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| Front cover of Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones TPB from Marvel |
Score (out of 5 Capes)
A candy-colored story that is about as nutritious as a bag of candy: sweet but not very filling. Two and a half capes out of five.
My Review
I had high hopes for this series and this collected trade paperback. Spider-Man has had a few of his own Clone Sagas, the biggest of which has become a modern-day classic among his many, many stories. So I loved the idea of giving Spider-Gwen a clone saga of her own.
This one will not reach the same status of "classic story" in her own canon.
It is not without its charms. But it is both too light and non-filling while also at times being dark and ponderous.
Author Emily Kim took the idea of clones in an exciting new direction: instead of simply copies or clones of our hero, these clones consist of some of Gwen and some of a classic rogues-gallery villain for Prime Universe Spider-Man.
The result of this mad-scientist mash-up are characters with physical similarities, personalities and memories from Gwen, overlaid upon other abilities and personalities from each of the villains. And each gets a cutesy Gwen-based name.
Like Gwen-Ock, part Gwen Stacey and part Otto Octavius, Doctor Octopus, with prosthetic tentacles and an analytical but harshly dismissive mind.
Or Sandgwen, mixing Sandman into the Gwen mix.
The part-Gwen, part-Rhino so-called Rhi-Gwen lacks intelligence or much of Gwen's distractedly bubbly personality. And gets the worst name of the bunch. Not that I can come up with anything better - Gweno? Gwino?
No reader should be remotely surprised by the big revelation of the mastermind behind all the clone mash-ups: it was so strongly telegraphed from the very first pages. Once she emerges from the shadows, though, the story takes a much darker turn. Themes of pain, loss, revenge, images of suffering and physically mangled bodies dominate the second half of the series.
It turns what had been a goofy and candy-colored tale, filled with pinks and greens and yellows, into much darker, more heavily inked and muted pages. Artist Kei Zama has the chops to handle the switch, particularly excelling at the dystopian tech images with the tentacles, science experiments and more.
Through the power of friendship and commitment, OG Gwen manages to pull her clones away from the control of the twisted Doctor Lyla Bennett, no supervillain moniker needed. But with six Gwens, what will happen on Earth-65, how will they co-exist? That's a story for another day.
In the end, this is a pleasant enough read, with fun glimmers of friendship and romance, peeks inside the overlap between the different dimensions of the multiverse, some of the expected Spider-character levity and witty banter. But it gets too weighed down by its own dark undercurrents. That is why I gave it 2.5 capes out of 5.
What I loved
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| Manga-inspired influences creep into the art, as in Gwen's reaction |
Japan-based Kei Zama gives the art of this book more than a little manga flair. Perhaps it shows some of their local influences. Still lots of American-style comics sensibilities throughout, but the occasional reaction blends in manga traits. Like Gwen's face in the panel above, with the large, round eyes, the flat, simplified facial lines and the hovering punctuation marks.
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| More art reminiscent of manga |
Elsewhere, Zama throws lots of classic manga action lines behind the movements. Gwen diving for her phone? Zama amps up the drama and tension of the moment, the speed of the dive and grab, with those action lines.
It's a visual trick familiar to American comics, of course, but manga takes those lines to another level and Zama often follows suit.
Since the whole tale is set in the alternate, Spider-Gwen dimension of Earth-65, I love the added distance between this setting and the Prime Universe that these manga-like touches provide.
What I didn't love
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| Big plot gaps and long flashbacks |
The opening five pages of the entire mini-series set the stage for what was to come. An insanely obsessed scientist suffered tremendous pain and loss as collateral damage from a Ghost Spider battle with some baddies. She emerged feeling that the hero had abandoned her and not done enough to help in her moment of need.
Yet her role master-minding the entire wave of clone attacks is given the big-shocking-revelation treatment at the end of the third chapter. And half of the fourth chapter is back-story and flashback.
How she recovered. Where she got the necessary materials to create the clones. What her grand plan hoped to accomplish. Monologues from maniacal menaces are standard fare in the realm of superhero comics. But this goes on for pages, filling in details we either already knew or could easily have guessed.
As much as I like the artistic distinction given to the flashbacks - the rounded panel corners, Triona Farrell's purple-and-sepia colouring - less of them would have made this a much more enjoyable read.
Related Reviews
The Warzones! Spider-verse tie-in is the only other review I've made to date that includes Spider-Gwen
Quick Reference Details
Writers: Emily Kim
Artists: Kei Zama with Triona Farrell (Colors)
Published By: Marvel Comics
Published When: Oct 17, 2023
Parental Rating: Teen+
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| Back cover of Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones TPB from Marvel Comics |
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