Ghost-Spider #3-6 MEGA Review

“All this super hero junk just gets in the way. I told you I didn’t like you going to school in another dimension.”

It’s time for Gwen’s happiness bubble to burst as the Jackal of Earth-616 makes his move! Oh, ever wonder what the Sue and Johnny Storm of Earth-65 are like?

Seanan McGuire WROTE THEM

Takeshi Miyazawa, Ig Guara, and Rosi Kämpe DREW THEM

Takeshi Miyazawa, Ig Guara, and Rosi Kämpe INKED THEM

Ian Herring COLORED THEM

VC’s Clayton Cowles LETTERED THEM

Jorge Molina and Greg Land with Frank D’Armata DID THE COVERS

Bengal DID THE 2099 COVER

Mahmud Asrar & Matt Wilson DID THE 2020 COVER

DESIGNER: Anthony Gambino

ASSISTANT EDITOR: Danny Khazem

EDITOR: Devin Lewis

GWEN STACY created by STAN LEE & STEVE DITKO

STORY: On Earth-616, Gwen’s classmate, Benji, reports to the Miles Warren of that Earth about recent developments with our heroine. Warren gives her a formula that will briefly give her powers and aid her in tracking and retrieving Gwen. She follows her until Gwen disappears in a portal and her newly granted powers conk out. She reports back to Warren, who warns her that failure has consequences. Back on Earth-65, Ghost-Spider hears shots fired and finds that Man-Wolf’s gang has plugged Bodega Bandit. Ghost-Spider rushes her nemesis to the hospital and then goes on patrol, guilt-ridden over what happened while she was away.

At school the next day, Gwen is waiting for Benji, who is a no-show. She decides to go home to her Earth and despite her Spider-Sense warning her of danger, she doesn’t see anything and ‘ports home. Unfortunately, Warren saw her. Ghost-Spider heads to the hospital to check on Bodega Bandit, but walks in to a hostage situation. Man-Wolf’s gang is there to retrieve a fallen member, but Ghost-Spider is able to save the hostages. Back in his lab, Warren-65 believes he’s found a way to subdue the Haunting Hero. Later on Earth-616, Gwen is still wondering what happened to Benji, who is revealed to the reader as having been disposed of. When she heads back home, Warren-616, now in his Jackal form, follows her through the portal, seeing her world for the first time…

On Earth-65, Jackal-616 interrupts a mugging and has the gang bring him to their leader, which puts him face to face with Warren-65. Warren-616 fills Warren-65 in on the multiverse and how he’s after Gwen Stacy. They decide to team up. A trap is set for Ghost-Spider with civilians as bait and she gets captured. Jackal-616 tries to use Gwen’s portal device, but it won’t work for him since it’s keyed to her. Warren-65 laughs at Jackal-616 coming to his Earth to essentially find a date and gets his throat ripped out for it. Before Jackal can move further in his plans for the captive Gwen, The Mary Janes arrive to the rescue! Their distraction enables Gwen to break free, but Jackal gets away, requesting the Man-Wolf’s gang to take him to their leader.

Five years ago, Johnny and Sue Storm went missing. Back in the present day, Gwen is taking her friends to rock concerts across the Multiverse. Once the most recent show has wrapped up, she goes on patrol and finds a bank robbery with hostages. Ghost-Spider saves the day. Meanwhile, the missing Storm siblings mysteriously turn up at the police station.

THOUGHTS: I’ve made no secret about being wary of Gwen going to school in the 616-Universe. It makes that world overcrowded, presents a host of logistical problems, and cuts down on time spent in Gwen’s wonderful home earth. After a lackluster annual and second issue, I fell behind on all things Spider-Gwen. I recently binged issues 3-6 and was more than pleasantly surprised!

