Everything You Need to Know About Gwen Stacy

New to reading comics or looking for a place to chat Marvel with friends? Join @FemalePeterParker's Marvel Unlimited Comic Book Club on Instagram Live this Sunday, May 28 at 1:30PM ET! This week's pick is SPIDER-GWEN (2015B) #1-6, so read the series now to get ready and click here to register for the event.

On Earth-616 she met a tragic end. On Earth-65 she’s spinning her own web. Catch up on all things Spider-Gwen, AKA Ghost-Spider with a deep dive into her comic book history!

In the core Marvel Universe—also known as 616—Peter Parker became romantically involved with his college classmate Gwen Stacy following her introduction in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #31, until the Green Goblin killed her in the devastating AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #121. However, in an alternate universe—on Earth-65—it was high school student Gwen Stacy, not Peter, who was bitten by a radioactive spider that granted her arachnid-like powers, inspiring her to become the hero known as Spider-Woman!

First appearing in EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #2 by Jason Latour and Robbi Rodriguez, Spider-Gwen rocks out on drums in a band called the Mary Janes when not attending Midtown High or swinging around the Big Apple stopping criminals. In this reality, her friend, the bullied Peter Parker, turned himself into the Lizard and ultimately died thanks to his self-experimentation. 

That initial appearance set the stage for Gwen's prominent role during the original SPIDER-VERSE story, where she and other Spider-People from across the multiverse did their best to stop the Inheritors, a group that hunted and ate those with spider-powers. 

After helping to save the day, Gwen then scored her own series, SPIDER-GWEN, also by Latour and Rodriguez. That series ran five issues leading into the reality-shaking SECRET WARS. 

During SECRET WARS, Gwen appeared in a new SPIDER-VERSE series. When the dust settled from that event, unlike her fellow alternate reality Spidey, Miles Morales—who stuck around in the 616 universe—Gwen then returned to her own reality and a new volume of the SPIDER-GWEN comic.

While she continued to face off against her own growing rogues gallery in SPIDER-GWEN, while also exploring a brief romance with Miles Morales during a reality-hopping adventure, Gwen also fought other inter-dimensional threats alongside Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Punk and others in WEB WARRIORS. 

Gwen also kept up with some of her other Spider-Friends, as seen in the SPIDER-WOMEN crossover with Silk and Jessica Drew, and currently finds herself fighting alongside the larger collection of Spider-Verse heroes once more in the epic SPIDER-GEDDON story. 

The second volume of Gwen’s solo series came to an end with SPIDER-GWEN #34, but fret not, her adventures continued in the recently-launched series SPIDER-GWEN: GHOST SPIDER, which not only features her new moniker and ties into SPIDER-GEDDON, but also the creative team of Seanan McGuire and Rosi Kampe! 

And, in series GHOST-SPIDER (2019), Gwen Stacy made her way to the Marvel Universe! With a cloud of infamy hanging over her head on Earth-65, Gwen traveled to Earth-616 for super hero action…and school?! The newest student at ESU got a crash course in multiversity as she split her time between the world she loves and the world she was just getting to know! But what devious villain has eyes on Gwen's travels? And is Gwen ready for what comes next? Find out by reading her complete solo volume on digital comics super-service Marvel Unlimited! 

Read SPIDER-GWEN (2015B) #1 now, then continue though issue #6 to get up to speed for @FemalePeterParker's Marvel Unlimited Comic Book Club on Instagram Live this Sunday! The event kicks off at 1:30PM ET, and all attendees can register here.