Finding Gwen Stacy part 2: Romita Takes Over

Steve Ditko is off of the Spider-Man series and in his place we have John Romita. I will not go into the circumstances of Ditko’s departure because the endless speculation has been done elsewhere. John Romita was choosen to replace him, probably in some ways due to his great job drawing Spider-Man over in the pages of “Daredevil”. The infleunce of Ditko on the Spider-Man series and the Gwen character was very big. If you look at the last part whenever Gwen is draw she is wearing red (most of the time) and almost always has an angry expression on her face.

So what happens when somebody with experience in romance comics steps in?

The changes we get are clear right almost from the start.

Issue 39

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Almost right away we get a change in attitude from EVERYONE. Harry makes nice with Peter, and even Flash starts to wonder if Peter is a man. Later on that issue Peter even makes up with Ned Leeds. Peter is also made aware of everyone’s change of attitude when he thinks “First Harry, now Ned! What’s next? Jameson blows me a kiss?”

This issue is also the start of the Harry Osborn character as we know him. As you can see by looking at the Ditko issues, Harry was almsot unrecognizable as a general jerk and Flash Thompson lite.

Gwen’s face is also much brighter and less angry.

Personality changes had somewhat to do with the Marvel Method, where the pencils were drawn first and the dialouge was filled in afterwards. If Ditko was drawing an angry Gwen face then Stan would make Gwen’s dialouge match her look. When her face became less angry the dialouge slowly matched. As Romita’s run goes on, you’ll see Gwen mellow out more and more.

Gwen also still wants Peter for herself, but knows it’ll be easier on her and her reputation if she does it while he is in the popular crowd. Her attempts to get Flash to be nice to Peter again remind me of Liz Allan.

This issue also has the revelation of Norman Osborn as the Green Goblin and the unmasking of Spider-Man We don’t return to Gwen and the college gang until…….

Issue 41

That issue also finally resolves the Peter/Betty relationship. Betty returns to New York to finally resolve her relationships with Peter and Ned.

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It’s a change of pace because the Ditko issues still had Peter pining for Betty each issue. She also still had feelings for him. I wonder what the original plans were? Was Betty going to be brought back to develop a love triangle with Betty/Peter/Gwen? We’ll never know. I think Betty was too shy and scared for words in this scene though and Peter is just misreading her, because we later found out that Betty never stopped loving Peter.

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Aunt May is more concerned with Peter’s sinuses than the fact that he is riding without a helmet!

“She almost looks disappointed”. Well I suppose Gwen thought Peter was different than Flash and the other guys she dated in high school. Aside from him putting her off, his brains was one of the things that attracted her to him. Now she is not sure what type of a person he is. She is aware and excited about him flirting with her.

With the closure from Betty he can now see himself dating other girls again. Although Gwen’s chances could not have been hurt by the fact that this it he first interaction between them were there is no hostility.

Issue 42

Why is this issue so important?  Because it’s the first Mary Jane? Well there is that but also…

GWEN’S HEAD BAND APPEARS FOR THE FIRST TIME

That signature head band that she is wearing in EVERY flashback or splash page ever since.

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Apparently Gwen and Flash are dating judging by Peter’s “your gal” comment. This is also confirmed when Flash goes into the army. According to the much later issues of the Romita run when Flash returns, Gwen does really care for Flash as a friend, so he may not have been that bad when he wasn’t picking on Peter. She is obviously attracted to Flash because she flirted with him heavily when they first met in issue 31. She was also the beauty queen and popular girl back in Standrard High so she may have dated Flash because as the QB and popular boy, it was what she was “suppose to do”. But Gwen is getting tired of dating those type of boys. Look how she talks to Flash. She is very irritated that they aren’t on the same level in terms of brains. With Harry now friends with Pete and Gwen warming up to him, Flash is the odd man out with his “Puny Parker teasing”. Gwen is still being ruled by her pride. She is comfortable enough to openly invite Peter to a party in front of everyone, but must go back to acting cold and cruel when he backs out, so she can “save face” for herself. Between this embarrassment and her frustration with Flash, it is enough to finally send her on a date with Harry Osborn, who has been crushing on her for years. Gwen is probably making a scene by leaving with Harry in order to send a message to Peter and Flash.

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Peter is going from noticing Gwen to becoming hung up on her. Delayed reaction  I suppose.

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And things were never the same again. I am posting MJ’s appearance here because she is VERY important to Gwen’s evolution and her transformation from Ditko Mean Girl to Romita Angel. The change has started already. Her dialogue has already mellowed out, but so has everyone in the series. Her face is becoming more sweet and less angry.

Now we have wild card Mary Jane.
How does her character help Gwen evolve?

We’re going to cut this one short because Mary Jane is the major turning point…but we’ll be back and looking at the “Betty/Veronica” days.