For starters, Jameson confronts the “Jackal” of Earth-65 and the issue of his defeat at the hands of Ghost-Spider comes up. One of the qualms I had with the big Man-Wolf fight was how quick it was after being built up and McGuire brings that up here in her story! It’s good to see it actually being addressed as part of the continuity, acknowledging the fact that Man-Wolf’s development is still a work-in-progress, meaning that when it comes time for a rematch, Gwen is going to be in for a greater challenge.

As issue #3 shifts its narrative to the main Marvel U, that Earth gets acknowledged as “home to so many spiders.” It feels a bit cheeky, almost like the team is winking along, saying “yes, we know it’s crowded. Please just go with it for now.” They know that people beyond me have mentioned it and it feels reassuring that they’re aware of the issue.

Gwen’s feeling pretty good about her life right now, striking that delicate balance between school, her band, and super heroics, blissfully unaware that the balance is about to be upset in a big, bad way. I like Peter-616 in the big brother role here, cautioning her from experience not to tempt fate by bragging how well she’s doing. He would know better than most that that is when things can go majorly wrong. While McGuire has given us glimpses into how Gwen views this Peter, I wish we could get the opposite here or in Amazing. I’d really like to get into his headspace and see how he views the dynamic now that she’s theoretically going to be around more.

Sure enough, tragedy does strike. With the list of loved ones affected by violence including her dad, Harry, and The Mary Janes, who could be left? The Bodega Bandit, that’s who. The violence lashes out with a suddenness captured with dramatic flare by Miyazawa as Ghost-Spider sharply turns to the sound of gunfire and races inside the deli! I love how quickly she takes the gang out and I can feel Gwen’s blows as they swiftly land.

I also appreciate seeing Gwen’s compassion towards Bodega Bandit. Spider-Man has always been empathetic towards certain foes and I loved seeing the tradition continue here. Letting the Bandit be her nemesis means a lot to him and her concern for not just him, but the whereabouts of Pine Cone are truly touching.

With apologies to SpideyDude, it’s been a loooong time since I’ve found the Jackal to be a threatening or dangerous foe, if at all, but McGuire pulls it off at the conclusion of #3 and the issues following! When Benji goes to report to Warren-616 about what she’s discovered regarding Gwen, the storytelling leaves some ominous hints as to the price of failure as the story ends. We later discover that she’s been literally disposed of in the trash during #4. Also, remember when Ghost-Spider and Spider-Man teamed up against DinoSwarm in Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #10? Or when they fought the giant, mutant random rat in Ghost-Spider #1? That was all Jackal-616. I am loving the thought McGuire has been putting into this and how it’s starting to connect!

Issue #4 finds Gwen going back home, with Warren-616 following her and catching her disappearing act. Once again, Man-Wolf’s gang has taken hostages back on Earth-65, this time at a hospital when their plan to recover an injured member goes wrong. Miyazawa really makes this scene work as Ghost-Spider methodically takes them out like she’s Batman in an Arkham game, using the hospital’s automatic doors as a distraction to literally get the drop on the bad guys. Furthermore, her suit’s enhanced abilities give her an interrogation mode, too, as the hoodie starts to menace a foe. Who needs a Stark suit for that?

McGuire ends on a great cliffhanger of Warren-616 transforming himself into The Jackal once more and narrowly following Gwen through her dimensional portal. If being a super stalker wasn’t creepy enough, his glee at finding a world where Gwen is an unmasked hero and known celebrity is palpable thanks to the art. My only quibble is at times he looks more Goblinish than Jackal-like as we segue into the next issue.

#5 is my favorite issue of this volume by far. Lots of elements come together here with a few surprises, too! Man-Wolf’s crew once again take hostages (when it comes to getting Ghost-Spider’s attention-if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?) and when they capture our heroine they coldly execute their victims! It adds an element of danger to the story as they have no compunction against murdering a woman and her two children in cold blood.

