The Heart Of The Matter: Reviewing ‘Giant-Size Spider-Gwen’ #1

While the day may have been saved, that typical Spider-hero luck hasn’t quite finished with Gwen Stacy and her friends. This is just the first of many life-changing dominos about to fall for the hero known as Ghost Spider.

The story that began in Spider-Gwen: Smash gains a powerful epilogue with Giant-Sized Spider-Gwen #1. An issue that features a lead story from Melissa Flores, Alba Glez, Elisabetta D’Amico, Fer Sifuentes-Sujo, and Ariana Maher. It comes paired with a reprint of Spider-Gwen #13 from Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, Rico Renzi, and Clayton Cowles.

It’s not often that we get the end of the story before it’s done being told. In comics, with shifting schedules, it’s not that strange. Luckily the finale of Spider-Gwen: Smash is right around the corner.

Flores gets to finish off her story here while sprinkling in some more fun alternate universe cameos and debuts. Mary Jane struggles with the Carnage symbiote that Bruce Banner reawakened within her. Orlando Octavius, the adopted son of Otto Octavius (who he seemingly killed?) wants MJ and her symbiote. Fights and chase scenes, featuring Mysterio and Dazzler’s rarely-seen sister Mortis, go down as Gwen and MJ deal with emotions.

It’s a quick-paced type of story. Rife with that soap opera goodness we love in comics, bringing some momentary closure. Teases at a Sinister Six situation and MJ/Gwen’s feelings bring some intrigue. How that will play out with the new upcoming series (Spider-Gwen: The Ghost Spider) trapping Gwen in the 616 universe remains to be seen.

I hadn’t encountered Glez’ artwork before this moment, but color me intrigued. Hits that great space where deep detailed heavy meets whimsical exaggeration. Characters have weight and feel real as they move through the space. Faces are well-detailed with emotions that hit hard and do the work. Yet, their body proportions are slightly off allowing them to be more fluid in a way.

D’Amico’s inks help to bring a lot of that weight and darker beats. Carnage looks horrifying on so many pages, but also has a wild fun look as we see MJ’s features poking through. Almost Jokeresque with some of those grin shots, and the more animated rendering makes it even scarier.

Spider-books need to feel quick, like characters and things are bounding around us in incomprehensible ways. Because that is how the various Spider-heroes move. Glez achieves that with the panel choices, changing views and shapes. Slashing here or there with bigger and smaller contained spaces. Letting the action spill where it needs to.

Keeping with the balanced tones are Sifuentes-Sujo’s colors. Overall they have a lot of very bright lightness to them. White gutter space being put to great use in Glez’s paneling helps. Colors feel slick and smooth, letting the reds, whites, or other colors dominate at times. While the backgrounds are where the darker and heavier colors play. Keeping the spaces the characters inhabit more grounded or realistic.

I love the lighting changes. In a warehouse things are dim, falling into a space where there is little light other than artificial illumination. Compare that to the stunning pre-dusk sunset swirling colors when Ghost-Spider & Carnage/MJ go outside. Each spot has a unique feeling, because that is how illumination and the world is supposed to look and feel.

Unique also fits what Maher brings to the lettering side of things. Colorful bubbles, fonts that shift, bubbles of varying shapes and sizes, and so much more. Character voices are easy to feel, their emotions and personality at the forefront of every word. IT all moves around the page so easily, keeping the characters/action framed so well.

One gripe I have isn’t to do with the content of the issue or the creative team. It’s more a grumble about the overall Giant-Size issue celebration. Forty-eight pages, half of which are an old issue reprint, is more double-sized than giant-sized. Especially since a lot of the one-shots that kick off & end the plethora of comic book events these days are double even the size of this issue almost.

Giant-Size Spider-Gwen #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.