written by Dan Slott
art by Jim Cheung (p) John Dell, Jay Leisten and Cheung (i)
colors by Justin Ponsor
When I first picked up this miniseries, which I have enjoyed from start to finish, I thought it was about bringing key members of Peter's supporting cast back from the dead, and to an extent, I was right, but as it wraps up in fine fashion with this issue I see that writer Dan Slott had a much deeper agenda: he sought to right a wrong that Marvel editorial had done to one of the most important characters in Spider-Man's canon: Gwen Stacy.
The Jackal's plan gets kicked into high gear as Otto Octavius, whom he had resurrected as a clone, has lashed out in anger and set off a frequency that activates a carrion virus that will destroy anyone who was cloned, or who benefited from the Jackal's "New U" process, or was infected by the clones through touch. Peter, Anna Maria Marconi and the rest of them are in a race against time to stop the rapid deterioration of the clones or whoever received the New U treatment, but things may be challenging, even with Spider-Gwen, Kaine and Prowler fighting alongside them against the enraged villain clones. Gwen Stacy (not the alternate universe one) having been brought back from the dead and now dying along with the rest of the clones, takes a stand to help the man she once loved.
Unlike 2014's event Spider-Verse, which I found to be a bloated, laborious slog to read with a distinctly unsatisfying ending, I found that this series, with an economy of issues and some consistently stunning artwork, effectively sets up the big return of not just one but two major Spider-characters. It revisited the Clone Saga of the nineties with both deference to what happened and some decent storytelling, and also went a long way towards righting the wrong that Joe Quesada and then Spider-Man editor Axel Alonso inflicted on Gwen Stacy with 2004's "Sins Past" storyline, who was retroactively made to have sex with and bear children to Norman Osborn in a storyline that focused on those children, whom then-writer J. Michael Straczynski had originally conceptualized to be Peter's children. The story line and its ramifications have since been quietly abandoned (so far), but the stigma of the retcon remained among those who remember it.
Slott has worked hard to rehabilitate Gwen's image among fans, and his first major step in this direction was the creation of the alternate universe Spider-Woman, Gwen Stacy, who has proven to be a huge hit among fans. But even this wonderful "new" character wasn't quite enough to remove the bad taste that Straczynski's editorially-mangled story line left in fans' mouths, and so with this new story, and this issue in particular, he provides a somewhat satisfying coda to Gwen's story which, I sincerely hope, lingers as part of the character's canon long after the "Sins Past" debacle has long been retconned away.
Just as I cheered for Anna Maria Marconi when she showed herself to be a hero to "different" people everywhere last issue (and she in fact saves lives in this issue, too), I also cheered when, even without the Spider-powers of her hip young alternate universe counterpart, Gwen Stacy manages to go out as a hero as well.
Jim Cheung wraps up the series with art just as vibrant and kinetic as the art he presented in the first issue and for this I was grateful, considering that Olivier Coipel, who illustrated the first few issues of the Spider-Verse event two years ago, didn't go the distance. Notably, this series finished on time.
Interestingly, of all the books I want to follow after this, the one I am most interested in is collected editions of "Spider-Gwen," though Stuart Immonen's impending arrival onto the flagship Amazing Spider-Man book may persuade me to come back as well. Time will tell. After all, after the mess of One More Day, Dan Slott has spent nearly the last decade striving mightily to do right by this character.
For now, though, and without looking ahead to what future series may bring, I am content with what has been an engaging read.
8.5/10
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