With all the clones and variants and other… interesting gimmicks—newer fans might forget that the REAL Gwen Stacy is dead. Possibly one of two characters (the other a certain Uncle) who has stayed dead in the Marvel mythos. The legends and lore behind her death are all over the internet if one wants to dig deeper into the how and why of her death. It’s a classic two-part story both new and old fans should revisit!
For me, it was 1978, and I was 11, the night Gwen Stracy died for me—even though she’s been dead since 1973 in the Marvel mythos. For me, it happened in Marvel Tales 98, which came out in September of that year. At this time, I had only been collecting comics for about a year, and I had very little knowledge of Gwen.
I was not the BIG Spidey Fan I am now—that would be my grade school friend Rickie, who always loaned me his Spidey comics. (We always did that—even AFTER a teacher found him reading MY copy of Showcase 100— it’s still a fantastic read! Give Rickie credit: it fits nicely in the spelling book, but that didn’t stop her from ripping it up and throwing it in the trash!)
Still, a few issues back, ASM ran a fantastic Green Goblin arc, and THAT got me into Spidey. But, at this time, Marv Wolfman had started his run on 182 and went through 204. Back then, there were no collected editions and very few comic shops. Marvel had the brilliant idea of reprinting comics in various titles. For example, Marvel’s Greatest Comics for years reprinted old FF comics). For Spidey, it was Marvel Tales, which lasted through 1994.
The two-part story originally ran in ASM 121-122 and culminated the Green Goblin saga, which began way back in ASM 14 in 1964. For the times, the Goblin’s costume stood out, and even the character seemed more sinister and wicked than your typical bad guy in the early Spidey years. Adding to the mystery, it would be some time before fans learned that Norman Osborn was the Goblin.
I have often read the issues leading up to her death and the issues that followed. Wow: her death came out of nowhere and would impact Peter and fans for years. It was devasting for fans, and the second part ended with Norman’s death (at least he stayed dead for a fairly good time).
Now, I don’t have a problem with a redeemed Norman Osborn, but I do have a problem with Peter Parker forgiving the redeemed former Green Goblin. Then again, my Peter Parker would also never make a deal with a devil, but that is a quibble for another day. My Peter Parker never got over losing Gwen—let alone letting Norman off the hook for her murder.
If you have never read the two-part Death of Gwen Stacy—you should! Decades later, it still makes for a fantastic read. And, maybe, like myself—you’ll see the “redemption” of Norman Osborn through a different perspective. Gwen’s death still counts—and so should the ramifications of her death… even after all this time. Really, it’s a core part of the Spidey mythos that every true Spidey fan should read!
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