For as popular as Earth 65’s Ghost Spider Gwen Stacy, aka Spider-Gwen, has been she has been lost in the shuffle for quite a while. A big reason for that has been that after having Spider-Gwen change her superhero name to Ghost Spider when she made her way to Earth-616 she has lacked a direction. Now with Power Ragers and Dead Lucky’s writer Melissa Flores has been tapped to give Spider-Gwen back her universe as Gwen returns to Earth-65. How will this latest series go and possibly set up a future for Spider-Gwen’s character? Let’s find out how that goes with Spider-Gwen: Smash #1.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Melissa Flores
Artist: Enid Balám
Inker: Elisabetta D’Amico
Colorist: Fer Sifuentes-Sujo
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
SOLICITATION
“TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC! The Mary Janes are off on a four-city tour as the opening act to one of Earth-65’s biggest rock bands! Gwen has promised the band that this big break will be all about the music. No web-slinging, just drums. But when a mysterious assassin targets the headliner, Gwen begins to wonder how she got this gig in the first place. Featuring new versions of some of your favorite characters!” – Marvel Comics
REVIEW
For all of the Spider-Gwen mini-series we’ve gotten the last few years Spider-Gwen: Smash #1 was such a breath of fresh air. This is the first Spider-Gwen series since her last ongoing before becoming Ghost Spider that it did feel like her series. There was no just trying to jump on the Spider-Verse bandwagon. This was simply about Earth-65 Gwen Stacy getting to interact with her world.
Starting with Gwen back with her Mary Jane bandmates in the middle of a concert immediately refocus this story as being on Earth-65. With this concert Melissa Flores addresses how Gwen has yet to fully address her status quo after publicly revealing her identity and spending a year in prison. She ran away to Earth-616 to get away from this status quo. Because of that she is not fully comfortable with trying to get back into her normal life on Earth-65 and is on edge even while drumming. That’s shown with how reckless she Pink Velvet shows up at her concert and accidently webs up several people, including Em Jay, when trying to stop the villain.
Which adds to how important it is that Gwen has own supporting cast to ground her. While having Spider-Man peers like Peter Parker, Miles Morales, and Jessica Drew to go for advice it is never the same. We see that with how the personal conversations Gwen has with her father, George Stacy, and her Mary Jane bandmates gets. The tear in Gwen’s eye with Em Jay says they need her shows how much these personal connections she has means for her.
From there, Gwen going tour with the Em Jay to be the opening act for Dazzler and the Uncut Gems was a good way to give her a reason to not go back to Earth-616 like she’s been doing for the last few years. This gave Gwen a direction that isn’t necessarily just her being Spider-Gwen, at least at first. There is something more to do in her world than just check in with her dad and friends. This helps to at least start to provide Gwen with a new normal that she hasn’t sought out on Earth-65.
While obviously this wasn’t going to just be a simple band tour its very much appreciated the Jabberjaw inspiration of Gwen having to deal with a mystery of someone stalking Dazzler. Gwen being in a band does give her the cover for why she would be with Dazzler without immediately throwing off suspicion. Doing the classic cartoon mystery band direction is honestly refreshing from other Spider-Gwen stories. The stakes are clearly established, and its all done while making sure this feels like a classic Spider-Gwen story.
Enid Balám artwork is solid. It’s a blend of a webtoon style that we’ve seen the Marvel Infinite comic book line with the typical comic book style. Spider-Gwen is the right character to be given this style and it shows with the energetic tone of the way music is played and Gwen fights against villains.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Spider-Gwen: Smash #1 is a refreshing return to form for Earth-65 Gwen Stacy. Gwen’s chemistry with her dad and friends shines throughout this issue. The classic mystery story around a band on tour is a good direction for Spider-Gwen to take. It helps to continue to bring in other versions of classic Marvel characters, like Dazzler, into the Earth-65 Universe. If you are a Spider-Gwen fan make sure to pick this comic book up.
Story Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 6 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10