Spider-Gwen #5 Review

writer: Jason Latour / artist: Robbi Rodriguez / Marvel Comics We’re back! Except only this time, we can’t look forward to the future. As a solo title, it looks like this Spider-Gwen is done, y’all. A shame, really, that Marvel would pull this book with the stingy consolation prize of her continued character presence in Secret Wars, but I’m glad her character will remain. How was the finale itself? Well, it hardly was one. Issue #5 didn’t feel like a conclusion as much as a middling issue in a book that’s gearing up for an actual climax… what we fans were naïve enough to expect. Instead we have an issue that’s just good enough to remind us how much story potential we’ll never see filled. The strangest part of this finale was its most interesting, as the issue seemed to focus more on Earth-65’s version of Felicia Hardy than Spider-Gwen herself. But while the spotlight shone on Felicia, I was happy with her reimagining as a Black French thief with a grudge against Matt Murdock and wanted to know more about her. In fact, being given a brief glimpse into her character only to have it snatched away so fast is a microcosm of what the Spider-Gwen series has now become – an unfortunately short-lived tease Marvel is taking away.

While Gwen Stacy will technically continue in the greater Marvel universe, she won’t be written by Latour, drawn by Rodriguez, or colored by Renzi, and these 5 issues weren’t enough time for them to finish a complete story. Instead, it’ll always read like a g…