All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #1 – New Webs, Same Threads

With a title like All-New Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #1, you’d expect this relaunch to be a perfect place for new readers to jump onto one of Marvel’s breakout stars of the mid-2010s. As a reader picking up the character for the first time since her initial debut, I found myself conflicted with regards to this issue as a starting point for those interested in the character’s comic book exploits.

While there’s enough exposition to plainly lay out any necessary details, the on-ramping for both Gwen and her supporting cast is too open to really grasp them as anything more than images on the page. Not perfect, but not poor, this is a “mileage may vary” debut that is bolstered by its layered use of interpersonal character tension and looming tragedy. There is a strong mystery plot, and those who have missed the days of symbiotes playing the role of horrific metaphor rather than sci-fi goop will find something worth biting into by the issue’s end.

Much of the distance between new readers and the growing continuity of Stephanie Phillips’ take on Ghost-Spider could be chalked up to the typical Marvel relaunch routine, or the artist’s loose and color-focused approach to establishing atmosphere over traditional cartoonist expressionism. In truth, I think it comes down to a combination of the two, leading to a pace that moves through the motions as though it were issue fifteen of Phillips’ prior Ghost-Spider title rather than something truly “All-New.” You can fill in the connective blanks thanks to the generic social roles our cast fills, but that’s about as far as their initial impressions will take you. Cindy Moon is the “friend.” Fabian is the “troubled boyfriend.” Who they really are—the personality beyond the role—is not yet defined with a third layer.

That being said, if you’re the kind of reader who can latch onto a title’s tonal approach without any extra character context, then there is still something really juicy at play. As selfish desire, loneliness, and looming tragedy swirl around Gwen, we pick up with her in a place designed to test the limits of her inner drive and greater responsibility. The interpersonal parallels to other works within the Spider-Man mythos only heighten this further. I’m sure this is all even more interesting with the prior run’s context, but as a reader who lacks it, I found the broad-strokes plot and potential just potent enough to carry me beyond the airiness of a lackluster jumping-on point.