"I Remember Gwen"

[cyberghostface]

 

I posted a panel from this story the other day, and it inspired an...interesting discussion. Here's the context behind it. It comes from Amazing Spider-Man #365. Tom DeFalco plotted it, Stan Lee wrote the script and John Romita Sr. illustrated it.






Mary Jane thinks about the day Captain Stacy died, in which during a fight between Doctor Octopus and Spider-Man, a chimney fell over and Stacy was crushed saving a little boy from being hit.

Comments

[roxrox]

Daw!

[darkblade]

Then again if you didn't make sure they stayed together it'd have been you having rapidly aging mutant Goblin babies and getting dropped off a brdige.

[punishermax]

As much as I disagree with essentially everyone here about Spider-Man and his relationships, I love Gwen. Maybe my favorite Spider girlfriend.

[tifaeria]

Aw, this story is always one of my favorites, showcasing all three of those characters positively.

I always love Gwen. She's one of my top favorite characters in Spiderman.

[roxrox]

Good story, but it just makes MJ look like a total rebound. lol

[unicornicopia]

I kind of desperately want a story focusing solely on Gwen. Like an AU one-shot where she lives, but eventually grew apart from Peter or never knew him at all. I think that Gwen kind of gets stuck in the box of being "The Girlfriend that Died" and that's a shame.

[cleome45]

"I hope we'd be friends for life!"

Shouldn't this have launched about twenty-two thousand OT3 fics?

Crap. I really have been here too long, haven't I? :o

[sailorlibra]

Personally, I think MJ shows a lot more depth here than Gwen. But I don't really know much about Gwen and one-dimensionity could just be because this is through MJ's perspective and MJ thought of Gwen as just being kind and unselfish. I dunno. What I do know is that I love me some Mary Jane and would love to see more of her.

[galateus]

Present-day MJ's hair and facial expressions are ridiculously over-the-top soap-opera/romance-comic-y. It's amazing.

[jaybee3]

This story is so sweet (and DeFalco's art is gorgeous). I know Stan Lee can be corny at times, but it's a good corny (I'd rather read his Spidey newstrips than BND).

It's also sad that the last few years have taken everything about this story and this version of Gwen, MJ and Peter and turned it on its head. Instead we have a Gwen Stacy who while putting off the supposed love of her life Peter physically (did he even get to 2nd base with her?), would have a one-night-stand with old-enough-to-her-father creepy Norman Osborn, have his kids and Europe and never tell Pete (and her famous death becomes all about that rather than the tragedy of her being in the wrong place), we have a MJ who knew all about Gwen's secret and never told her husband and an MJ who can literally state "I wouldn't trade our marriage for anything in the world" do just that (along with Peter) so Aunt May can live 2-3 more years and she can go to Hollywood and be involved with a dumb selfish steroided up actor and Peter can go to being a 20-something slacker with no direction in his life involved in some kind of harem comedy hijinks right out of Japanese manga.

Jeesh, it's like this Spidey-verse and the present Spidey-verse have NO connection whatsoever even in characterization (continuity changing is one thing, but characters should at least be written consistently from decade to decade).

[fredneil.livejournal.com]

MJ is calling Peter "man o'mine?" Does "talking (Peter's) language" include an unspoken offer to wear a blonde wig and a black headband later that night?

[wolfy]

Exclamation points!