One of comics defining moments: The Night Gwen Stacy Died

[kevinroc]

With the upcoming release of The Amazing Spider-Man on DVD, and news of the sequel due out in 2014, let's take a look back at what might be the plot of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (or at least its sequel.)

Our story begins after the last one. Peter is pretty sick but still finds time to check in on Harry Osborn.



In a story where a major supporting character dies, we actually open on another supporting character in danger.


The stress of his son's deteriorating health and his business failings leads Norman to snap and he decides to take all his frustrations out on Spider-Man. But Spidey ain't home. Pete returns to find Gwen's bag left behind with a calling card from the Green Goblin. And during the fight that follows, Gwen gets knocked off the bridge.







Part 2 also gives us this page, the real end to the Peter/Gwen relationship. (Well, a continuation that just cements the end since Gwen was already dead. This is Peter saying goodbye.)





(People are gonna lose their minds if the movies pull this moment off effectively.)

So after some detective work, Spidey tracks the Goblin down and they fight. Norman makes a comment about how Gwen was just some "simpering, pointless girl" who was nothing more than "occupied space" and Spidey just loses it.





And Norman Osborn didn't plague Peter Parker again for a very long time after that.

But Norman's defeat brought no joy to Peter Parker. He was truly alone.



There's so much you could say about this last page with Mary Jane. But I won't because I think it says all that it needs to by itself.

Comments

[katya]

Green Goblin killed the woman he loved!!!

But... didn't Spidey effectively kill her himself? I mean, note the little "snap" sound effect when he webs her. Is that meant to be him snapping her neck? Because that is what makes sense to me in this scenario.

[sinisterlink]

It's basically one of those things where she was kind of screwed either way. Gwen falling from that height and then hitting the water would have been like slamming head first into a brick wall, which most likely would have killed her. But yeah, Peter did basically snap her neck when he caught her with his webbing. Although I do recall someone posting scans somewhere once of this issue being reprinted where they removed the "snap" sound effect, like they were trying to kind of redo it and say that Peter didn't kill her, and it was more like Goblin says, that she was already dead from the fall in general.

[katya]

Yeah, she definitely would have died either way. I'd have assumed the force of the webbing suddenly halting her fall would snap her neck even without the "snap" in there probably, but the word being there is a bit sinister.

[sinisterlink]

Yeah, I wish I could find the panel online, but there was a nice follow up moment in one of the Marvel Knights Spider-Man issues where Norman kidnaps MJ and takes her to the bridge planning to "reenact" the whole Gwen thing. Mary Jane turns the tables on Goblin by shooting him, but the kickback from the gun makes her fall off the bridge and Peter saves her by shooting multiple strands of webbing at like her ankles, head, arms, legs, etc. to catch her while thinking something like, "I can't afford to mess this up again".

[vitruvian23]

If people die just from falling in the MU, wouldn't that make skydiving impossible?

[horselover107]

I think the best analogy I've ever heard for it was it's kind of like pushing someone in front of a moving car. The driver does play a role, but it's not their fault, it's the vault the the person that did the pushing.

[darkknightjrk]

I interpreted it as the Goblin killed her by pushing her off the bridge, and Spider-Man failed to save her. It certainly wasn't his intention to kill her.

[katya]

It certainly wasn't his intention, but that doesn't mean he didn't do it. It's a matter of perspective I guess. Yeah, Goblin pushed her off the bridge, but you don't know for sure she's dead until the sudden halt of Spiderman's "save" snaps her neck.

[kevinroc]

One of the things that doesn't get discussed much is that Spidey was REALLY sick during this story. Like almost fainting from exhaustion when he gets back home only to find out that Norman had kidnapped Gwen. He wasn't of sound mind and body during this encounter.

[cainofdreaming]

Apparently, like the Goblin said on the page, in 616-verse it's the fall itself that kills you, not hitting the ground.

Bungee jumping must not be that popular there.

[vitruvian23]

Except we've seen characters parachuting. If this were true, all of those characters would be dead before they pulled the ripcord.