The second issue of potentially the most tenuous superhero on Marvel’s current slate has just hit stands, and as Gwen Poole begins to settle into the Marvel Universe proper, I think it’s time to decide if meta is better.
Written by Christopher Hastings
Illustrated by GurihiruGwen finds herself unexpectedly working for a big-deal mercenary outfit…And she takes a gig pitting her head-to-head against THOR! It’s the Goddess of Thunder vs. the Oddest of Wonders!
Gwenpool is the kind of character that only a comic book nerd can get really invested in. Billed initally as someone who ‘looks like Gwen Stacy and is crazy like Deadpool’ her true origins are a lot more complicated. A Superfan from the real world, Gwen Poole found herself transported into the reality she’d read so much about, armed only with an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Marvel Universe and a complete lack of regard for her own (or anyone else’s) safety. The first issue of “Gwenpool” saw her trying to set herself up as a hero-for-hire in her newly found universe, recruiting a side-kick, and making some quick cash through sneaky, snarky, and certainly backhanded means. Hastings’ blend of Gwen Stacy’s sincerity and Deadpool’s irreverence does make for a quixotic read, but it definitely feels tonally odd at times, not least when a famous Marvel villain shows up in the final pages of the first issue and, spoilers, incinerates Gwen’s plucky new pal right in front of her eyes.
The second issue picks up right where the last left off, with Gwen working reluctantly as a henchwoman for the maniacal M.O.D.O.K. When the routine retrieval mission she’s been sent on goes south, Gwenpool has to use all of her wit and whimsy to get the better of a furious Thor. It’s a light, fun set up for an issue, and it plays out solidly enough. Hastings definitely knows his way around the lower tiers of the Marvel universe, and his opening scripting (a MMORPG-related nod to M.O.D.O.K.’s choice of underlings) is funny and self-aware whilst still defining a set of characters and their relationships. This book, with its morally ambiguous ensemble and street-level antics reminds me a lot of “The Superior Foes of Spider-Man”, and it works best, for me at least, when it’s examining the humanity of B-list villains, warts and all.
The team of Gurihiru return to the book they made all their own last time around, and their melodramatic, manga-infused art style is a pretty perfect fit for the hyperbolic hijinks of their pink protagonist. They find a way to root even the most ridiculous characters in some kind of realism, and a visual highlight of this issue for me is definitely their Humpty-Dumpty-esque rendition of M.O.D.O.K. all-but quivering with rage as he dictates his rules to Gwen. While this issue is heavy on the action, Gurihiru’s ability to mix up the panel focuses and draw attention to the exaggerated facial expressions of their cast of characters keeps this book from ever feeling too serious or ‘action heavy’, instead giving us an insight into the consequence-free adventure that gwen herself feels like she’s in.
Hastings’ clearly has great fun with the script throughout this issue, and characters bounce off each other with a range of diverse voices. That being said, the overall pacing of the issue is a little slow, and Hasting’s banter heavy script lingers perhaps too long on the single issue story, so that, by the time we reach the end of the issue, we’ve still not really got any framework in place for a longer narrative. That initial two sentence description at the top of the previous paragraph? That’s pretty much all we’re given in terms of story this issue, and while I believe Hastings displays a real talent for shaping out characters through natural dialogue (Thor’s bombastic prose contrasts well against the more rooted speech of the villains, and Gwen’s tone remains uniquely hers) he still doesn’t manage to get to puzzle out quite what makes our ‘hero’ tick.
Which leads me to the problem I have with this book, and it is unfortunately a pretty big one; the thinness of its main conceit. Gwenpool’s convoluted existence works well for a holiday one-shot, or as a refreshing piece of the massive puzzle that was “Secret Wars”, but the two main, and essentially only, elements that make up her personality seem just too jarring to square together. Her Stacy-esque wide-eyed, fangirling millenial schtick could be relatively endearing but, when it’s teamed with Deadpool’s amoral disregard for human life, Gwen’s whimsy comes off more as a form of slightly deluded nihilism. She spends half of issue #2 amazed that she’s going toe to toe with the people she’s spent her life reading about, remarking on the ridiculousness of it all, and the other half of the book worrying about the reality of her situation.
Continued belowGurihiru’s comical artwork both helps and hinders in this regard. The vibrant colours and lack of blood and guts keeps Gwen’s hyperviolent adventures from ever feeling rooted in reality, but they also render her more poignant moments of uncertain self-reflection as more humorous than heavy. Gurihiru have worked on lots of more kid-friendly books, like “Avatar, The Last Airbender” and “Power Pack” for Marvel, and their PG artwork does feel, at moments, like it lacks the necessary gravity to pivot from comic to tragic as neatly as Gwen seems to want to do.
Two issues in and there still doesn’t really seem to be anywhere concrete to take this character other than the traditional plot points of having her interact with more earnest heroes, villains, and other characters, and beat them all by being a little more aware of the tropes of their universe than they are. It’s something that Marvel have played with a few times in the past, most notably with similarly silly characters like Squirrel Girl, who’s list of defeated foes reads like a who’s who of unbeatable villains. It’s a cute conceit, but it doesn’t really feel like enough to hang a whole arc from and, it usually relies on the characters with these unusual abilities having them paired with a strong moral compass, otherwise, what’s to stop them simply using their unbelievable skillset to carve a deadly niche out in this world. As Gwen herself even notes in the closing pages of this issue, it raises the question of why, if she knows all the rules of this world and has no problem breaking them, she’s stuck working as a henchman for a low level mook like M.O.D.O.K.
Final Verdict: 5.4 – Still ‘switch-your-brain-off fun for any Marvel fan who likes to see obscure characters in odd situations, but two issues in and I’m not sure if “Gwenpool” will make it much further than that.
