Warning: Contains spoilers for Love Unlimited: Gwenpool #43 - #48Marvel Comics is breaking incredible ground in the world of queer representation, as the iconic disaster reality-warper Gwenpool comes to terms with her asexual and aromantic identity in the pages of the beautiful Love Unlimited: Gwenpool Infinity Comic #48, becoming Marvel's first character to canonically identify on the aroace spectrum on panel.
Gwenpool, or Gwendolyn Poole, is a fascinating fourth-wall breaking antihero. She first appeared on a Gwen Stacy-themed variant cover for a Deadpool comic. After positive fan reaction, she was introduced into the Marvel Universe proper, quickly becoming a unique and fully fleshed out character. Her powerful reality-warping powers have allowed her to "retcon" herself into being a mutant, among many other parts of her complex origin story.
Much of Gwenpool's publication history has involved the young woman attempting to stay "relevant" and appear in comics, which is how the six-issue Love Unlimited: Gwenpool Infinity Comic - from writer Jeremy Whitley and artists Bailie Rosenlund and Kelly Fitzpatrick - began. Eventually Gwen ended up in an empowering relationship with the bi-icon Julie Power of the Power Pack, which led to Julie questioning if Gwen is asexual.
A Truly Essential Educational Tool On The Aroace Spectrum
It is almost impossible to fully express just how meaningful and important the asexual and aromantic representation shown in Gwenpool's Love Unlimited comic is for members of those queer communities. Fans have taken to Twitter to show support and love for the beautiful, sensitive, and educational way in which the creative team fleshes out Gwen's discovery and acceptance of her sexuality. As Julie questions whether Gwen might be asexual - after she describes to Julie that she has never had interest in kissing or being romantic with anyone - it is quickly revealed that Gwen knows little about ace identities, believing that "asexual" is simply a term for a type of biological reproduction. Julie brings Gwen to the Pride Club of their college, where she introduces her to Ronnie, the club's "Ace Rep," who provides Gwen and the reader with an impressive education on the aroace spectrum.
There is a lot of confusion about asexual and aromantic identities in the world, including from members of the queer community. Ronnie's breakdown of the aroace spectrum, discussing identities like gray asexual, queerplatonic, and allosexual, is essential reading for anyone who is interested in learning more about the acespec community. Ronnie also moves beyond just definitions to talk about how what is truly important is knowing how to communicate your desires and needs with friends and partners, so that your boundaries and consents are understood and respected. Not only is this comic amazing representation of an aroace hero in a comic, but the entire creative team including Assistant Editor Kaitlyn Lindtvedt and Editor Alanna Smith all identity as belonging somewhere on the aroace spectrum, a meaningful move by Marvel to include representational creative teams writing about their own identities and communities.
A Breathtaking Origin Story For Gwen's Character And Sexuality
Editor Alanna Smith told Marvel that one of the reasons their creative team chose Gwendolyn for this story was because of the "out-of-place feeling that’s always been at the core of her character." While finally having some sort of label for Gwen's feelings of isolation and difference won't automatically cause those feelings to go away, it is a powerful step for the unique antihero to take to feeling more like she belongs in the world she now inhabits. It is heartwarming and important that in Marvel's "romance comic anthology" they gave a full six issues for a character like Gwenpool to discover and explore her aroace identity, as well as the upcoming “Everything’s Coming Up Aces” story starring Gwenpool in the Marvel Voices: Pride 2023 issue.
As Assistant Editor Kaitlyn Lindtvedt says, "Ace spectrum representation is still in its growth period," and while no representation of a queer character is ever perfect, Gwenpool's story is an exceptionally beautiful and impressive step in the right direction for representation of acespec identities.
Love Unlimited: Gwenpool #48 is available now on the Marvel Unlimited app.
Source: Marvel