When this new Gwenpool series was first announced, the reaction was almost entirely negative. The advance press was built entirely around a blasphemous concept; the resurrection of Gwen Stacy as a murderous assassin. This first issue tries to sell that idea, but not well enough to overcome the inertia born of skepticism.
Gwenpool #1 tells two stories. The first involves X-31; a trainee of the Weapon X program embarking on her final test. This involves being sent after three Deathlok soldiers. We don’t know who she is (or aren’t meant to until the final page) but she refuses to answer to the name Gwenpool.
The second story involves Gwen Poole; everyone’s favorite fangirl turned superhero. She is armed with moderate fighting skills, an encyclopedic knowledge of Marvel Comics trivia, and the ability to step in and out of the story. She is also pissed to discover Marvel is apparently replacing her with a “clearance rack cosplayer.”
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At least, that is what she thinks, until she and Spider-Man unmask her dark doppelganger to discover Gwen Stacy. This would be surely be a shocking and unexpected development. At least, it might be, if the marketing for this comic weren’t built around hard-selling the idea that this new Gwenpool is a back-from-the-dead Gwen Stacy.
Gwenpool #1 has little to it but hype
Cavan Scott does his best to try and make the core idea behind this Gwenpool series work. To his credit, he does capture the comedy of Gwen Poole’s early appearances well, along with her interactions with Kate Bishop and Jeff the Shark. Unfortunately, despite Gwen hanging a lampshade upon the newcomer being “something so stupid even the ’90s would be embarrassed,” the core concept doesn’t quite work.
To Scott’s credit, he does capture the tone of Marvel’s Dark Age quite well. The segments centered on X-31 have a Liefeldian sense of excess. Unfortunately, any sense of suspense one might feel reading this issue has been ruined by the marketing and the highly hyped idea that Gwen Stacy is back.
Thankfully, while the scripting is conflicted, artist Stefano Nesi offers an excellent first outing in their Marvel premiere. Nesi conveys both the dark extremes of the X-31 segments and the more ludicrous action of Gwenpool fighting Fin Fang Foom quite well. Unfortunately, it isn’t enough to sell the story.
The chief problem with Gwenpool #1 is that the core concept has been done to death. Spider-Man fans have already seen Gwen Stacy come back as a variant and a clone. Given that, there is no sense of suspense as to how she came back here, nor any reason to believe it is the classic Gwen. While the execution is not bad, there seems little reason for this comic to exist beyond simple shock value. That’s not enough when it isn’t all that shocking.
Grade: 5/10
Gwenpool #1 arrives in comics shops everywhere on May 14, 2025.
