Not my sort of thing at all. ( )

I am loving this fresh start for this character!!! Also I ADORE that there are a Gwen and an MJ that are GIRLFRIENDS YESSSSSSS. I want a whole mini series on them. ( )

Surprisingly fun! Or maybe not, considering that Marvel’s generally pretty fun, their Spiders are always my jam, and I’m a huge fan of McGuire. This is an amazing solid comic story, from the plot to the characters to the tone. I’m not sure how much of that’s McGuire’s doing vs. Marvel’s oversight, but it’s great.

It helps that this is really my first introduction to Gwen Stacy apart from the movies. She’s fun and I like her with Spider powers! She’s got some great snark and fight scenes which feel all her own, and her particular brand of Spider angst is similarly unique. McGuire is good at emotional whump.

As for the story, I can’t say much because comics are so short, but I had so much fun (and whump) visiting the parallel dimension Gwen ends up in, and seeing familiar characters in new roles. FYI: parallel dimensions and alternate realities? Also my jam. And of course, watching Gwen try to get herself home is, well, it’s a journey.

There’s really only one place where this comic falls down for me, and that’s only because as much as I love Spider-Man and the Spider-verse, I … haven’t been following the comics, like, at all. This trade collects comics on either side of a big interdimensional event, as far as I can tell, so there’s a time skip and a “what, what?!” at one point. Nobody’s fault but mine, but it did lessen my enjoyment a little.

This is an excellent comic, though. I was left entertained and satisfied and wanting more Spider-Gwen! More Spiders! More! (Not that I’ve picked up the second trade, but hey. I’m going to.) A definite rec.
7.5/10

Contains: Mental illness, sort of; brief mentions of death and trauma ( )

Enjoyable, but I'm coming in pretty much cold on Spider-Gwen, and there are a lot of references to back story that I'm missing. Having seen the recent multi-verse based Spider-man movie helped, because otherwise I'd have understood even less. So, I kinda liked it and I'll probably look out for the next one, but I didn't actually get the story. ( )