Gwen Stacy deals with displaced socialites and problems of a more personal nature as the life of a woman leading two different lives in two different worlds comes hits a rough patch in Ghost-Spider #7. The story of Gwen’s dual lives continues under the clever chronicling of Seanan McGuire, Artist Ig Guara dynamically brings across action and drama alike in an issue that follows-though on a tradition of following the life of a web-slinger in a place that is so very familiar, yet so very, very foreign.  

Earth 65 is different. Gwen Stacy was bitten by the radioactive spider that would have bitten Peter Parker in a more familiar chain of events. On Earth 65, there are a couple of socialites named Johnny and Sue. They’re brother and sister. In a more familiar chain of events, the two of them end up exploring space when they get hit by cosmic radiation that gives them super-powers. On Earth 65, they find themselves vacationing in Latveria when they get kidnapped. They land in the lap of NYPD detective Captain Stacy. They think it’s only been a couple of days. It’s actually been 4 years. Things are about to get complicated for brother and sister. Those complications introduce the socialites to Captain Stacy right away. Chance and circumstance will also introduce them to his masked daughter.

McGuire balances things quite well between the personal and crime-fighting lives of Gwen Stacy and Ghost-Spider. The conflict between a policeman father and a vigilante daughter has great potential that McGuire is only slowly beginning to roll-out in a series that also has her dealing with college and life on two different earths. It’s all quite a lot to juggle, but McGuire clearly has it handled with a deft understanding of what makes for a good balance in a long-term ongoing superhero story. McGuire handles it all with great wit, poise, and style. 

Guara is a versatile artist who shows great aptitude for a variety of different moods. The backstory of the alternate universe Sue and Johnny speeds through with the feel of a genuinely complex drama even though it only carries a single page. A couple of pages later, Gwen is swinging through Manhattan and saving a kid from certain death in traffic while contemplating problems with her father and the Guara manages to capture the distinct mix of action and drama that are needed THERE in order to bring it all together. Sharp visuals keep the multiple ends of McGuire’s plot from crashing into each other. 

After spending the bulk of the first half of the first year of this series establishing Gwen’s new life, McGuire is now allowing herself to begin to explore more of the realm of Earth 65 in a fun, little mutation of classic characters. The reimagining works well as it gives McGuire further opportunity to explore not only what makes this Gwen so interesting, but also what makes the world she comes from so unique. 

Grade: B