitty Pride, can Gwen stop “Mr. Murderhands”, or will she have to succumb to the Venom, too? You DO NOT want to miss THIS!

WRITER: Jason Latour

ARTIST: Robbie Rodriguez

COLOR ARTIST: Rico Renzi

LETTERER: VC’s Clayton Cowles

COVER ARTIST: Robbi Rodriguez

VARIANT COVER ARTIST: J. Scott Campbell

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Kathleen Wisneski

ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Devin Lewis

EDITOR: Nick Lowe

STORY: The Venom leaves an unconscious Harry and bonds with Logan, who slices through the nearby police. Foggy calls Matt, upset that George is near death and that DeWolff suspects his involvement. Figuring out that the Venom is vulnerable to sonics, they manage to get Logan separated from it. The Venom then goes after Gwen, enveloping her. However, by blasting her song, “Face It, Tiger” she’s able to control it…until she sees her hospitalized father. Fully giving in to her sorrow, “Gwenom” gets unleashed, vowing revenge on whomever hurt her dad.

THOUGHTS: This is easily the most disturbing Spider-Gwen cover I’ve seen. Something about it gets under my skin. Maybe it’s the spiders crawling all over her, or the desperate, strung out look. Or that creepy right hand. Regardless, its starkness helps it stand out and be memorable. Not as fun or poppy as the J. Scott Campbell variants, it helps showcase the dire straits Gwen finds herself in.

This issue starts off strong with a heavy horror element as the monstrous Venom, looking not unlike a Graboid tendril-mouth from the Tremors series goes after Logan, transforming him into a dark samurai-looking version of himself. His attack on the nearby officers is barely hinted at-a foregone conclusion that they will meet their bloody end swiftly. I loved the design Rodriguez gave this version-a hint of the red Venom tongue as part of his robes and a streak in his hair. It stood out to me a lot more as it wasn’t just the hero with a slobbering tongue and big white spider overtaking their logo. It felt very in spirit to me for an alternate Earth Wolverine.

I appreciated Latour having Gwen work the problem out in her head of what the device Kitty used did and how it specifically affected the symbiote. The tendency when thinking about Spider-Gwen is to view her through the rock n’ roll prism I think, and this was a great reminder that the character, at least the version established by Lee and Ditko, was very intelligent. We don’t often get to see her studious side in this title, but while it may not be highlighted all that often, she is a very bright individual and I loved how she was observant in this issue and how those observations led her to formulating a plan.

The team was very effective in conveying a horror atmosphere this issue, particularly when Gwen was being overcome by the symbiote. That panel where she is completely enveloped, frightened-looking and only lit by the glow of her phone was masterful! Same with the sequence of her being overcome with the suit in the hospital. The way the tendrils crept over Gwen as tears brimmed up in her eyes created a great sense of dread and hopelessness. The way the suit fed off fear and anger reminded me of Spider-Man 3. That may be a good thing or bad thing in your book, but I loved the echoes of how the possession worked.

So, nerd confession-I often listen to music when I read comics, providing my own reading soundtrack, if you will. Obviously, I had to turn on Married With Sea Monsters’ “Face It Tiger” when Gwen queued up The Mary Janes’ version. It brought a lot of power to the scene and you could feel Gwen’s strength as she burst out in tandem with the lyrics, her triumph as she overcame the monster within.

Sadly, her victory was short lived. Murdock is at his Kingpin-y best here. I could easily feel his sneer as he told Gwen the game they were playing wasn’t checkers, “It’s chess.” Murdock is brilliantly sinister in his manipulations this issue. Gwen had her victory and he took it away from her with the opening of a portal. Kudos to everybody for giving it a very cinematic feel. Wilson Fisk couldn’t have played it better.

This may be a simple issue, but it is so well done, from story, characterization, coloring, and of course, art. They came up with a pretty creative way to make Gwen into Gwenom, utilizing so much of their past continuity. This issue is really the culmination of a lot of different elements and I’m eagerly anticipating where they take the story next!

MY GRADE: A

JAVI’S HUH?: Seriously, what’s up with Gwen’s right hand on the cover? 😉