The premise being the series Edge of Spider-Verse is a fairly basic one, at least by comic standards. There exist a number of worlds beyond the usual base of Marvel, and in each of these worlds a different Spider-Man has come forward through similar but different reasons. Some looming threat to all Spider-Men and Women is looming and it will require the efforts of all of them to save them all. In this second issue we receive a new story, which on its surface would seem to be unable to fail, where Gwen Stacy is cast as Spider Woman. In reality the tag of Spider-Woman is not that accurate, as the character has little to do with Jessica Drew, and rather is more like a teenage version of Spider-Man, in other words a Spider-Girl.

What If … ? # 105 in 1998 asked the question of what would happen if one day one of Peter Parker’s children became took on the role and responsibility only in this case that this was his daughter. This was one of the most successful issues of the series and launched the character of May Parker into her own series and her own universe (known as MC2).  With such a precedent before them this issue seemed as though it might not be able to fail. While it is interesting enough, it doesn’t quite reach the level of this predecessor.

The cover that launched a universe

The first problem would be one of characterizations.  With the introduction of the character May Parker, fans were given the opportunity to associate with a brand new character. In this case, it is less so. Instead this new Gwen Stacy, while a little bit different becomes a pastiche of several different characters that fans will be familiar with. In so doing a little bit of the edge is taken off as it comes across as something that we have all heard before. Incidentally there is a notable design element here which comes with the introduction of the new character. That is to say, that Gwen Stacy as Spider-Woman (Girl) is visually appealing but the story doesn’t match the visuals.

It doesn’t end up being quite as much of a disappointment, as even as a non-fan of the character’s part of the Marvel Universe, that this is still an interesting and even fun read. The problem more so is that it feels at the same time like a missed opportunity. I have not read the first issue of this series, but if each Spider-Man is only a slightly different version of the character, with basically the same origin story told, then it would seem as though the creative staff is not challenging themselves enough. This thus becomes most evident in the artwork as compared to the writing. The artistic team here was willing to break all the rules for the new character, but the writing team stuck to what already made sense, and the payoff is evidently just not as good as it could be.

Story: Jason Latour Art: Robbi Rodriguez
Story: 7.5 Art: 8.8 Overall: 8 Recommendation: Read