Gwenpool #16
Writer:
Chris Hastings
Art Team: Gurihiru
Marvel
Comics
Release
Date: May 31, 2017
Cover Price:
$3.99
Back to the Past
Well I’ll
start by fessing up, I missed reviewing an issue of one of my favorite comic
books the Unbelievable Gwenpool … (cue the bells) SHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Double shipping
is hard what do you want from me? Anyway I’m back for a pretty important issue here
and that’s what matters right? I also did my homework and am all caught up
after Gwen’s excursion with Ghost Rider and Hawkeye. With that being said let’s
not waste any more time and get right into this issues events which pick up
from the cliffhanger of Gwen meeting … her brother last issue?!?!
So Gwen, after
stopping by where her house would be located in the Marvel Universe, has run
into her brother … yes I know I mentioned this already but it’s important
damnit! Naturally, one would think the best course of action would be to follow
him inside after their reintroduction, however the kicker here is this house is
a shell serving as a trans-dimensional portal,(in a Reggie voice) Back to the
Past! Things get timey-whimey from here for a bit on the reader for a few
panels as Gwen goes inside, shouting “I don’t want to go back”, as she and her brother
fall through a vast void in the area her house should be.
On the other
side of this ‘void’ it appears the pair has indeed gone backwards in time, and
life is business as usual for Gwen, on what I think is her home Earth, but
without any locational hints provided by the story (as of now) its means it’s a
mystery for another day. Everyone does talk in pink word bubbles just like Gwen
so I’m thinking my instinct of Gwen being home is correct or this is all in her
mind and she’s speaking for everyone? It’s a Gwenpool comic nothing is off the
table people.
At this
point the book recaps a day in the life of Gwen Poole … before she ever became ‘Gwenpool’.
A few lengthy conversations later, which serve to highlight Gwen’s various relationships
with her family members’, reveals life wasn’t always RC Cola and Piñatas for
our girl Gwen before she ‘hit the bigtime’ in the Marvel U.
Teddy, Gwen’s
brother, feels he must prevent Gwen from reliving the ‘mistake’ she made in
these events that have sent her to the Marvel Universe, basically out of sheer
frustration with her life. When the trusty moment in time comes, and Gwen does
eventually get discouraged by her lack of success, she does attempt to
follow her same path again. At this point Teddy springs into action, chasing his sister
down, and is finally able to talk Gwen out of her decision, as our anti-heroine surprisingly
ends up agreeing with Teddy that maybe jumping to another universe isn’t the
best option.
Our
cliffhanger is pretty interesting as two siblings share a moment, and a hug.
The duo then begin to walk out of the lab Gwen ‘works’ at and the reader see’s THE
END lettering on the ground in the forefront. So the end right … WRONG … we get an after
credits scene if you will where Gwen returns back into the lab and notices the letters
on the ground that spell out ‘THE END’. Gwen tries to deduce what exactly is
going on, since she’s now in the real world, and seemingly has no memory of
what happened to her previously before the time jump. All the sudden Gwen is surprised
out of nowhere by more words this time which read “TO BE CONTINUED” and as a
result of the surprise Gwen drops the “THE END” word bubble. So do our hero’s fourth wall breaking powers
remain even though she returned home? Or is this some twisted dimension her
brother has taken her to? We will have
to find out more next issue!
Overall this
is a very compelling issue of the Unbelievable Gwenpool which finally sheds
some light on the backstory to this very underrated character story if you ask
me. Gwenpool has a little of everything you’d expect in a comedy adventure
title, and just for good measure throws a few things at you that you’d never expect,
which is exactly the reason it’s so engaging to me, the twists are turns are
genuinely hysterical and well thought out.
It’s rare for me to enjoy each individual issue and overall story arc so
much in a monthly or bimonthly title but Christ Hastings pull it off each time.
Gurihiru is back on art duties and continues to just do awesome work. Other art teams have taken on the task of rendering Gwenpool but nobody has been able to do it quite like Gurihiru and any arc he takes part really elevates the game of this title.
Bits and Pieces
This issue
finally begins to shed some light on Gwen’s history and backstory with an
introduction to her family and life prior to becoming Gwenpool. There are some interesting twists and turns
any follower of the title will be sure to take note off and I for one can’t
wait until next month when we hopefully get some answers to some long lingering
questions.
8.5/10
why is marvel on a website tittle dc
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