Friendly Neighborhood Shape-Shifter? — Reviewing ‘Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider’ #5

As the first story arc of Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider reaches a conclusion, the universe-displaced Gwen Stacy is no closer to answers about her situation.

At least she found a way to save a life and make friendly with a supervillain. That’s something. It’s time for Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #5 from Stephanie Phillips, Paolo Villanelli, Matt Milla, and Ariana Maher.

Five issues in and I still do not know fully where I lean with this series. At this point, there are still numerous things that we are no closer to knowing or understanding about Gwen’s situation. There also isn’t any real supporting cast or true foundation to rest upon. It’s just been breakneck situation after situation, with no room to breathe for the character or the readers.

Look, there is nothing wrong with action-fests. I love that type of story. What makes the best action filled stories work most often is giving that base, a reason to care. Now, to be fair, Gwen is a character that has now been bouncing around for over a decade. So, there are reasons to care for her with those readers who have read the stories and come to love the character.

A lot of that care came from the character being part of her own world with her supporting cast of friends and family. Taking on alternate universe (for us) versions of villains and others. Now she’s thrown into the 616 with no real rhyme or reason (at least known to us yet) and is a floundering fish out of water. Which could be a really good story, if a few more pieces of the actual foundation had been laid.

Phillips clearly has some plans and ideas and a solid grasp on the character. Chameleon came off a bit too friendly like at times, especially after being saved, but it’s not a deal breaker. Not like this character gets a lot of use compared to many of the other Spider-Man rogues. Maybe the second arc will spend more time hammering out what we’re supposed to know or care about for this series.

My fingers are crossed. I want to like this book more than I currently do, and I want to stop sounding like a broken record in my reviews. Also, why the heck is Vermin suddenly so popular in Spider-themed books? Swear this character and his various clones are all over the dang place lately. Wild.

What’s really working in these two issues is the style that Villanelli brings to the page. Angular, with some rough to sharp edges, yet soft and very deep in detail and weight upon the page. Gwen’s current world situation is very dark, even grim, and the art reflects that. There are a lot of heavier lines and shaded zones, bringing the shadows into play no matter the present location or situation.

Action plays a solid role in the story, and the panel choices feed into that. Giving things a very kinetic and fluid overall feeling, with a dash of chaos. That last ingredient being very important to Spider-characters, since their very movement styles tend to be wild and chaotic to an extent.

Various tonal changes on the page feel natural, with a solid blend between different color types. Milla focuses on a lot of darker sections of the color palette, reserving many of the lighter or brighter tones for the super-fantasy elements. Remaining light and playful alongside those tones that are anything but that particular flavor.

While some of the dialogue feels a bit clunky at times (with some characters overly repeating another’s words), it flows pretty smoothly across the page. That’s because Maher always brings an A-game for lettering, really finding ways to liven up the visuals and infuse every bit of character into them. Giving the pages that extra bit of kick on top of what is already there.

Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider #5 is now available from Marvel Comics.