Marvel found itself in a strange place in the recent wave of young adult titles focused on female characters.  The House of Ideas was uncharacteristically not at the crest of the new wave, but rather trying to catch up.  Spider-Gwen represents one of the first of the new Marvel trying put out with the intent of catching the new-found popularity, which gives young female superheroes a voice and an attitude similar to what they might actually be like in real life.

Spider-Gwen picks up in the aftermath of Spider-Verse, the Spider wide crossover which incidentally gave birth to this iteration of the character.  It follows her life in the wake of those events as well as the regular events of her life.  As she exists in her own universe, there are a few changes.  Matt Murdock does not seem to be a hero, while Frank Castle seems to be less of an anti-hero and she has her own public opinion campaign just like Spider-Man does.

While there are some changes to the familiar, there is also a lot of what is just familiar.  What has been characteristic of the new wave is that it has taken a new approach to these characters with new ideas, but Spider-Gwen for the time being seems to be more about recycled ideas with a new character.  It is thus the weakest of the titles thus far, arguably not as good even as Silk.  The series is not bad, only that it does not seem to be aiming as high as the others that have preceded it.  Ironically due to the popularity of the character, it is also the one that is likely to survive the longest, and it would be nice therefore if the creative team tried something a little more.

Story: Jason Latour  Art: Robbi Rodriguez 
Story: 8.1 Art: 8.1 Overall: 8.1 Recommendation: Read