Spider-Gwen (Vol. 2) #31 Review

“That stupid bridge. So many awful things have happened in its shadow. So many of us had fallen there. But no one had ever jumped.”

The Gwens go to the infamous bridge. What could possibly go wrong?

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

GWEN STACY CREATED BY: Stan Lee & Steve Ditko

STORY: Captain America visits a comatose George Stacy at the hospital before she checks in with Matt Murdock, hoping he has a way to bring Gwen home. He doesn’t. On a future Earth-8, the Watchers of Earths 8 & 65 are having a bowl of Groot Loops with Spider-Boy and Spider-Girl when the mysterious older venomous Gwen from last issue’s end shows up. At the Avengers Mansion on Earth-617, the Gwens go to Tony Stark for help breaching the membrane of the multiverse. He gives them a device to help them out. The Gwens go to “The Bridge”, with Gwen-65 making the leap into the multiverse. Back on the future Earth-8, the mysterious Gwen is revealed as an older version of Gwen-617, one who has embraced the possibilities of the future and is a detective, bonded with a symbiote. She drops some exposition on the Watchers before being called away. Having made it back to her home earth, Gwen-65 goes to J. Jonah Jameson, revealing her identity to the publisher!

THOUGHTS: I love the old school vibe mixed with the contemporary for this cover! Don’t get me wrong, I love the Spider-Gwen logo, but I got a kick seeing it in the classic ASM font, complete with character window box in the upper left and the price looking similar to the old comics code. I haven’t been much of a fan of the Legacy version that has the headshot of the character in what looks like a bookmark. I prefer seeing Rodriguez’s art there and the image they chose for this issue is a dynamic pose, bursting out of the boundaries. Throw in a 617-looking Gwen with a Spider-Woman costume on what looks to be Earth-65 and I am officially intrigued!

Renzi provides some moody night time shades to the art as Cap visits George in the hospital. Rodriguez’s “camera work” is top notch here. Renzi throws a spotlight on some old Captain America comics which have a fun cover of Cap battling Zola. I’m surprised we didn’t get a Cap mini drawn by “Steve Rogers”!

Continuing their strong visual work, I enjoyed seeing Cap try and get some kind of help from Murdock in terms of rescuing Gwen in the next scene. She’s getting dangerously close to skirting the line of compromising her ethics, willing to help Murdock out in exchange for his resources. Isn’t that how we got in this mess? While there isn’t a lot going on physically as both characters are pretty banged up from their last encounter, Renzi utilizes shadows well.

I didn’t know whether to be amused or grossed out by the bowls of Groot Loops the Watchers and Spider-Kids are eating on future Earth-8. Are they actually made of Groot? The box had a clever design with an image of Baby Groot that reminded me of my daughter’s Funko Pop.

So, while I may be unclear on how I feel about Groot Loops, I’m pretty darn certain how I feel about Earth-617’s Tony Stark-he’s a Creeper McCreeperton. Sleazy McSleazerson. Slimy Mc-You get the idea. The fact that Gwen-65 feels he is worse than Gwen-617’s “creepy science professor” (who I’m presuming is Professor Miles Warren) speaks volumes.

I love how Latour plays the two Gwen’s off each other. 617 is more “proper” and classic, whereas 65 has more of that rock n’ roll rebel vibe, as evidenced by giving 617 the finger at one point. I couldn’t picture Romita, Sr.’s Gwen doing that, but it works for Rodriguez’s. As with last time, seeing each other as a mirror reflection of possibilities propels both of them to new outlooks and changed life outcomes as stated in the bio for 617 at the end, crediting 65’s appearance as the catalyst for saving 617 from a fate similar to 616.

Speaking of 616’s historic fate brings us to this issue’s title, “The Bridge”. I don’t know if we should call it the Brooklyn or the George Washington (depends on if you favour the visual or Lee’s line of dialogue about Osborn having a hang up on dollar bills), but the lack of name doesn’t lessen its importance or significance in the overall narrative. For the first time instead of death, a new lease on life has been granted for not just one, but hopefully two Gwen Stacys. Having 65 jump instead of fall means she is embracing this, choosing it, instead of being an unwilling participant in events. Her destiny is hers, maybe for the first time in this series.

As for 617, we find out that the alternate future “Gwenom” is in fact an older Gwen-617, somehow in a more peaceful relationship with a symbiote. I really appreciated the fact that she billed as her Earth’s greatest detective. I’m assuming that’s how she goes on to pay tribute to her father. I wonder if Conway hadn’t written 616 off what would’ve become of the character. Would detective been her fate? Could Spider-Gwen embrace those roots?

At the end of the day, this issue is all about embracing life and the possibilities it holds, not to mention sharing that with others. As Gwen decides to come forward and reveal her truth to the world, she is now meeting her responsibilities head on and isn’t that what we want from our Spider-Heroes? I know I’m a broken record saying this, but Latour, Rodriguez, and Renzi just keep crushing it on this book.

MY GRADE: A

JAVI’S HUH?: The credits bill this issue as “The Life of Gwen Stacy, part 2: The Bridge”, but last issue’s cover clearly identifies it as being part of the “Gwenom” arc, so was it really part 1?

SPECIAL NOTE: Being perpetually behind on these reviews, as I was working on this one the news broke of Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy co-creator Steve Ditko passing. I’d like to take this space to share what Latour and Rodriguez shared via twitter.

JASON LATOUR: “RIP Steve Ditko. You were too weird to live and too rare to die. Thanks for changing comics & my life. When Robbi Rodriguez and I were working on Spider-Gwen’s costume my biggest prompt was ‘let’s make sure it’s menacingly cool and kinda strange like Ditko’s Spidey was.'”

ROBBI RODRIGUEZ: “And I always thought he’d outlive us all. Here’s to you, Steve Ditko. Your work has literally changed my life more than I could have even imagined. I raise a glass to you. R.I.P., sir.”

RIP, Steve Ditko. “And may your amulet never tickle.”