Gwen Stacy
Gwen Stacy is a female comic character who features in Marvel Comics.
Contents |
Biography
Origin
Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy was a female human born in the modern age where she was the daughter of George Stacy and his wife Helen Stacy. (Spider-Man v1 #-1)
As a child, she met Carlie Cooper and became friends with her due to their fathers working in the police together. (Many Loves of the Amazing Spider-Man v1 #1)
As a teenager, she used to attend Standard High that was the rival to fellow school Midtown High School. (Gwen Stacy v1 #1) During that time, she was noted for being the Beauty Queen of Standard High with her having followed the football career of Flash Thompson. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
Whilst in high school, Gwen was one day hanging out with her friend Harry at his house. During this time, she was worried about her mother’s poor health and Harry consoled her. They were interrupted by Norman Osborn, who pretended to be sympathetic to her. Harry thanked his father for being kind and Norman replied that he was not talking to him. Harry took Gwen to a party of a former classmate of his and he left her alone. She was approached by Sterling Bock, a member of a wealthy family. She declined him several times until he grabbed her and she told him her father was a cop. Her dad had taught her self-defense and she knocked Sterling into the food table. The party goers applauded her, just before the party was interrupted by the red-skinned monstrous Proto-Goblin. They tried to run but Harry was grabbed by the creature and carried away. Harry was saved by a very young Spider-Man and made his way to the street. Gwen showed up while calling the police as Proto Goblin beat the stuffing out of Spider-Man. The police arrived at the scene thus forcing the Proto-Goblin to flee from the area. (Spider-Man: Shadow of the Green Goblin #1)
After admission into Empire State University, she came to meet Peter Parker where she came to be deeply attracted to him. However, her advances to him were only met with aloofness from him that left her feeling insulted by him ignoring her. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31) This led to her and Harry Osborn deciding to snub him in return though Gwen partly felt ashamed as she was still attracted to Parker. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #34) Gwen later attended a space exhibit where Peter was also in attendance. Gwen became frustrated when Peter only noticed the exhibits and remained completely oblivious to her presence. When the criminal known as the Looter showed up to steal a meteor, Spider-Man arrived to prevent it. Peter attempted to try and talk to Gwen, but she wrote him off as a coward for running when the villain showed up. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #36) Her opinion of him did not improve when they crossed paths at a space exhibit, which was crashed by the Looter. Peter took off to change to Spider-Man when the thug arrived and Gwen mistook him for a coward. Looter escaped and the next day, Flash invited Peter to throw a football around until the rest of his pals showed up. Peter sarcastically replied that he could out throw Flash, which Gwen thought was hysterical. A few days later, Peter offered to walk to class with Gwen who asked him if he was slumming. He called her an icicle and she turned to slap him, but he caught her hand. Flash tried to come to Gwen's 'rescue' and she told him not to bother with Peter. Internally, she realized that Peter was not the least bit afraid of Flash. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #37) Over time, Gwen started to see Peter in a positive light, admiring his strength and courage. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #38) Things began to thaw between Peter and Gwen and her friends when he started chatting with Harry. He was depressed that his father, Norman Osborn, had been taking out his frustrations with his business on him. Flash and Gwen noticed Peter and Harry talking and slowly began to consider him to be better than they had first thought. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #39)
