Ghost-Spider #1 Review

“This is my second chance at normal. I can come here, be an ordinary student, go home and be a hero.”

Gwen is off to college…on another Earth! Will Peter Parker’s help be enough as she tries to balance registering and fighting giant rats? Meanwhile, TWO Miles Warrens are waiting in the wings…

Seanan McGuire WROTE IT

Takeshi Miyazawa DREW IT

Ian Herring COLORED IT

VC’s Clayton Cowles LETTERED IT

Jorge Molina DID THE COVER

Joe Quesada, Kevin Nowlan & Richard Isanove; Carlos Gomez & Morry Hollowell DID THE VARIANTS

Anthony Gambino DESIGNER

Danny Khazem ASSISTANT EDITOR

Devin Lewis EDITOR

GWEN STACY created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: On Earth-65, Gwen breaks her plan to the Mary Janes, then leaves to Earth-616 to meet Peter and register for her college courses at ESU. She falls under the Stark Scholarship, which is for aliens, dimensional travellers, clones, independent machine intelligences, and other students outside the norm. Back on her Earth, her dad goes back to work and gets upset that he was thrown a surprise party, which pales in comparison to the anger he feels when Mayor Jameson shows up and orders him to release his son, the Man-Wolf. Back in the 616, Spidey and Ghost-Spider go on patrol while Gwen mulls over her course options, fighting a giant rat. Peter lets her know that her suit is starving since her symbiote requires cellulose. Getting more to eat should ease up on her headaches and possibly even on her temporary power loss when she jumps between dimensions. Gwen finishes her registration and bumps into a Miles Warren while another one on Earth-65 plots and schemes.

THOUGHTS: As a piece of art, I love this cover! The colors are great, the characters look heroic (with a touch of Into The Spider-Verse), and Gwen is splitting the difference between her two worlds! However, it’s Gwen bouncing between two worlds that concerns me, but more on that later.

I was happy to see the issue opening with The Mary Janes. We don’t see enough of them as it is and now we’ll get even less presumably. They’re really important as they give Gwen a sense of stability and normalcy, one away from her super-heroics. Furthermore, now that they know her secret, they give her acceptance and keep her accountable to a group. Their music was a great outlet for Gwen to have stress relief, too. Who would’ve thought MJ would be the voice of reason here when she tells Gwen this is a bad idea?

Transitioning to Earth-616, Gwen meets up with Peter to go and register for school at ESU. Marvel likes to tout themselves as “your universe” and the “world outside your window” but only in the Marvel Universe would you find a Stark Scholarship for “aliens, dimensional travelers, clones, independent machine intelligences, and other students outside the norm.” ESU is a lot more progressive and accepting than I thought and it’s a clever work around for McGuire to easily get Gwen into a school located in another reality. I like that they came up with a lame back story for how Peter and Gwen met, too. Still, some long standing faculty member might recall that Peter dated a Gwen back in the day. Maybe one with glasses and a mustache?

Back on Earth-65, Captain Stacy is back at work and I loved the initial humor given to his return. Miyazawa really sells the captain’s annoyance and the officers’ sheepishness when George is less than thrilled with a surprise party. His mood gets even worse when Mayor Jameson shows up. I welcomed the familiarity of JJ making excuses for his son and getting him out of trouble. I’m glad the Man-Wolf story isn’t over yet. For all the build up in the last volume, it wound up feeling short lived.

The issue also spends some time with Spidey and Ghost-Spider web-slinging and fighting crime. This gives  them a chance to talk and expound on the new status quo while still getting in some action, which in this case is fighting a human-sized rat. It’s so random and unexplained…which somehow just fits with the whole Spider-Gwen vibe. I just shrugged my shoulders, accepted it, and moved on. Sometimes, you just gotta do that.

Peter provides Gwen with a pseudo-sciencey explanation for her power issues-her suit is hungry. Given all the time Venom went on about eating brains (and how he was always hungry in his movie), it makes sense for this world and solves the problem, while still leaving it as a plot device to create tension, similar to when Spidey’s web-shooters run out of fluid.

The Peter-616/Gwen-65 dynamic is an interesting one. It’s definitely a big brother/little sister type of relationship. It seems Gwen doesn’t seemed as pained being around him, indicating that maybe she is putting the guilt from her Peter’s death behind her. I’d love to see how she reacts to 616-Mary Jane as I don’t believe they’ve met (cue internet rallying to let me know I’m wrong and have forgotten when). Obviously, Gwen and Peter have the shared Spider experience to bond over, but since 616-MJ is not her long time friend, it would be interesting to see what common ground they feel they have and if they could be friends. Just imagine if Gwen liked this more mature Mary Jane better! EmJay would have a fit!

The issue closes out with a Miles Warren bumping into Gwen on campus while the Miles Warren of Earth-65 schemes against her. I’m glad this thread is continuing, especially as McGuire has intensified it with another Jackal! Showing that he’s sticking around helps make the transition to the new volume feel smoother, but again, is no one wondering why two dead people are at this campus?

This brings me to my concern with the new direction-how in the heck does this work and how long is this going to be sustained? Gwen had enough troubles balancing her personal life and being a hero and now she’s adding another Earth to the mix! I see how no one on Earth-616 knows who Ghost-Spider is, but an informed citizen of New York may recognize the famous police captain’s daughter who was murdered not too long after her father was struck down in a super-villain fracas. The Bugle highly publicized it, even getting Luke Cage, the hero for hire, to attempt to bring Spider-Man to justice! Hanging out at ESU, 616-Gwen’s old alma matter is begging for trouble. Sure, it’s a big campus, but I’d bet some long-time faculty member would do a double-take if they saw her!

Then we have the crime-fighting issue. Crime and villains aren’t going to take a break on Earth-65 because she is gone and now she’s going to cultivate a new batch of foes on Earth-616! A few years ago, New York felt very crowded when there were three Spider-Men (Peter, Miles, & Miguel) swinging around and now with Miguel once again in Amazing, having Ghost Spider in the 616 brings the total to four! Maybe they can form a team and Marvel can add another title to their roster?

What about Gwen and Miles? When last they crossed over in their respective titles, they shared a kiss. Are they going to become more serious? What does that mean for Harry? We’re now going to have two casts competing for page space in a book where I’d love to see more of the Earth-65 crew. McGuire has quite the balancing act ahead of her.

One thing I don’t doubt about this title is the art. Miyazawa continues to bring his manga-influenced style to give this title a unique look and feel. If we can’t have Rodriguez, I’m more than happy to see Miyazawa. It just feels right and distinct from the other Spider-Verse titles. He knows when to be cartoony and when to emphasize action and drama.

While I don’t see why Gwen has to straddle two worlds given she has plenty of stories to be told if she was just on her Earth, McGuire does a fantastic job with her characterization. Furthermore, this book serves as a great, well-told intro into the new status quo, whether or not I agree with it. It’s definitely worth purchasing, but my reservations over the change are keeping me from giving the full on Crawlspace seal of approval, despite the high grade I’ve awarded it. If that angle doesn’t bother you, then you should love the start of this fourth volume!

MY GRADE: A

JAVI’S HUH?: Portal jump questions-does she have to be in the air when she does it? Seems a lot safer to be on the ground and not worry about falling to your death because your powers cut out. Also, is time consistent between Earths? It seems like it’s night when Gwen leaves, but then quickly transitions to morning. Were The Mary Janes pulling an all-nighter practice?