In the past decade, Gwen Stacy has transformed from a long-passed love interest into one of Marvel's most iconic faces. The supporting character from Spider-Man gained a cult following thanks to her revival as an alternate-universe Spider-Woman, now titled Ghost-Spider, a portrayal initially relegated to a one-issue event tie-in that evolved into a solo series and then a starring role in the film Into the Spider-Verse. In the wake of her surge in popularity, Marvel Comics is releasing a miniseries starring the original Gwen Stacy from Spider-Man's youth. Thanks to artist Jeehyung Lee, Gwen Stacy #2 is receiving a variant cover featuring Gwen Stacy in her Ghost Spider costume. Effectively, the Gwen variations have come full-circle: if the Stacy pictured in the cover is the star of the book, that means Gwen is cosplaying herself!
Gwen Stacy has been a part of many of Marvel's variant covers, both recently and in past years surrounding her Ghost-Spider incarnation. A wave of variants in 2015 turned Gwen Stacy into various heroes from Marvel's canon, like The Hulk and Wolverine. The lineup included a version of Gwen dressed in a Deadpool-like costume, a take that became a separate character named Gwenpool. Another wave in February 2020 paired the original Stacy with Marvel heroes, depicting her as a bystander joyfully observing the formation of the Marvel universe as we know it.
Artist Jeehyung Lee draws covers for both Marvel and DC and worked as the art director for the Marvel Future Fight mobile game. The illustrator produced a cover with Gwen's classic sweater-clad look for Gwen Stacy #1, then followed with a piece for the second issue which they posted on Twitter.
The artist's distinctive rendering of Gwen's hair and face peeks out from the Ghost-Spider costume, emphasizing her identity as framed by the superheroic outfit. The artist also posted a masked variant on Instagram:
The surface interpretation of this gorgeous cover is that it features the Ghost-Spider version of the character. But we've seen variant covers that combine Gwen with the character that stars in the attached series, and this isn't a cover for Ghost-Spider, this is the series Gwen Stacy that stars the non-powered version from the "main" timeline. As strange as it sounds, that would mean this is Gwen Stacy dressing up as Gwen Stacy.
In other words, this isn't merely Spider-Gwen. This is Gwen-Gwen, a Gwen with the powers and appearance of the Gwen we know combined with the Gwen we also know. It also opens up a world of possibilities in fusing heroes with themselves. What does the Hulk turn into when he gets angry? What would happen if Captain America was given a Super-Supersoldier Serum? Could a radioactive spider get powers from being bitten by a second, even more radioactive spider? As long as variant covers remain popular and marketable, fans will have the opportunity to find out.
Gwen Stacy #2 will be available from your local comics shop on March 11th, 2020.