When Peter went to school on his bike, Gwen noticed his new ride and mentioned it. As he told her that she’s got a lot to learn about him, they both really noticed each other for the first time. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #41) At Empire State University, Gwen invited Peter to a party at her house on Sunday, but he declined so as to meet his neighbor's niece, Mary Jane Watson. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #42) Gwen and her friends later learn that Flash Thompson has been drafted for the war. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #43) Gwen met up with Peter, Harry and Flash at a local café. While talking about Flash being drafted, Mary Jane walked in and the boys were stunned. They became even more surprised when Peter revealed that he knew her and Gwen became jealous when Peter and Mary Jane left together. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #44) Peter went to get a bite to eat at the Silver Spoon and ran into Flash, Gwen and Harry. Pete had missed class that day and Gwen offered to help him review what he missed. Mary Jane then showed up and persuaded Peter to go with her to a place she knew of with a band. A jealous Gwen later told Flash to stop breathing on her and went out dancing with Harry and Flash a few days later. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #46) Gwen and her friends planned a going away party for Flash Thompson before he left for the armed forces to fight in Vietnam. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #47) She also came to visit an unwell Peter Parker. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #49)
Gwen started to notice Peter's depression over his Aunt's illness, which started to affect his grades. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #50) With Gwen and her friends' help, Peter was made to feel better about his life. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #51) Flash Thompson returned home on furlough from the war, meeting with the gang: Harry Osborn, Gwen Stacy, and Mary Jane Watson. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #52) They finally stopped talking around the issue and went on a date to a science expo with Professor Miles Warren. The exhibition involved the unveiling of a device called the "nullifier," which was hoped could destroy enemy nuclear missiles in case of a world war. The expo was interrupted by Otto Octavius, who tried to steal the nullifier and sell it to an enemy country. He hoped that the money could be used to rebuild his criminal empire. Octavius escaped without the device and Peter made up a story about getting his camera to get pictures of the fight. Peter and Gwen were then dropped off at the Coffee Bean by Dr. Warren and Peter left her with the others while he went after Octopus. As Spider-Man tried to stop him, leaving Gwen on her own feeling abandoned by her date. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #53) Peter visited Mary Jane and Gwen Stacy, where both competed for a date with him, but he left them both to check on his Aunt May. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #54) Gwen and her friends all got together at the Coffee Bean Barn. (Amazing Spider-Man Annual v1 #4) Peter and Mary Jane went to his Aunt May's House to assess the damage done by the attack by Dr. Octopus, where they were joined by Gwen. After Octavius became a boarder at May's home, a fight with Spider-Man left a gaping hole in a wall. MJ and Gwen arrived to offer support. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #55) Suddenly, Peter went missing, causing Gwen and all his friends and family to worry. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #56) Once Peter returned, he, Gwen, and the rest of their friends met up and decide to go and check out a nightclub where Mary Jane had taken up a job as a go-go dancer. However, the club was a criminal front where Dr. Winkler's brainwashing techniques were being utilized to further a criminal organization. They gave Mary Jane a special camera that briefly puts people under their control, forcing them to go in back and get legitimately brainwashed. When this was done to Captain George Stacy, Gwen began to worry about her father when he did not return from getting fresh air. Peter, also finding it suspicious, decided to go look for him but as Spider-Man. Spider-Man went in back and caught Winkler in the process of brainwashing George Stacy, but before Spider-Man could stop him, he was grabbed by Winkler's employer: Kingpin. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #59)
Once Kingpin completed the brainwashing, he let Stacy go. Stacy met up with Gwen and Harry, who were being told by Mary Jane about Spider-Man's appearance at the club; George attempted to alleviate any concern they had about what happened. When Peter later tried to confront George as Peter Parker, Stacy attacked him, forcing Peter to defend himself. Gwen walked in on the situation, and her father accused Peter of going mad and attacking him. Gwen refused to listen to anything Peter said and demanded that he leave. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #60) Gwen confronted her father with the pictures in the newspaper and she decided to get him out of New York to protect him. They were found at the airport by Kingpin's thugs, who took them to Osborn Industries, where Fisk and the brainwashing device were being hidden. George was about to be brainwashed again when he and Gwen were rescued by Spider-Man and Norman Osborn. (Amazing Spider-Man #61) In a few days, George's memory fully returned and he told Gwen that Peter hadn't attacked him as he had said. Going for a walk, Gwen and her father noticed a commotion at the top of the Daily Bugle. Betty Brant and Ned Leeds were there and told Gwen that Spider-Man was fighting the Vulture. Worse, J. Jonah Jameson, Robbie Robertson and Peter were close to the battle, covering the story. The Vulture escaped, leaving an unconscious Spider-Man on the street with the crowd wanting to unmask him. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #64)
