Review by Frank Plowright

This oversized hardcover encompasses Spider-Gwen’s continuity from 2016 to 2020 as she transitions into the more marketing-friendly Ghost-Spider alias. It also looks back to her time among the dimension-hopping Web Warriors and offers a battle with Carnage during the King in Black crossover.

Most of the writing falls to Seanan McGuire, who starts poorly on the Carnage story, but improves on the regular series, although combining so much of her writing highlights the faults rather than revealing the strengths, which are clearer in smaller doses of Gwen in paperback. She’s handicapped to some extent by Gwen’s world lacking super villains, so instead of Gwen stopping a mugging or a hostage situation being the appetiser on the way to the main event, it becomes the main course. Combining her monthly adventures highlights how repetitive this is. It’s mitigated a little when Gwen begins dimension hopping to the regular Marvel Earth.

Once into her groove McGuire can’t quite achieve a balance right between action and out of costume activities. Gwen has a complicated life, combining studies, commitment to a rock band and placating her police officer father, and as these adventures begin she’s just been released from jail and everyone knows her civilian identity. McGuire writes the day to day drama well, and obviously enjoys that more than having to shoehorn in costumed action, which often seems forced. At its best, which is a rescue scene set during a fire or the showdown with the troublesome Man-Wolf, there’s appropriate urgency and tension, but otherwise there’s too many conversations thrashing out issues, and repetition of Gwen swinging around town considering matters.

Artistically Takeshi Miyazawa (sample page) is the class act, with a light touch on loose figures, but naturalistic and strong on showing how people feel. David Baldeón is an obviously good artist, and certainly versatile, but becomes more and more stylised over the course of Gwen’s adventures with the Web Warriors. However, unlike other series given the oversized packaging, there’s not a great deal of art memorable enough to justify the expense.

These are written by Mike Costa and have Gwen as part of a team protecting the Web of Life and hopping between dimensions helping assorted other Spider-People with their problems. Costa’s writing is the mirror reflection of McGuire as he concentrates almost exclusively on action with very few character moments among the chaos. It means a large cast eventually become lost and interchangeable.

All in all, you’d be better advised to sample a Spider-Gwen paperback before committing to this pricey package. Electroverse is the better of the two Web Warriors outings, although Spiders vs. has a clever title. King in Black: Gwenom vs. Carnage is accompanied by other material, equally poor. The remainder of the content is split between the two McGuire series. Spider-Geddon and Impossible Year precede Dog Days Are Over and Party People.

One more point: if Marvel is going to charge a premium price for reprinted material, couldn’t they pay an artist for a new cover?