Bold Fashion Choices--Spider-Gwen!!

Usually, I use the "Bold Fashion Choices" to mock various costumes or clothing in comic books.

Today, though, straight up praise.

Spider-Gwen, or Ghost-Spider, or the Spider-Woman of Earth-65, or whatever you want to call her, has simply the single best costume design of the past 20 years. Yeah, I said it.

Now, I'm no Tim Gunn. So if you're going to ask me to explain in any specific detail why it works so well, I'm not going to be much help.

As designed by Robbi Rodriguez, it just plain works, better than any other costume in recent memory.

Part of it is the color scheme, fairly unique for any hero, especially in the way it uses--but doesn't overuse--the pinkish/purple/whatever you call it. As you can see from some of these pictures, it also opens up the palette for backgrounds, allowing a lot of color schemes that might not work as well with the usual Spider-Person red and blue.

The hood is also relatively unique for good guys, and less cowl-like than Moon Knight's--not so much hiding her mask, but contrasting it.

I can't say I'm a bug fan of the blue footies, but hey, most artists aren't going to draw the feet much, so...

Also, not to put too fine a point on it, this is one of the rare costumes for a female hero that doesn't hyper-sexualize its wearer, turning her into more of a sexy pin-up than an actual crime fighter.

So, Spider-Gwen. Freakin' great costume, no matter what you want to call her.

How To Tell Where In The Multiverse You Are?!?

In this week's awkwardly titled Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider #1--a situation made worse by the fact that no one in the entire story calls her Ghost-Spider, while more than one person actually calls her Spider-Gwen--ummm? Where was I?

Oh, yeah. The Gwen Stacy of Earth-65 ends up thrown to an unknown Earth somewhere in the multiverse. But don't worry--she has a way to tell where she is...maybe.

Well, not to quibble with someone who has done far more hopping about the multiverse than I have. But alternate version of Dr. Pepper don't prove you're on an alternate world. Far from it.

Not only does Coca-Cola have their Mr. Pibb, but virtually every lower-tier soda manufacturer and grocery chain has their own completely original, please don't sue us version of the good Dr.:

I'm particularly for of Dr. Perky and Dr. Skipper.

But that's not all!! Because this is the internet, I can show you a list of sixty (60!!) different Dr. P knock-offs!!

So, unless our Earth is unique in having so many Dr. Pepper clones, you probably can't tell which Earth you're on that way, Gwen. Although, as far as I can tell, we have no Professor Pop or Professor Pow here. So you're not on our Earth.


Maybe you can try going by Mountain Dew varieties...?

Nothing Compares 2 Baron Blood?!?

You all remember the Captain America of Earth-65, right?

On Spider-Gwen's world, Samantha Wilson became Captain America! Coolest. Story. Ever.

And of course, you all recall Baron Blood, the purple-wearing vampire who has bedeviled captain America in every era:

Well, on Earth-65? Baron Blood is a little bit...different. Perhaps a little...funkier?

Keytar?!?

O.M.G.

Sweet mercy!

Oh, yeah.

From Spider-Gwen Annual #1 (2016)

Ride Of The Valkyries, Earth-65 Style?!?

We've already seen that Spider-Gwen's world, Earth-65, is a pretty rocking place.

It has the coolest version of Captain America EVER.

And it also has one of the best musical acts ever:

A punk band, all dressed as Valkyrie, singing songs about Asgard.

And I can't find them anywhere on Pandora. Damn, I wish I lived on Earth-65...

This is now my second favorite faux punk band:


From Spider-Gwen #9 (2016), and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

There's More Than One Way To Become A Billionaire...

So, where do people go for coffee on Earth-65?

Yup. In Spider-Gwen's universe, Tony Stark is a "weapons manufacturer and coffee magnate."

Which goes a long way towards explaining the price of a latte....

From Spider-Gwen #5 (2016)

Executive Editor, Edit Thyself!

Well.

In the aftermath of Secret Wars #9, Marvel Executive Editor and Senior Vice President of Publishing Tom Brevoort gave an interview to CBR. And in that interview, he says that the biggest and most important thing to come out of the series is...

The biggest and most important thing here...is the fact that the Marvel Universe is no longer the 616... I don't know if by the end of "Secret Wars" #9 there are 616 universes yet...They started by restoring the Marvel Universe. So really, it's now the Prime Universe.

Sure, a nine-issue, 9 month, line-wide event, and the "biggest and most important thing" to come out of it was that you changed the name of your fictional home universe? You might want to rethink your ability to plan (or understand) big events, sir.

Meanwhile, from last month's Spider-Gwen #3, set 8 months after Secret Wars #9, and "Spider-Gwen" has hopped on over to "our" world to consult with a very pregnant Jessica Drew:

 Hmm. What was that again?

Huh.

I guess someone didn't get the memo. 

Or maybe it really says Earth-GIG. Yeah, that's the ticket? Rock out?!?

Or maybe, just maybe, Marvel's Executive Editor and Senior Vice President of Publishing is too busy to edit, or even read, any of the books he publishes.

Of course, it's equally likely that I'm being a nit-picky jerk.

Unless, of course, calling 616 the "Prime Universe" is a secret hint that they're (finally) going to revive Prime and the Malibu Universe. In which case, rock on.

Still....

Maybe they'll fix it in the trade...?

Manic Monday--The Sensational Character Find of 2015!!

In last week's Spider-Gwen #2, we met Earth-65's Captain America:

 Yeah, see, things were a little different in that universe, even back in the 1940s:

So Samantha Wilson became...

But wait...this Cap wasn't trapped in an iceberg! No...

But wait...it's cooler than just a dimension of Nazi werewolves!

See it's all spelled out on the OHTMU page they kindly provide:

Let me blow up the key paragraph for you:

The black, female Captain America wandered parallel dimensions for 75 years!! Traveling form world to world, fighting injustice and evil...

I'm sorry, but that is THE BEST CONCEPT EVER.

Seriously, Marvel, if you were to publish a book with Cap-65, chronicling her time trapped on the "space-time highway," I would buy the living hell out of that book, and travel from comic shoppe to comic shoppe across the land, convincing people to buy it.

Oh, and the Falcon is a male clone of Samantha, so there's that.

Seriously, Marvel--make this happen!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, This Spider-Verse Stuff Is Staring To Get Creepy...

Look, Spider-Gwen is one thing...

...but now we're going entirely too far!

Ad appeared in Fantastic Four #11 (2014)