Death
While waiting for Peter in his apartment, Gwen was ambushed by the Green Goblin. He would bring the unconscious Gwen to the Brooklyn Bridge. Spider-Man later arrived to fight the Goblin. However, Spider-Man was sick and thus not performing at his normal level. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #121)
Spider-Man caught her by a leg with a string of web. The sudden stop in midair snapped Gwen's neck, making it difficult for her to breathe. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #121)
Legacy
After Gwen’s death, a mad Harry Osborn created clones called Gabriel and Sarah Stacy from the DNA of Norman and Gwen. This was with the intention of making his father and best friend believe Norman and Gwen had twin children together. To sell the scheme, Mary Jane Watson was hypnotized by Mysterio to believe the same. However, though Peter was devastated to think of Gwen cheating on him with Norman, in actuality this had never happened. Once Harry died, an A.I. of him controlled by Mephisto took over the cloning process of the twins, whose clone degeneration caused them to die over and over, and every time Mephisto would torture them in hell before sending them back resurrected with new bodies. Eventually the twins absorbed the A.I.’s consciousness and began tormenting Peter in the guise of Harry, all the while believing Gwen was their mother and believing the motivations of hate the Harry A.I. held for Peter. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #74)
Following Gwen's death, Professor Miles Warren snapped as his obsession with her led to him grieving over her demise and blaming Peter Parker for her death. After learning the secrets of cloning, he decided to become a costume supervillain called the Jackal where he planned an elaborate revenge against Parker. In this time, he came to clone Gwen Stacy where this copy lacked the last few memories of the original. The Jackal spent the next few months using hypnosis to awaken her memories and educate her on the world as well as making her obey his commands. In addition, he began growing a clone of Parker to be used as part of his revenge against Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #149)
A new clone of Gwen Stacy was created years later by the new Jackal. The Jackal's new cloning technique allowed for the clone to possess all of the memories of the real Gwen up to the point of her death, which convinced both of them that the clone was in fact the real Gwen Stacy brought back from the dead. Unfortunately, this new cloning technique afflicted all of its subjects with cellular decay, which was prevented with the daily consumption of a pill. (Clone Conspiracy v1 #1) This new Jackal turned out to be the clone of Peter Parker known as Ben Reilly. (Clone Conspiracy v1 #3) Gwen noticed the similarities between him and Peter even though he used a voice modulator to hide his identity. She went along with his plan to extend the reach of his new cloning technology for a better world since she saw some of Peter Parker within Ben. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #23) In order to investigate the Jackal's new enterprise, New U Technologies, an alternate reality spider-powered version of Gwen known as Spider-Woman kidnapped the cloned Gwen and impersonated her. (Amazing Spider-Man v4 #21) The cloned Gwen was kept hostage by the Scarlet Spider Kaine. (Clone Conspiracy v1 #2) The cloned Gwen returned to New U after the impostor was outed. (Clone Conspiracy v1 #3)
The corpse of Gwen Stacy along with the remains of others who had died in Peter Parkers life were all dug up by Kindred as part of his elaborate plan to torment Spider-Man. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #50)
Overview
Personality and attributes
In appearance, Gwen Stacy was a young female human noted for her beauty and her long blonde hair. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
Gwen had been the former ex-Beauty Queen of Standard High. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31) Such was her beauty that many young man vied to go out with her. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #34)
Gwen Stacy was the daughter of police captain George Stacy with her mother being Helen Stacy. (Spider-Man v1 #-1).
