Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #9 // Review
Gwen is a giant spider. She’s singing a twisted mutation of The Itsy Bits Spider. It’s bad. What’s worse: she’s giant...big enough to spin a web that will trap everyone she cares about. Of course: it IS a dream. That doesn’t mean that she’s safe, though. Things are about to get a bit more dangerous for her in Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #9. Writer Stephanie Phillips continues the saga of Gwen Stacy in an issue brought to page and panel by artist Paolo Villanelli and colorist Matt Milla. Drama and horro moods mix stylishly with traditional superhero tropes in another satisfying issue.
The trauma from the dream is strong enough to launch her a foot or so off the bed that she’s on. Her heart rate is spiking. She’s been dosed with something. The good news is there are a couple of people looking after her and one of them is a medical professional, so she’s in good hands if she can hang on for long enough to get an antidote. Of course...if she DOES get an antidote, there are all kinds of other issues that are going to become quite apparent. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.
Phillips is working on some interesting energies. A fear toxin is always kind of creepy...even in a world of super-powered heroes. Add to that a deeper kind of psychological exploration of Gwen and a few other elements edging around the corners of her ensemble. The ninth issue of the current series continues to find quite a few different angles to keep the overall feel of this particular web-slinger feeling quite fresh. Gwen manages to strike a few very heroic moments evne as she suffers from the effects of the toxin.
Villanelli has a sharp sense of layout that moves the action with stylish force even through some of its bleakest moments. As this is an issue submerged in sleep and nightmare, it’s qute dark. There’s a very heavy amoun of black ink overcoming everything from every corner. It’s not an easy thing to try to make contact with from any angle as an artist, but Milla does a nice job of bringing the color around the edges that gives the darkness more atmosphere. Gwen looks pretty solid herself...the art team gives her a sense of strength even as she’s rolling around in torment being hunted in nightmare by her own anxieties.
The series continues to explore some interesting angles on a very young web-slinger who has been displaced from one Earth to the next and feels as though she is completely in over her head. The wit that Phillips had woven in and around the edges of Gwen has faded into the background in order for her to embrace the darkness. It’s not as fun as previous issues have been, but it IS an exploration of something that feels fresh. Above all, Gwen DOES appear to be progressing. Her personality has evolved in interesting ways ove the course of Phillips’ run.