The Jackals of two worlds meeting up was handled well by McGuire. Warren-65 may seem fixated on Ghost-Spider, but it’s for the scientific curiosity of it all, not a romantic entanglement. When he realizes his 616 counterpart is fanatically in love with Gwen it causes him to burst out with laughter at the absurdity of it all. I love that Gwen has no idea what Jackal-616 is rambling about, having no idea of all the past history he has on his own Earth.

Another shock was Jackal slashing the throat of Miles Warren. That’s going to complicate things for Man-Wolf-65. Gwen stating that Warren deserved a trial and not death sounds very much like something the child of a cop might say. I appreciated her keeping Jackal-616 at arm’s length, telling him to call her Ghost-Spider and not Gwen.

I also loved The Mary Janes rushing to the rescue. Sure, it may be the result of MJ being ticked off that Gwen is missing practice yet again, but it seems totally in character for her to use real-time location sharing for that purpose. After so callously murdering his doppelgänger, you immediately fear for the lives of the band. That’s why it’s so awesome that when MJ gets held hostage by Jackal she takes him out herself with a well-deserved elbow to the stomach.

Like a good Spider-Person, Gwen is wracked with guilt over her Warren losing his life. I appreciated her caring like she does, in addition to worrying about her friends. Unfortunately, their concern leads to a lack of attention and the Jackal slips away, to stalk another day. This leads to him seeking out the Man-Wolf’s gang and filling me with anticipation as to what he and Jameson will come up with to trouble Ghost-Spider. Given how McGuire has brought everything together I have faith in her that this rematch will be a doozy!

Ghost-Spider #6, titled “Party People”, opens up five years ago, introducing us to the Sue and Johnny Storm of Earth-65. This world is not kind to the Storms, not only is their dad a notorious serial killer, but Sue and Johnny are vapid influencers. They wind up missing after a photo shoot in Latveria, a nice little connection to Dr. Doom. Given Sue is a young adult and this is five years ago, I don’t see her hooking up with Reed Richards-65 any time soon in the present day.

I thought it was a cool idea for Gwen to take her friends to alternate Earths to check out a multitude of versions of bands they love. It’s like the ultimate remix and a great way for her to bring her friends into her world of the fantastic.

This issue sees Gwen continuing her Earth-65 routine of fighting bad guys who’ve taken hostages. Again. Maybe it seems that way as I read these four issues in one fell swoop, but the whole hostage motif becomes readily apparent in one sitting, something a lot of folks will realize if their exposure to this is in trade paperback form. The scenario feels very familiar to past ones, with Gwen stealthing in to the bank and using the environment and her web-shooters to her advantage, but it lacks the punch, if you’ll pardon the pun, under the art team of Ig Guara & Rosi Kämpe when compared with previous iterations rendered by Miyazawa. It’s cool, but repetitive, and like I’ve said elsewhere, Kämpe’s art just doesn’t resonate with me like Miyazawa’s does.

Naturally, Ghost-Spider saves the day, but before her dad can thank her much further, he gets called back to the station for some urgent business. I loved Gwen’s remark that he probably won’t even bring home ice cream. Yeah, that’s a thing for people in public safety. The big emergency winds up being the reappearance of the Storms, looking much worse for wear, battered and clinging to each other in the shelter of the station. Color me intrigued for what comes next. Hopefully, we’ll spend some more time on Earth-65!

While I still think this whole Gwen going to school on another Earth is a terrible idea, McGuire is at least making it interesting and illustrating why it won’t work for her. No matter where she goes, trouble is a magnet. Miyazawa’s art is as sharp as ever, but I still haven’t warmed to Kämpe’s style. While the buildup with the Jackals has been thrilling, issue #6 felt more average as we set up the next story arc. Bottom line-McGuire is still making this an entertaining read and I intend to stick around a bit more!

MY GRADE: #3 B, #4 B+, #5 A, #6 C

JAVI’S HUH?: Did anyone else felt Kosei looked a little like Peter in #4?

Ghost-Spider didn’t hear Jackal scream after he followed her through the portal and fell?