#sandgwen

[themarvelettesgreatesthits]

[comicwaren]

“A Gwen rematch... something I could’ve done without.” -- Ghost-Spider

Cover art for Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #005

Art by David Nakayama

[emmym1]

My thoughts on... Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones 2023 (#1-5)

And i'm back to reading more Spider-Gwen! I was super excited that I finally got to read Shadow Clones as I was really intrigued as to what it had to offer. Also i was just really excited to read more Spider-Gwen because she's like my favorite character of all time! I have to say i really really enjoyed this one and the struggles of Gwen it explored. I really loved that they explored Gwen's loneliness and struggles when it comes to friendship. Parts of it have been explored before but its great to see them really zoom in on it. She has these great friends who care about her in the form of MJ and the band but she always kind of leaves them at arms lenght, scared of what might happen if she lets them in too close. Scared that they might get hurt or worse, end up getting killed because of her life as Spider-Gwen/Ghost-Spider. And what's really interesting is that she does deep down yearn to be closer with her friends to allow them to get closer to her, in general she really wants to have friends. But she's scared of what might happen if she does, not only because they might get hurt physically but also emotionally. Not to mention making new friends and allowing current ones to come closer really takes her out of her comfort zone. It's really cool to see her arc of being this loner girl who kind of gave up on having friends or becoming closer with the ones she has, only to find a newfound spark to try after meeting her clones and getting to know them. In many ways her clones were some of the closest friends she made as they quite litterally understand who she is and what she goes through and has gone through. Her speech at the end about the value in friendships really hit hard. Her realizing she really wants friend and to have those types of human connection was really nice to see, especially the ways she words it. It's was a really good speech! (although Gwen is known for having good speeches). It was also really great to see her grow like that. I really loved the Gwenister Six in this (look Gwen name puns are a staple of the Spider-Gwen comics so i'm using them too!). I really loved the idea of her clones having the minds of both their 616 sinister six counter parts and 65 Gwen. It made for some really unique personalities and amazing dynamics. Obviously Gwen Ock and Sandgwen were the standouts, together with the Spider-Gwen they made such an amazing trio. It was so fun seeing them bond over their shared memories and reminisce about them, while also helping Gwen be better by using their sinister six side of their brain. It was super interesting how despite them having the minds and memories of some of Spider-Man's greatests foe's, it's those parts that also eventually helped Gwen overcome quite a lot. They also all had amazing designs! Every single member of the Gwenister Six had such a badass look that felt very unique to the character all while still having that Gwen Stacy energy to it. I was really sad when Gwen Ock died, she was such a good character and was such a good friend for Gwen. Like her helping Gwen score a date was such a fun moment. It did so much for Gwen as she was having mindless fun again with some unique clone friends, like it was the first time in quite some time she was able to have fun like that with friends without superhero stuff getting in the way. And you really saw how much she appreciated that and yearned to be able to have fun like that without having to deal with superhero stuff all the time. So it was quite emotional when she died.

I loved how in the end she did help Gwen overcome her worries and doubts when it comes to making friends and becoming closer to her current ones. Before when Peter died she shut herself off and kept her friends at arms lenght because she was scared of them getting hurt or dying, or her hurting them emotionally. But now when Ock Gwen died she didn't shut herself off or decided to not allow herself to have friends. She did the opposite and became more appreciative of the friends she has and really tried to be a good friend and become closer with her friends. All because of what Gwen Ock told her before her death. It's really great to see her grow so much and learn so much from herself. Whether they are her from a different timeline or her clones. I also quite liked the villain of this story, even though she is a little bit cliché. Her having lost everything in a fraction of a second, desperatly needing Spider-Gwen to help her only to start slowly despising her more and more to the point of insanity. Her background story was really well done and it's super interesting to see how hard losing everything hit her, especially mentally. She became so obsessed with Gwen to the point that she wanted to erase every single version of her throughout the multiverse. Such an insane plan but I guess it fits for the villain! Her design was also really badass and really sold her as the villain. It's quite interesting how she's still out there without any trace of where she is. I wonder if she'll ever show up again. (Manifesting Spider-Gwen: Gwenvengers where the versions of her from Gwenverse and her Clones from Shadow Clones team up with Gwen to defeat Lyla).

What's also really interesting about the character arc Gwen goes through is that she learns to accept her bad sides and that sometimes they can be used for good. It's so great to see her accept herself with all her imperfections. Because she has had a long history with wanting to be the perfect superhero, wanting everyone else to see her as good, to convince them she's good. She has this really high standard when it comes to being Spider-Gwen and beats herself up when she doesn't meet that standard. So her finally being able to accept that she does have bad sides just like any other person and that those sides are also a part of her was a really important moment in her character arc . It's so interesting to see how her seeing her "villain" clones still be good while also being a little bad let to her accepting her own bad sides.

Also have to mention that the art in this was absolutely phenominal, I really loved how they drew the Spider-Gwen suit in this and how expressive they made Gwen. The colors on every page always standout as well.

I had an absolute blast reading this, I absolutely loved everything this story had to offer and the character arc Gwen went through. Seeing her deal with her loneliness and find a new spark to want to try and make friends and be a better friend was really great. I love that they explored those parts of her character more in depth. Also her being able to accept that she isn't perfect and has bad sides just like everyone else was also a really great thing for her character as she used to always beat herself up over that sort of stuff. All the different Gwen clones in this were so much fun and they had such an amazing dynamic with Gwen, I really hope to see more of them in the future. All by all I really loved what this story had to offer and it was great to return to Spider-Gwen's comics. She's my all time favorite character, not to mention she's a character i relate deeply with on a very personal level. And this story was no difference, there were a lot of moments where i really related a lot to her and what she was going through. It's great that stories are able to have such an impact and that people are able to identify themselves within those stories. So yeah this was an amazing read and I can't wait to see what future Spider-Gwen comics will have in store!

[comicwaren]

From Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #005

Art by Kei Zama, Geoffo, Oren Junior, Belardino Brabo and Tríona Farrell

Written by Emily Kim

[comicwaren]

“I gotta get a handle on all these Gwens. There’s just too much me up there.” -- Ghost-Spider

Cover art for Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #002

Art by David Nakayama

[comicwaren]

From Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #004

Art by Kei Zama, Oren Junior and Tríona Farrell

Written by Emily Kim

[comicwaren]

“I’ll handle these goons. Or, rather, these Gwens.” -- Ghost-Spider

Cover art for Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #003

Art by David Nakayama

[comicwaren]

From Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #002

Art by Kei Zama and Tríona Farrell

Written by Emily Kim

[comicwaren]

From Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones #003

Art by Kei Zama and Tríona Farrell

Written by Emily Kim