Spider-Gwen (Vol. 2) #29 Review

“Did I just see your Uncle Ben tell your Gwen to…to…to KILL Matt Murdock?”

Gwen goes to kill Matt Murdock. Or does she? Captain America may have something to say about that! And who is our surprise guest star at the finale?

WRITER: Jason Latour

ARTIST: Robbi Rodriguez

COLOR ARTIST: Rico Renzi

LETTERER: VC’s Clayton Cowles

COVER: Robbi Rodriguez

TITLE PAGE ART: Rico Renzi, Robbi Rodriguez, & Anthony Gambino

PRODUCTION DESIGNER: Carlos Lao

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Kathleen Wisneski

EDITOR: Devin Lewis

STORY: Utau and Utaa, Watchers both, check in on the happenings of Earth-65. They see The Punisher continue his assault on The Kingpin’s stronghold. Venom shows up, saving Murdock from a lethal repulsor blast. Just as Punisher and Venom are about to get into it, Captain America leaps into the fray, subduing Castle. She then offers to help Gwen and bring Murdock to justice, but this sets off the Venom inside her and she attacks Cap, taking her out. Gwen tries to kill Murdock, but realizes she can’t. The watch Murdock has been wearing starts to ding again and opens up a portal, sucking Venom in. She comes to and finds herself face to face with…GWEN STACY?!?!?!

THOUGHTS: Venom  certainly feels sinister on the cover as she looms over the much smaller Murdock. There’s something very old school about the representation, but it still has the signature Spider-Gwen style. Venom being a large figure carries faint echoes of Batman #251 for me, the difference being this is a face off and this cover is lacking the city background. Rodriguez eschews that, just leaving focus on this battle that has been issues in the making.

Opening on The Watchers of Earths 8 & 65, Latour starts things off with his typical wry humor. It amuses me seeing them as anything other than stoic and I love how Utau’s attitude reflects some of the personality of Earth-65. There are Kirby Crackles everywhere in their environment, even in the coffee (unless Watchers are in the habit of drinking swirling galaxies)! I also love how Rodriguez blends the mundane everyday furniture with the cosmic backdrop.

I felt Latour was being a little meta regarding timelines, pointing out how all must repeat and that the sturdier ones are well-worn pathways with infinitesimal changes. We certainly see this play out reboot after reboot, adaptation after adaptation, regardless of medium. How many times does a Goblin throw a loved one off a bridge? We even get an example this issue when The Punisher, wearing an Iron Man gauntlet, strikes Captain America’s shield with a repulsor blast, recalling the iconic cover of Civil War #7, which in itself was also represented on the silver screen.

Switching gears to the battle already in progress, The Punisher looks like he can barely stand, but that doesn’t mean he looks any less threatening under Rodriguez’ pencil. He’s got glass sticking out of him everywhere to add to the look that he’s single-minded and unstoppable. I also picked up on the sleeve-heads of Murdock’s red suit. They are pointed out like devil horns, a nice touch to reinforce that in another life he’s a daredevil. Now I’ve gotta go back to other issues and see if I noticed this before and forgot about it.

Rodriguez delivers as always. He keeps with the narrow, widescreen panels for a good chunk of the issue, using big boxes and punches-landing-so-hard-they-distort-the-panels for maximum impact. I also dug how he laid out the flashback inside Gwen’s head, which was awash in blue courtesy of the reliable Rico Renzi. No surprises on the art and color here; it’s the usual pure awesomeness!

On the writing side, Latour did provide the unexpected during the Cap/Venom fight for me, namely Venom using her whiplike tongue as a weapon, wrapping it around Cap’s arm and seemingly breaking her bones! I can’t think of Brock ever using it like that! I felt bad for the good Captain! Having Venom bust out with her Tongue-Fu is a clever way to justify the exaggerated design and makes total sense coming from this team!

Picking up on threads laid last issue, Latour continues Murdock’s motivation as he gleefully states that he’s finally not alone as Gwenom is about to kill him. Missing teeth and bloody, he seems elated, even as she later realizes she can’t. Latour and Renzi also continue magenta word balloons for Venom and the standard white when Gwen is speaking, in addition to the usual I/We game. I love how they’ve played up the duality in this arc. It really highlights her struggle and lets you know who is in control at any given moment. Does she see the loneliness that drove Peter to become The Lizard as she is about to murder Murdock? Whatever it is, it causes Gwen to be back in the metaphorical driver’s seat, at least for a moment before things go crazy town banana pants!

The mysterious portal watch finally comes into play, sucking Gwen to another continuum with blue skies to emphasize this is not her normal world. And who greets her but another Gwen Stacy! She may be attired in her classic Amazing Spider-Man #121 outfit, but the way Rodriguez renders her face, I get a more original Ditko vibe instead of the standard Romita, Sr. with the bangs. I can’t wait to see how she is portrayed next issue!

Once again, another great issue of Spider-Gwen! With five issues left, I can’t wait to see what twists and turns await us. Despite being high drama, there is still a lot of fun to be had reading this book and the fight this issue was just brutal without sacrificing the internal struggle Gwen is going through. The surprise ending definitely has me looking forward to what Gwen we are seeing next!

MY GRADE: A

JAVI’S HUH?: How did Venom not punch through Cap? I thought she killed her for a second!