She had an uncle named Arthur Stacy who was her fathers older brother that stayed in London. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #93) He had children that were Gwen's cousin one of whom was the brunette haired Jill Stacy. (Spider-Man v1 #76)
When she was a child, she became friends with Carlie Cooper as their fathers both served in the police. (Many Loves of the Amazing Spider-Man v1 #1)
At E.S.U., she first met Peter Parker and though he was not husky like Flash Thompson she thought him to be brighter and very attractive. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31)
Due to the actions of an insane Harry Osborn, her genetics were mixed with those of Norman Osborn to create clone 'children'. These were twin 'son' and 'daughter' named Gabriel Stacy and Sarah Stacy. Brainwashing was used to make both the clones and others believe that they were the result of an affair between Norman Osborn and Gwen Stacy. (Amazing Spider-Man v5 #74)
Professor Miles Warren came to develop an obsession with Gwen Stacy who had been his student. This spiralled after her death where he eventually came to be a costumed supervillain called the Jackal. He had said to had hated Peter Parker for being young and to had been loved by Gwen as well as being responsible for her death. Professor Warren had said that Gwen Stacy had perhaps reminded him of the daughter that he never had in his life. Regardless of the reason, he felt drawn to her where he was protective and fatherly to her where her death led to a piece of him dying as well. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #149)
Powers and abilities
Professor Miles Warren described her as being a good student who was bright and attentive. (Amazing Spider-Man v1 #149) She was known to sometimes help the police out in some of their cases. (Gwen Stacy v1 #1)
Following her reanimation, she had to take special pills from New U to prevent her body from suffering from clone degeneration. (Clone Conspiracy v1 #1)
Notes
- Gwen Stacy was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko where she made her first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man v1 #31 (December, 1965).
Alternate Versions
- In Spider-Man Unlimited v2 #4 (2000), an alternate reality version of the character was shown to reside on Counter-Earth based on the cartoon series. This version was an inhabitant of the world populated by the High Evolutionary's Beastials that were the ruling elite whilst mankind were second-class citizens. Gwen Stacy was a human that worked secretly to maintain Harmony that was an underground city where humanity and Beastials could be free from the High Evolutionary's tyranny allowing them to live in peace. When Spider-Man discovered the city, the inhabitants intended to force him to remain there to protect their home from discovery by Gwen Stacy allowed him to escape whereupon she returned to Harmony.
- In Edge of Spider-Verse v1 #2 (2014), an alternate reality version of Gwen Stacy resided on Earth-65 who was her planet's version of Spider-Woman.
- In Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man v1 #304 (2018), an alternate timeline was created in an attempt to stop the Vedomi invasion. This resulted in a world where Peter Parker quit being Spider-Man and Norman Osborn stopped being the Green Goblin. This timeline saw Gwen Stacy survive where she married Peter Parker who headed a tech company. In the meantime, Norman Osborn used the Goblin Formula to create a health supplement that made him incredibly wealthy whereby he along with his son Harry came to dominate the planet when he was elected President. Earths superheroes were either killed, detained or came to work for Osborn with Gwen Stacy being secretly part of the resistance in toppling this regime.
In other media
Television
- In Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy appeared as a minor guest character in the 1990s animated television series where she was voiced by actor Mary Kay Bergman.
- In The Spectacular Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy appeared as a central cast character in the animated television series where she was voiced by actor Lacey Chabert.
- In Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy appeared in the 2017 animated television series where she was voiced by actor Laura Bailey. After an explosion in the Jackal's laboratory, she was exposed to the Spider-Virus leading to her developing powers with her creating a suit similar to that of Spider-Gwen.
Films
- In Spider-Man 3, Gwen Stacy appeared in the live-action film where she was portrayed by actor Bryce Dallas Howard.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy appeared in the live-action film where she was portrayed by actor Emma Stone.
- In The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Gwen Stacy appeared in the live-action film sequel where she was once again portrayed by actor Emma Stone.
Video games
- In The Amazing Spider-Man, Gwen Stacy appeared in the video game tie-in to the live-action film where she was voiced by actor Kari Wahlgren.
Appearances
- Amazing Spider-Man v1: (1965)
- Spider-Man v1:
- Clone Conspiracy v1:
- Gwen Stacy v1:
- Amazing Spider-Man v5:
External Links
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