Ghost-Spider #6 // Review
It can be a superhero’s job to help out the police. It can be a superhero’s job to help out with a hostage situation. If the hero in question happens to be the daughter of the police captain in charge of the hostage situation, things get a bit more complicated, as Gwen Stacy is about to find out in the sixth issue of Ghost-Spider. Writer Seanan McGuire weaves a very cleverly crafted, little web-slinger story that once again casts an interesting angle on super-heroing in Marvel Manhattan. Ig Guara and Rosi Kämpe lend quite a bit of personality to Gwen and her world in another sweepingly enjoyable issue.
Gwen Stacy might be getting the hang of everything. She might be getting into the swing of everything. She can bring her friends over to a parallel dimension for a concert before swinging them back home in time for a casual evening. She might be able to do so while making sure she gets enough sleep for school the next day. Can she help her dad out with a hostage situation while doing so, though? That might be stretching things a bit...especially as it is the case that her dad isn’t exactly open to the idea of her helping out.
McGuire has a solid understanding of what makes Gwen unique. The unique challenges she faces are given a very deft slide through a single issue that opens with a concert and ends with pizza at home. The father/daughter drama feels very sophisticated. Rather than simply allow the two characters to argue and endanger the hostage situation, McGuire allows Captain Stacy enough wisdom to know what he can and can’t control about his daughter. The relations between them have weight and complexity that never gets in the way of the heightening tension that escalates until the resolution at issue’s end. It’s another smartly-told tale by McGuire.
Guara and Kämpe are given nearly the entire issue for Gwen to be in costume as Ghost-Spider. The art team has little difficulty capturing the father/daughter drama with subtle nuance even though Gwen’s face is obscured by the mask for most of the issue. The action crawls along the panels with dramatic angles that accentuate Gwen’s grace. It’s an appealing approach to the action. Ghost-Spider’s battle prowess hits each panel in sudden bursts. Much of the actual resolution of any given combat moment is left between the panels. It’s a stylish approach that never overpowers the story being told.
With half a year finished on Ghost-Spider, McGuire has built a very thoughtful and methodical progression to Gwen’s life that feels a lot less scattered than her male counterpart had been at this stage in college. It’s a very clean character arc that feels every bit as hectic and crazy as Parker’s days at ESU decades ago, but without all of the clunkiness of the late silver age/early bronze age storytelling. McGuire’s approach is a definite improvement that makes Gwen feel like that much more of a coherent person. It’s quite an accomplishment.
