The death of Gwen Stacy is one of the most well known, shocking and memorable moments in the history of comics and is perhaps, outside of Batman and Spider-Mans origins, the very first time the villain struck an ultimate victory against the hero in comics. Gwens death definitively marked the end of the Silver Age, the bright, campy era of the 60s and early 70s, and ushered in darker and more serious superhero adventures for both DC and Marvel. Gwen Stacy was a beloved character by all fans, which not only made her death all the more tragic, but made Marvels retcon all the more enraging. In J. Michael Straczynskis Spider-Man story Sins Past, it is revealed Gwen gave birth to a set of twins shortly before she died. Straczynskis original plan was to make Peter Parker the father, but Marvel feared readers wouldnt relate to him anymore as they might think of him as a much older man since he'd be a father (even though he had graduated from college and was already married). Instead, they made the decision to make Norman Osborn (the Green Goblin) the twins father after revealing Gwen had a brief affair with Spider-Mans nemesis. Gwen was adamant however, that her kids have nothing to do with Osborn and before she could tell Peter the truth, was killed. Green Goblin killed her to cause emotional pain for Spider-Man, prevent her from creating a scandal and raise the kids as his own, true heirs. This twist did not go over well at all with Spider-Man fans as Marvel took a beloved, fan-favourite character and made her do something so wildly out of character, even with her explanation to MJ that Osborn seduced her with his charisma and manipulation. The fact that MJ never once brought this up to Peter after she found out he was Spider-Man was also ludicrous; granted, she promised Gwen she wouldnt reveal it due to their shared fear Peter would never look at Gwen the same way again, but to continue keeping it a secret once the events of Gwens death became fully clear to her was very out of character for MJ. The fact that Marvel decided to keep this in continuity after One More Day only twisted the knife in the sides of fans.
Richard Church has a Bachelor of Arts in English and a diploma in Television Writing and Producing. He is an aspiring writer for short stories, novels and screenplays. He is also an avid fan of comic books and graphic novels.
