10 Shocking Comics Events That Changed Characters Forever

There is Spider-Man before Amazing Spider-Man #121, and there is Spider-Man after.

The death of Gwen Stacy isn't just considered one of the most famous Spider-Man books of all time, it has cemented itself irrevocably into comic book canon forevermore. To the point where many comic book historians consider the publishing date of this issue - June 1973 - to be the official end point of the silver age of comics.

Losing Gwen completely upended and redefined Spider-Man as a hero, making him more closed off from others, angrier at supervillains and his life, but most importantly, it made him more grown up. The death of Gwen haunts Peter for DECADES afterward, through multiple adventures and hardships, the ghost of his first true love always bites at his ankles no matter how far along his journey he goes.

For multiple generations of comic readers, Gwen Stacy being dead is as much a cornerstone of his backstory as the death of Uncle Ben. It was the death that rippled throughout both the character and the industry that created him for decades to come. What else could possibly be here at the top?